Peru Part 1 - Planning

Departure day has almost arrived.  Flights are booked, itinerary is set and bags are packed.  Ok, well my bags are packed.  Keith has packed one item, a selfie stick.  Yep, you heard that right.  I was puzzled when I came home last night to see it sitting lonely on his side of the duffle bag.  He was quite proud of his contribution to the packing.  I softly mentioned, well lets not forget a toothbrush and referred him to this article. I can't complain though, his passport is finally current!  Enough making fun of the husband, why Peru and where?

I had been chatting with long time friend Ari about really wanting to go on a big vacation.  Keith and I had thought a little about Europe, New Zealand and Australia, but hadn’t actually put any serious thought into any of those options.  Ari suggested the idea of doing a double date vacation to Peru for a Machu Picchu Trek.  I hadn’t heard much about Peru before, but it took little convincing after a brief Google search of Machu Picchu.  I also loved the idea of an active vacation. 

In preparation for the trip, I hit the books!

Where to go?

I first read Lonely Planet - Discover Peru.  The suggested itineraries, top Peruvian experiences, chapters of key areas to visit and multiple pictures made this book a fun and easy way to start to the planning.  The internet can be incredibly overwhelming! We ultimately decided Lima, Cusco, Machu Picchu, Aguas Calientes, Puno and Lake Titicaca. The next planning book was Fodor's Peru: with Machu Picchu & the Inca Trail.  This one was my favorite, and i'll be taking it with me on the trip!  Many of the places that are a must see for me, were *Fodor's Must Sees.*

Lima

Lima is the modern capital city of Peru. It didn’t exactly get the best of reviews in the tour books, but was suggested as a “stay a day or two” kind of place.  According to what I've read, many parts of Lima have a high amount of crime, so we will be staying in the tourist part of town, Miraflores, for 3 days and 2 nights.  While we are there we plan on walking, bike touring and shopping around Miraflores, and seeing Huaca Pucllana, Plaza de Armas in El Centro and Convento de San Francisco.

Plaza - Lima

Coast - Lima

Cusco - Inca Trail - Machu Picchu - Aguas Calientes

Cusco and Machu Picchu were a must as the 4 day/3 night Inca Trail trek was the center of our entire vacation.  It is highly recommended to spend at least 3 days acclimating at 10,000 feet in Cusco prior to embarking on the trek, so we will be hanging out in the beautiful historical city for a few days.  We will be staying at an Airbnb near the Plaza de Armas.  Hotels in Cusco are $$$$, so Airbnb was the best bet for 4 people.  While in Cusco we plan on relaxing, acclimating, touring, and well ya also hiking rainbow mountain.  I would recommend reading up on a little Inca and Spanish history before you go so that you can fully appreciate all that influence Cusco as we see it today. Most of the tourist books go into some detail.  I found Frommer's Easy Guide to Lima, Cusco and Machu Picchu to have the best introduction to the history.  The rest of the book is pretty bland when it comes to site seeing as it has no pictures! The documentary Lost Cities of the Inca National Geographic was also informative.  

Cusco

Machu Picchu- Day 4 of the Inca Trail!

Aguas Calientes - Hot Springs for after the trek!

Aguas Calientes- The train we will take back to Cusco!

Rainbow Mountain - Because the Inca Trail wasn't enough!

Puno - Lake Titicaca 

We didn’t want to end the trip after only 1 week, so we tossed around the option of either the Amazon or Lake Titicaca.  Lake Titicaca eventually won out.  The Amazon sounded cool, but the thought of being eaten by mosquitoes and some extra vaccines wasn’t appealing.  We found a great 4 day / 3 night Lake Titicaca Adventure tour that offered us the opportunity to visit manmade floating islands and to stay a night with a local.

Puno / Lake Titicaca - Floating Islands

There you have it!  Stay tuned to hear about all the things we will do in each of these places. In the meantime you can check out The Booze Traveler and Anthony Bourdain for some fun Peru watching on Netflix.

Thanks for Reading!

JenniferMarie

Next up – Peru Planning Part 2 – The Packing List

We all know Keith packed a selfie stick, but what else are we taking?