In January of this year, I put a yellow sticker on my refrigerate with my 2011 resolutions. On the top of the list was a resolution to travel to 5 new countries. A little ambitious goal when look at in June with only one country visited so far (Canada looks like next, easy target). I have been thinking about Peru for some time Well, why Peru? Every time I looked at the list of places to visit in South America on www.lonelyplanet.com Machu Pichu would come at the top of destinations to visit in South America. In April, I went ahead and bought the tickets on Tuesday night (that is when the tickets are cheaper) without much planning. I got the tickets through www.kayak.com very cheap ($584), according to my Peruvian friends. Once the tickets are bought it is a no return point, I thought.
As for planning, www.lonelyplanet.com has a wealth of knowledge about any destination in the world. Seasoned travelers from around the world share their experiences and expertise there. I have to admit I got overwhelmed with the amount of information they have. I did not have much time to plan on my own trip and explore the possibilities, that would be nice though because I think a big part of excitement in traveling is getting ready for it, mapping your trips, exploring options for your lodging builds so much anticipation. Most of world travelers plan their trips based on www.lonelyplanet.com recommendations and many of them buy their guidebooks. I saw quite a few travelers with their guidebooks in hand in the train going to magnificent Machu Pichu.
In my case, I found www.peruintense.com on the Internet and based on my time and budget they put together an intense schedule full of tours to amazing historic places and nature wonders in Peru. The arrangement included tickets for 2 flights inside the country, a train ride to Machu Pichu and several bus and boat trips, my hotels, most meals etc and it cost $1050. If you have time and if you are travelling with a partner you can make all the reservations yourself, save money and most importantly enjoy the process along the way. What I liked about my arrangement is that I always had somebody helping me to transfer to my next destination. Looking for transportation to get to my next point on my own would be bit time-consuming and stressful. I visited 2 provinces in the south of Peru but there a lot more fascinating places to see in that country. My Peruvian friend Maria, her husband Terry and her daughter who lives in Lima were helpful before the trip and during the trip and maybe even after. Btw, I did not go to downtown Lima because I heard that is a typical capital city, so I skipped it.
I felt a bit awkward to tell people that traveled to Peru for one week. Most travelers took 2 weeks to 6 month to explore different parts of the continent. I met a lot of young people in Peru traveling around South America. A young couple from the UK, 22 year old graduates from college, was traveling for a several months already when I met them in Amantani Island. We stayed with the same indigenous family there. The travelers, I met on the road, were happy to share their experiences in the countries they visited and talk about how they planed their trips. Most of them used www.lonelyplanet.com website and their guidebooks to plan the trips. Several people referred to “South America on Shoestring”. Also, they mentioned http://www.kayak.com/explore as a good source of cheap tickets if you are flexible with time and destinations.
When I came back from the trip, I found out that National Geographic magazine had a detailed report http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/04/inca-empire/pringle-text/1 in their April 2011 issue about the fascinating region of Peru that I visited with maps and the pictures that worth thousands words. http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/04/inca-empire/pringle-text
I had unforgettable experience in Peru. I think life is too short not to enjoy what you love and I love traveling and exploring all kind of things.
I included some fragments from my letters to my family to give you an idea of my impressions from Peru.
“I have made it safe and sound to Cusco. It will be my base for 3 days. The hotel is a small place close to downtown with a lot of ethnic decorations. People in Cusco have been nice to me so far. Architecture in Cusco is definitely different from Baku and US. It is very sunny and pleasant outside but they say it is usually very cold after 4-5 pm. I am going to wonder around before my city tour that will start at 13.00.
Last night Maria’s daughter and her boyfriend picked me up at the airport and I stayed in a hotel close to airport in a poor neighborhood but it was very cheap $10 something. I am glad that I did not go all the way to Lima downtown. I bought fresh bread and feta cheese in nearby grocery in the morning and ate that for breakfast. Then I took plane to Cusco which is in the mountains, 3600 m above the sea level.”
