Quote:
Originally Posted by Rain Man
Great pictures. I'm really wanting to go there.
A few questions:
1. Did you go with a group or independently? One photo seems to show a group of people. And would you recommend one over the other?
2. Did you hike up or take the train? And which would you recommend?
3. Did you do any of the Amazon River stuff in Peru? I'm intrigued by doing a river cruise to Manaus from Iquitos.
4. Other than Macchu Picchu, anything else there that you'd recommend? Was that Rio in some pictures or another big Jesus signalling unsportsmanlike conduct?
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1. I traveled with 3 other friends so we were a group of 4. It was the perfect size. I wanted at least 1 travel partner and no more than a total of 6 people. The larger group was our trek group. There were 15 of us, 2 guides, and about 22 porters. The trek and airfare were the only things we booked well in advance (the trek requires permits and you have to book with a tour operator). We finalized our accommodations for the trip only a couple of weeks prior to leaving and anything else we left for while we were there.
2. We did a 4D/3N trek. If you're physically able I recommend it. It was unbelievable. It's no walk in the park. You hike 35 miles over 4 days going straight up and straight down reaching 3 summits. Day 2 is killer when you reach a maximum altitude of 4215m (13,800 feet) with a climb of about 3000ft. You'll definitely appreciate it much more than the people who just take a train to Machu Picchu. You also visit several ruins/terraces along the trek and those are actually cooler than Machu Picchu because you're the only ones there instead of the thousands of tourists at the final destination.
3. We didn't have time to do any jungle stuff.
4. Our trip was only 10 days. We spent 1.5 days in Lima which was enough. It's a city. We spent 4 days in Cusco. LOVED Cusco. From there you can visit other ruins (Pisac, Ollantaytambo, Chinchero, etc.). Other people we met were going to Puno and Lake Titicaca and Nazca to see the Nazca lines which I would have loved to had time for our trip. Many of the people on our trek were in South America for an extended time and were also visiting Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, and Brazil. We weren't in Rio, unfortunately (another trip I hope). The big Jesus pictured is near Sacsayhuaman in Cusco.