So You Want to Go?

So let's say you've read this blog....and you've fawned over the photos of the amazing sites and very cute animals...and you want to go. Moreover, you've noticed that I dropped no names of airlines, hotels, agencies, guides, etc. And you want some down to earth travel advice.

PERU
If you do not book a prepaid tour, you can hire guides and drivers on an adhoc basis or buy a combination of one to four day package tours and treks from one of the many agencies in Cusco or Lima. Typically the smaller agencies have less overhead and more of your fees go directly to goods and services (rather than administrative middle men). The Cusco/Machu Picchu area is a destination for many Latin Americans who do not have large budgets and thus there is a tremendous amount of very inexpensive group travel. The Cusco-area City Tour which includes a bilingual guide and a six hour visit to four different sites sells for $12. The full day tour to the Sacred Valley which includes a sumptuous buffet lunch sells for $25. Comfortable hotels in Cusco with a full breakfast can be booked for $35/single and $50/double. And there a tons of cheap hostels which go for under $10/night. The treks can also be booked by Cusco agencies (both in-person as well as online). A standard Inca Trail trek (4 days; 3 nights) which includes bilingual guides, porters, cooks, food, tents, pick-up in Cusco and the train ride back from Machu Picchu sells for about $280. While the trip from Lima to Cusco is about an hour by air, it can be upwards of 25 hours by bus, so book your own flight in advance for at least this portion. LAN and TACA are reputable airlines which fly this route. Travel between Puno and Cusco can be done either by bus or train. The train only goes certain days of the week, while there are plenty of safe/comfortable tourist-oriented buses that go every day. In Puno you can go down to the wharf and book a day-trip to Uros. While there are agencies who sell the overnight visit/homestay to Amantani and Taquile Islands, more of your money goes directly to you host family if you book this $30/trip at the wharf as well.

If you do not have enough time to travel overland between Peru and Ecuador, you can purchase an open-jaw air ticket flying into Lima and out of Quito. In that I flew on American Airlines which has a partnership with LAN, they included the flight from Lima to Quito in my flight package.

ECUADOR
While Otavalo can be visited as a day-trip from Quito (typical cost for such a trip is $45), one can catch a local bus for $2 each way and spend a night or two in this very indigenous and quite prosperous town. The Saturday markets (that spill out from the plaza and through all of the streets) are not to be missed. In addition to the usual market fare (food and housewares for the locals) and weavings for the tourists, there are countless artisans with some delightfully original creations. Quito is a modern city with much well-preserved colonial architecture. Allow a couple of days to visit museums and the equator site.

GALAPAGOS
There are basically three ways to visit the Galapagos Islands. You can see it ship-board by booking a 6-10 day trip which includes the flight from Quito (or Guayaquil) and full transfers and accomodations. These ships vary from super-luxury oceanliners with room for upwards of 100 guests to small chartered houseboats with room for about 15 passengers. Typically, the more you pay, the better your food and accomodations will be. You can book at hotel in Puerto Ayora on the very touristic island of Santa Cruz and book day-trips to snorkel and visit neighoring islands. Most islands are at 2-3 hours away...and thus any day-trip is likely to involve a fair amount of transit time. The final version (which we did) involved booking a trip-package which included staying in quite comfortable hotels on four of the islands, a plethora of activities (snorkeling, biking, hiking, horsebackriding and museum visits) as well as passage by means of a comfortable motor boat between islands. While such a trip might be down independently, booking hotels and arranging passage between the islands (e.g. chartering your own yacht and crew) could be quite pricey. Our ten day tour which included the flight to and from , just about every meal, bikes, snorkeling equipment, as well as a stay at a spiffy Quito hotel was about $2,000. The ship-based tours tend to average between $300 and $500 per day, while the land-based Puerto Ayora version would depend on the hotel and day-trips one booked. Puerto Ayora has a full complement of different hotels to choose from, with a growing number catering to the interests of budget travellers.