View of Cusco |
Realize that you will be spending a lot of time haggling whether you are catching a cab or buying souvenirs. I personally found a lot of joy doing this whereas Allison would just leave the bargaining to me. I would say, haggle everything starting at 50% off what they say and go from there (you are probably still being ripped off at this point).
Cusco is an amazing city that is full of history and scenery. It was nice walking in a city where all major franchises that I know don't have a huge presence here. Only in the main square (Plaza de Armas) did we see Starbucks, McDonalds and KFC.
Cusco's main square |
Tours
Alpaca Expeditions (4 day Classic Inca Trail), $615 USD (haggled them into providing us with free sleeping bags which are normally $20 USD since there were 3 of us on the trip). I have no problems recommending this company based on our 4-day Inca Trail hike. Herlin who was our tour guide was great, has a lot of knowledge behind the history of the Incans. The crew of porters works well together and it was great to see that they would work as a group.
Pantiacolla (7 day Manu Biosphere), $1,270 (originally $1,370, got them down to $1,270 with some haggling). Jose was a great tour guide. He was very knowledgeable and had great eyes and ears for finding animals and insects. Pantiacolla are very responsive to emails and generally get back to you within the day with any questions that you have. My only issue after doing the trip is that you spend a lot of time traveling. I had an idea of how long it would be, but when you are stuck on a boat/bus for a long period of time with no form of entertainment (unless you spot animals), it lessens the excitement (not that there's anything you can do about it).
Accommodations
City: Cusco
Accommodation Name: Hostel Wara Wara
Cost: roughly $60 USD a night
Verdict: wouldn't recommend
159 steps up from the main square, it is quite the trek uphill when you have just arrived and are trying to adjust to the altitude. The place could use a bit of cleaning up. It isn't refined in how it could be presented, but for the price, there isn't much to complain about. The included breakfast was nothing special, came with bread, scrambled eggs and 2 slices of sausage (yes, slices of sausage). While there, I did notice that when it rained, there was an area in the main lobby that was leaking a bit, but it may be fixed by now. I do wish that I could say the same about the water situation. Due to altitude (I think), the water pressure sometimes stops and that means no water. They need to restart the machine but that might mean, in the middle of your shower, you may suddenly lose water (happened to me). Based on that, I wouldn't recommend it.
City: Cusco
Accommodation Name: Wifala Thematic Boutique
Cost: roughly $52 USD a night
Verdict: no problem recommending it as long as you don't mind the 20 minute walk to the main square
Situated roughly 20 minutes away by foot from the main square. While it sounds far, it actually isn't too bad when I think about how much time we must have spent walking up the stairs to Wara Wara. The rooms are small but more than enough room for us and the showers and service was top notch. The front reception did change on us a few times, so when we first arrived, the receptionist was great with directions and English, the other one spoke English but not to the same level. The included breakfast was good and the server for breakfast was always the same and we had no problems communicating.
City: Miraflores (in Lima)
Accommodation Name: Tierra Viva
Cost: roughly $100 USD a night
Verdict: no issues recommending it.
Tierra Viva (roughly $100 USD a night). Great location within Miraflores and the staff are very helpful and knowledgeable about the area. The place is clean and spacious with a king size bed. The breakfast buffet was delicious and with a great spread. I wouldn't have any problem recommending them.
Attractions
I have only included the attractions that we had to pay to get in. I did not include the markets or squares that you would likely visit while you are here.
City: Cusco
Name: Cusco Planetarium
Cost: 50 soles
Cusco Planetarium |
City: Cusco
Name: Salinas (salt pans)
Cost: 7 soles
Salinas |
City: Cusco
Name: Ollantaytambo
Cost: Included in the boleto turistico
Ollantaytambo |
City: Cusco
Name: Chincero
Cost: Included in the boleto turistico
Chincero |
City: Cusco
Name: Moray
Cost: Included in the boleto turistico
Moray |
City: Cusco
Name: Pisac
Cost: Included in the boleto turistico
Pisac |
City: Lima
Name: El Circuito Mágico del Agua
Cost: 4 soles
El Circuito Magico del Agua |
Restaurants
City: Cusco
Name: Divina Rosa
Divina Rosa's menu |
City: Cusco
Name: Inka Grill
Alpaca steak from Inka Grill |
City: Cusco
Name: Kushka Cafe
Us at Kushka |
City: Cusco
Name: La Cusquenita
Guinea Pig from La Cusquenita |
City: Cusco
Name: Uchu
Uchu's steak |
City: Lima
Name: Salon Capon
Salon Capon dim sum |
City: Lima
Name: Mangos
Us at Mangos |
No comments:
Post a Comment