Cusco.

Tags

Cusco, Food, Health, Inca Trail, Llamapath, Ninos Hotel, Peru, Pickpocketing, Sightseeing, Travel, Video

After the crappy food last night and B getting ill from it, she’s too sick to travel now. Poor thing has been up all night with something akin to food poisoning and will have to miss the Inca Trail. Thankfully we brought enough medication for such incidences. I’ve been much luckier with my digestive system and think that the mild intro to local food I had at the start of the trip, has enabled me to adjust better.
Speaking of food, the limited menu here at the Niños is very tasty. Best scrambled eggs I’ve had and the all-day breakfast is both cheap and filling. After fuelling up, I headed down to the Llamapath offices to pay up my portion of the Inca Trail. Not sure what was up with the guy there but when I was talking to the woman who was dealing with my payment, he walked over to the computer next to her and cranked up the volume on youtube. It was so loud I could barely hear her speaking to me. He also tried to tell me that I was supposed to pay 48 hours before the trip and I’m glad I had the E-mail print-out with me to wave at him, stating that they were OK with payment the day before. After paying all my charges, I was told that I would need to confirm if B was going ‘no later than 4:30, or 5, 5:15 but no later than 6’ – um, yeah, OK.

Stopped off for a few energy drinks on the way back to the hotel and confirmed with B that she wouldn’t make the hike. Time to head back to the tour office to work out the options but first I wanted to get a walk to the recommended viewpoint of San Cristobal church. It didn’t take much more than ten minutes up some bloody steep steps to get to the viewpoint, at which point I found that someone had nicked the map out of my pocket! Glad I never had any money in there and I’d be amused to see the persons face, when they worked out that what they had was worthless.
Made it back at the Llamapath offices on the way to the hotel, to go over the remaining options for B. Looks like the best bet is for her to take the one day, train tour that would meet up with me in Machu Picchu. While I was aware that the deposit was non-refundable, we couldn’t quite reach an understanding about transfer of use. They said the entrance ticket for the day was already pre-purchased with the deposit but they couldn’t use this ticket on the same day if B took the train instead. Seems a bit of a cop-out to keep your cash but as there’s not much one can do, we just had to write off the $170 and pay the full $220 for the train tour and an extra ticket. At least she’s getting to see the ruins, which is the main thing.

Next up, was the inca trail overview meeting.  Got to briefly meet the group that would share the experience for the following four days and had an introduction on what to expect along the way. Even though I’m concerned about B’s health, I’m really excited about getting to start my hike tomorrow, after a year of planning.

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Peru bus bookings.

Tags

Arequipa, Bus, Cruz Del Sur, Cusco, Lima, Nazca, Online Ordering, Peru, Ticketing, Travel

Originally, I was going to pick up the transit tickets either upon arrival in Peru, or hopefully via arrangement with one of the hotels I’m staying at. As Cruz Del Sur has an online ticketing option and they also have an English translation, I opted to try and get the three tickets necessary for the transport to Puno from Lima. I’m still thinking that doing this trip in the reverse order to what is common (Lima to Cusco by bus, instead of flying to Cusco and bus back) is causing more planning difficulties online than would be normal. Of course, the concept that this should be easily available online is amusing enough to me and shows my western failings and assumptions of technology.

Anyway, after registration for the online ordering, I was able to easily order the Lima to Nazca after some issues with the credit card authentication. Without going in to too much detail, the ‘verified by visa’ code wasn’t accepted and I was then locked out of my actual account. After getting the account unlocked, I was then able to complete the seat purchase but only when using Internet Explorer – Firefox just gave me a blank page and wouldn’t process the order. Some kind of oddness about the ticket ordering came apparent over the next two days when I tried to order the next tickets and kept getting a ‘Denied’ message. I’m not entirely sure why I get denied for successive tickets but 24 hours after one purchase, I was able to make my next purchase; three days for three ticket purchases.

One area that Cruz Del Sur could be more clear about is the (even approximate) transit times for all routes. The common routes look to have a timetable, but, some of the section routes, such as Nazca to Arequipa, (which is part of the Lima to Arequipa bus) fail to post an arrival time or duration. A couple of Emails via the contact form confirmed the approximations that I had seen travelers post on-line but really, what effort would it take to include this on the booking timetable itself?

Now the ordering is complete, it should be a simple case of picking up the tickets on arrival, although with a 9pm flight in and bus departure at 7am the next morning, it will be interesting to see how smooth the collection goes and whether I can get them on arrival or the next morning.

Titicaca itinerary and indulging in some local culture.

Tags

All Ways Travel, Amantani, Community, Cultural Exchange Tour, Culture, Cusco, Eco Tourism, Hiking, Lake Titicaca, Peru, Pullman Tourism Bus, Puno, Reviews, Taquile, Tour Bus, Transport, Travel, Uros Islands

This section of the trip to Peru, was probably the easiest overall to book.  Right off the bat, I decided to go for the highly recommended All Ways Travel.  Every reference I looked at for trips on Lake Titicaca, with exception of one or two self-recommended tour operators, all referenced AWT as the superior option.  AWT take very little for themselves and the main goal of the tourism, is to support the community of the islanders; something that was at the forefront of my mind, when looking for this trip.

The website is very clearly laid out, and it was so easy to choose the tour I had wanted (Cultural Exchange Tour).  At first, I was a little despondent over the minimum requirement of four people for the tour, but, after a brief E-Mail and quick response from Willy, I was assured that due to the request being so far in advance (six months), I could book anyway and they would have plenty of time to find another couple of people, to make up the minimum group size.

The tour itself includes Amantani and an overnight stay with a host family.  If you’re looking for something close to a day in the life of the islanders, this is perfect.  The lodgings have very basic toilet facilities and no running water or electricity, so don’t expect the usual tour treatment; I need to remember to take water and also some snacks, in case the local cuisine doesn’t agree with my stomach or nostrils.

Something that really attracted me to this particular tour, is that we are required to pay the overnight and meal costs, directly to the host family.  This is a guarantee that no money is going through the operator and, the islanders themselves are directly benefiting. Incidentally, the cost is amazingly cheap for the experience you’re getting – at the time of booking, it’s just shy of $10 per person.

The remainder of the islands tour includes the floating Uros Islands and Taquile, as well as some meals and hiking to the lesser travelled parts of the islands.  I’m more interested in getting away from the crowds so again, this was extremely appealing.  The full tour excluding the overnight costs, is only $45 per person, which is an absolute bargain for what you’re getting.  All hotel transfers are included (with a $3 transfer fee, for hotels out of the free pick-up range).

As a wonderful bonus, AWT also has on-line booking for a tour bus to Cusco.  The Pullman Tourism Bus is an all day affair, departing at 7:30am and arriving in Cusco at 5:30pm.  While it seems a long journey to take, cramped inside a bus, it does cover five sight-seeing stops along the way and also includes lunch.  At $40 per person, it’s a little more expensive that the standard bus but the richness of experience, makes it so much more appealing.  For those interested in visiting Puno after Cusco, the tour bus also operates in the opposite direction, leaving and departing at the same times; an additional $5 cost, to the Puno to Cusco direction.

When everything was finalised via quick E-Mails and it came time to book, the procedure was as simple as sending passport numbers and names, along with confirmed itinerary – hotel details are also needed, if you’re requiring a pick-up and/or drop-off.  No money, not even a deposit, is required for any of this and everything is paid for in cash, when arriving for the tour.  Be aware to take enough currency, to cover the costs of everything as it goes without saying really, that the islanders will likely not be looking to hand out change, for large denominations.