“I had a city tour yesterday. This is a lovely town high in the mountains. The city boasts with nice catholic churches built by Spaniards, temples of Incas and beautiful squares of different sizes. I liked their cobblestone laid streets with narrow sidewalks. I guess in any given time there are as many tourists in this city as the local people. People from all over the world invaded this place. I met 2 ladies from London yesterday. One of them lives here full time and loves it. The people are friendly and the area where I stay in the historic center is safe.”
“The days are usually full with tours. It is tiring towards the end of the day but that is why I am here to explore, to see. I will probably need some rest time when I come back.
On my way home from dinner, I stopped by their public library. It is a small cute place, different from our libraries in the US. It was after 8 pm. I was amazed to see so many people there doing homework, just reading newspapers. The local people here, I can tell, have hard life, I think harder in Baku but I might be wrong because I judge by the people in the street.
I did have a bad headache yesterday. Elevation of 3600 + meter was not probably easy on me. Barry, thank you for insisting that we buy those pills.”
“I am doing fine. Today, I have not had a headache for the first time since I came to Cusco. Life is good.
My trips have been amazing! The places I have visited were unbelievable and of course, Macha Puchi is the crown of this country. It is amazing how the whole city was built on the top of 2400 m mountain and was almost kept intact. The views there were breathtaking. I met all kinds of people from around the world. Yesterday, I was having lunch in a lovely restaurant in the countryside and I was at the table with a middle age couple from Israel. When they heard that I am from Azerbaijan the husband said ¨ Azerbaijan won Eurovision¨ It felt good. Really small world.
The sky here is absolutely blue, the sun is bright and at night the sky is full of stars. I have never seen so many stars in the sky as here. I will be off to another town tomorrow.”
“I am in Puno which is at 3800m. It was a long trip but we made several stops in historic places and stopped for lunch so it did not feel too bad. I had Ceviche for dinner, local dish, that is a fish dish with a lot of lemon juice and then i had their local coca tea with a piece of apple pie. The pie was good with very little sugar in it even to my taste so I had sprinkle it with sugar.
At lunch I met a young couple from Canada. They have traveled to Ecuador, New Guvenia and Peru on this trip. On the way here the sun was incredibly bright everything under the sun seemed to shine, grass, mountains, crops in the field. The women in the countryside do wear their national costume. It looks very cute. I have a couple of pictures with those ladies. We also stopped at the highest point of our trip which was I believe 4233m. I have a picture with a sign saying so.”
Everyday here has been like a dream come true.”
“The hotel I stayed here in Puno, Casa Andina is located in the very downtown. It is a nice 3 star hotel. I saw a lot of French tourists at breakfast.
I am going to Islands in Titicaca Lake 4200m which spreads between Peru and Bolivia. I will spend 2 days and 1 night in 3 islands. I will be staying with Amantani family as part of experience. The people in the island have basic amenities and speak their own language. It is going to be interesting. I don´t think I will be able to write you from there. “
In Amantani island I and young travelers Rebecca and Ian from the UK stayed with an old couple from the island. The house was steep in the mountains so it took me some effort to climb to their house but I could tell that our host who would be in his late 60s did not have any trouble with ascend. He could speak Spanish and I was lucky that my fellow travelers majored in Spanish and Italian so they translated for us. The house was built out of adobe with small doors and windows. We were warned to duck in when we enter the rooms to protect our heads.
We had lunch and dinner in their dark kitchen with oven on the corner that burnt straw and dry grass. The food tasted delicious. In the evening after all boat rides, tours and the climb to the house I was exhausted. But the program had disco night organized by the local people in the community center. Initially, I did not want to go but then I saw from my window how Rebecca was already dressed up in local costume with colorful, puffy skirt with several layers of belt on her waist and white shirt with embroidery on the chest and covered her head with a shawl. When I saw how her eyes were sparkling with excitement I could not resist. I went down and put on this pretty costume (that was also part of the program) and we walked down with flashlight to the dance place. Although it was not easy to breathe at times (oxygen is really thin at 4200m), but we had so much fun and I did like the fast swing of Peruvian dances.”
Really good blogs are not "running the streets", but here I found today what I have been looking for. Cheers!
peru tour operators
Posted by: Account Deleted | 04/18/2012 at 12:59 AM