Lima
Exchange rate as of September 2009 $1 = 3sols
Costs in Lima
Government approved taxi from airport to Miraflores area: 50sols
Malka Hostel (Dble room): 120sols
Breakfast: Around 10sols
Cruz del Sur bus to Ica: 100sols
Lima doesn't have a lot to offer so we only stayed long enough to recover from our long flight. It was a grey and dreary city. The Cruz del Sur bus terminal is within walking distance of Hostel Malka if you don't mind breathing in all the car fumes on the way. This company has a good reputation and the ride to Ica was very comfortable. You may even get a bingo game to play with all the other passengers on the way down.
Ica/Huacachino
Costs in Ica/Huacachino
Taxi from Ica to Huacachino: 5sols
El Huacachinero Hostel (Twin room, incl breakfast): 90sols a night (get a 10% discount if you show Cruz del Sur bus ticket)
Sand dune Buggy/boarding: 45sol per person
El Huacachinero Hostel (Twin room, incl breakfast): 90sols a night (get a 10% discount if you show Cruz del Sur bus ticket)
Sand dune Buggy/boarding: 45sol per person
Wine/Pisco tour: 45sol per person
Laundry: 6sols per kg (smells very nice afterwards
Internet: 3 sol per hour
Cruz del Sur bus to Arequipa: 80sols
Most people don't have much they want to do in Ica and head pretty quickly by taxi to Huacachino. Huacachino is a nice place to chill out.
Things to do:
- Sandboarding is a lot of fun. The guide book said that the buggy drivers could be unsafe so I was anxious but we really had no problem at all.
- There is a trip you can do to Paracus National Park that we heard was really good but most of the animals we had already seen before so didn't go.
- The wine/pisco tour was interesting. We went with a taxi driver and were shown some good places.
El Huacachinero was a good place to stay. There is a pool and a couple of talking parrots to enjoy. It is placed with sand dunes right behind it.
We chose not to go to Nazca. It seemed to be a lot of money to go up in a plane to see indefinite mysterious lines.
Arequipa
Saint Catalina Monastry
Arequipa is a pretty city with a few things to do but mostly a good place to take a rest.
Costs in Arequipa
Hostel La Posada de Virrey (dble room): 40sols
Bus Tour: 70sols (you can probably book at your hostel)
Saint Catalina Monastry: 60sols
Laundry: 3sols per kg
The hostel we stayed at wasn't our first choice and although the female owner was very helpful it was pretty basic.
Things to do:
- City and surrounds bus tour - this was nice to get a feeling for the city. There were some things that cost more money to enter on the way that we missed without any regrets.
- Saint Catalina monastry - this is a very pretty, quiet place to wander around and take some time out. English speaking guides are available if you want it.
- Rafting - we didn't do it but many people we met on the way had or were going to. They said it was good.
- Colca canyon - again we didn't go but it is meant to be a good trip
Cuzco/Machu Picchu
Costs in Cuzco
Hostel Gran Machu Picchub(dble room): 50sols
Museo de Inka: 10sols
Bus Tour: 15sols plus 75sols entrance ticket
Mosquito repellent: 12sols
Taxi to Bolivian embassy: 5sols
Machu Picchu jungle trekking trip: $US135
There were a lot of tourists in Cuzco and a lot of locals trying to sell things to us. Cuzco has a reputation for food that brings on food poisoning. We didn't suffer any. We didn't find any good pizza either but we ate at local places rather than around Plaza de Armas. We did feel altitude sickness though. We found that after each time of getting higher if we just rested for a day, the next day we felt fine. Shortness of breath never seems to completely leave though.
Things to do:
- Bus Tour - when we signed up for this we thought we were getting a sweet deal for 15sols.But we were tricked. At arriving at Saqsaywaman we discovered we had to pay another 75sols to get into the places the bus took us to. The ticket has a two day life and could be a good thin for someone with more time but we only had the afternoon. The bus went to Igelesia de Santa Domingo, Saqsaywaman, Q'enqo, Pucapucara and Tambomachay.
- Museo de Inka - this was quite an interesting little museum. It wasn't flashy by any means.
- Pick up from hostel
- Van to the top of Abra de Malaga Pass and then mountain bikes to whiz down to Santa Maria (someone drove the van slowly behind us incase of accidents)
- Basic accomodation for three nights. There were no bugs or other creepies but no hot showers except at Aguas Calientes and one night was a bit noisy - bring earplugs
- Basic but ok meals, mostly chicken ^^
- Train and bus back to Cuzco
The trek
NB: There are sandflies. They don't seem to bite everyone but the ones they do bite leave victims looking like a dog with fleas and not getting a lot of sleep. Cover up and remember repellent!
- Day One: Pick up from hostel at 8am. Mini van to Abra de Malaga Pass then mountain bike down to Santa Maria
- Day Two: Leave at 6.30am.Walk to Santa Teresa. The first few hours were very steep. The walk is through jungle and very pretty and interesting if your guide points things out along the way. Hot springs at the end of the trek to rest your weary bones
- Day Three: Leave at 6.30am.Walk along the river then along disused train tracks. The walking along the tracks wasn't fun. We could only look at our feet so that we didn't trip and it is hard on your legs. Option: Hike up to Putucusi (a hard hike if you are not quite fit) and see Machu Picchu side on. It takes about four hours.
View of Machu Picchu from Putucusi
- Day Four: Up at 3.30am to wait in line for the first bus to Machu Picchu. If you arrive around 4.10am you should make it. The first bus arrives at 5.20am. Machu Picchu opens at 6am and tickets for Wayna Picchu go fast. If you want to go to Wayna Picchu you need to get there early. You can also walk up.
View of Machu Picchu from Wayna Picchu
Aguas Calientes is not a pretty town and there isn't a lot to do so the only real reason for staying overnight is so you can be up early to either catch the bus or walk up to Macchu Pichu.
Puno/Lake Titicaca
Costs in Puno
Bus from Cuzco: 60sols
Hostel Don Tito 2 (twin room): 40sols
Uros Tour: 15sols
Things to do:
Trips to Lake Tititcaca
Coca Museum
Puno is another good place for a rest. We felt altitude sickness again so stayed a bit longer. The Uros Islands (the floating islands) were really neat to see. Some people said that going there wasn't so great as it was too touristy but we liked it. We went on a morning trip and that were satisfied.
Beware: Although it is good to support local people directly when buying handicrafts we saw that on the islands the products were more than double the price than in the stores in Puno.
Getting to Bolivia:
We took a bus from Puno to La Paz. Going through the border was no hassel. People from some countries need to provide a photocopy of their passport here so it is worth having one on hand just in case. It also saves some time and hassel to have got your visa in Cuzco.
After we went through customs we were put on another bus which was a surprise. The second bus was a lot smaller than the first and I think some of the taller Europeans were a bit uncomfortable. After a bit travelling on this bus we stopped for lunch at Copacabana, a very unimpressive town. After lunch we got back on the bus and an hour or so later told to get off it and to get on a boat. Our bus went over Lake Titicaca on another flat platformed boat while we waited on the other side. While this was all quite fun and interesting, we had no idea that this would happen. Getting back on the bus we had no further surprises and arrived in La Paz.
