I am always looking for deals and trying to stretch our travel dollars to the max. So, when I saw a deal on Travelzoo.com for a one week trip to Peru to visit Machu Picchu, including all transportation (international, domestic and rail), hotels and guides for $999 from Orlando, I felt I needed to give it a shot. Last year, on our trip to South America, we had planned to visit Peru, but we had to modify our plans due to “civil unrest”. I had priced this out on my own and just the transportation costs approached $2,000 for two, so this package deal was an excellent option. Now, I had just had a terrible experience with UTO Vacations on a planned trip to China and Thailand, so I was very concerned with a trip that appeared too good to be true!
When I booked the trip, I had options on flights and I chose a more direct flight for an extra $100 per person. This flight still required an overnight on Latam Airlines which arrived at 6:00 AM in the morning . There was an option for an early check-in at the first hotel for an additional $50 per person which I also added. So, our total cost with upgrades was $2,298.00. I put $1,378.80 down immediately and was required to pay the remaining $919.20 about 60 days before the trip. Booking the trip on their webpage was quite easy, and I appreciated the ability to book the international flights in real time.
The flight down from Orlando required a long layover in Miami, but the Turkish Airlines club was very nice and we had a good evening. The flight was only 4.5 hours, about the same as flying to California. When we landed we were met by Chris from Condor travel who was holding an Exoticca sign. He was standing right next to the representative from Gate One Travel which I took as a very good sign. Gate One Travel is very well none and has an extremely good reputation. There were seven of us on the flight and we were told that 17 people total were in this group. Condor travel is one of the larger tour operators in South America and has offices in 6 countries. Chris explained that they have about three Exoticca tours each week and Exoticca was one of Condor’s biggest customers. (Very respectable!)
In regards to the hotels we booked the “Charm” or “Cheap” package. Exoticca boasts that all of their hotels are rated at least a 4 out of 5 on Trip advisor, The hotels were not overly fancy, but they were quite nice. The tour included two nights in the Miraflores District in Lima, two nights in Urubamba in the Sacred Valley, two nights in Cuzco and one final night in Miraflores.
The first two (and last) nights were in the Ibis Budget hotel in the Miraflores district of Lima. I had previously stayed in Miraflores with my son many years ago so I was familiar with the area. Miraflores is as nice and safe as the best areas in the US and it was quite enjoyable to walk the streets anytime and enjoy the cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean. There is a mall built into the cliffs with high end restaurants and shops. Our first (and final) day we ended up eating at Chili’s in the mall and enjoyed a Peru version of the “three for me”. Total cost with tip…..$17! Got to love South America. Ibis is a chain hotel based out of Europe and was quite modern. There were three Marriott hotels in the area including one across the street.
The next day, we had a guided half-day tour of Lima and in the afternoon enjoyed eating Ceviche and wondering the streets of Barranco, another very nice area in Lima along the Pacific. It doesn’t rain in Lima and the days tend to be quite pleasant and warm Areas around the airport are not safe but for a City the size of New York, it was very pleasant. Lima even boasts the top restaurant in the world and several that are rated higher than any in the United States.
On our third day in country, we were picked up at the hotel and shuttled to the airport for a domestic flight to Cuzco. The flight was delayed and we were met by a representative from Condor travel at the airport and shuttled to our hotel in Urubamba in the Sacred Valley. Cuzco is at an elevation of 12,000 feet, well over 2 miles high. So altitude sickness is a concern. Peaks in the Andes mountains range up to 22,000 feet. It was smart for the travel company to arrange the hotel in Urubamba which was at 9,420 feet, which was much easier to acclimate to. Unfortunately, due to the delayed flight, we didn’t have much of an opportunity to explore the town. On the way to the hotel, we were taken to a textile market and given a bit of a sales pitch and some “coco tea” to ease the altitude sickness concerns. One issue with group tours is there is always some kind of “shopping experience”. For us, we had no interest in any textile goods, but the baby Lamas and Alpacas were quite cute. In regards to the elevation, it was no issue with us, but one woman in the group did not feel well for a couple of days. Personally, I like high altitudes…a glass of wine or a beer or two and you really can feel the effects:)
We stayed at the Hotel Agustos Urubamba, which was located just outside of the city. The hotel grounds were fantastic! The only downside was the walking distance to the City Center and the rock hard beds…..could of just slept on the floor….it would have been about the same. But the outside areas and the porch were fantastic. The restaurant was OK but a bit overpriced.
The next morning, we were picked up at 0510 for our excursion to Machu Picchu. Boxed breakfasts were available for us and our transportation was exactly on time. We were bussed to the train station at Oilantaytambo for the train to Aguas Calientes which lies at the foot of Machu Picchu mountain. Other tour companies had representatives on the train for their clients, but Exoticca did not, it was a bit of a letdown. We arrived right on time for our tour and found the agent waiting for us at the station. This is where Exoticca and Condor travel dropped the ball. Instead of taking us up the mountain to enjoy the ruins, we ended up waiting for an hour and 15 minutes for a later train to arrive with two people on it. After they arrived, we boarded a bus up to the top of the mountain and had a 1.5 hour tour of the ruins. The tour was sufficient and the ruins are impressive. Once we got back into the little town we had about two hours to have lunch and shop.
The train ride back to Oilantaytambo was pleasant and again we were met at the station and driven back to our hotel for the evening.
The next morning we had booked an additional tour of the Sacred Valley for $85 each and our driver arrived at 8:00 to pick us up. We were able to leave our bags at the hotel where they were picked up and transported to our hotel in Cuzco, the Agustus Cuzco. Our driver took us to another textile market where we were given yet another sales pitch. The justification for this was to allow other tour members to join us. The one advantage of these stops was the ability to feed Lamas and Alpacas. As I mentioned, the animals were quite tame and cute.
Michelle was our guide for this tour and the Cuzco tour the following day. She was quite pleasant and did a great job. We had left a few items in our room at the hotel and she was able to have them collected and forwarded to our next hotel. The Sacred Valley ruins were well worth the time to explore and the lunch provided was exceptional. In particular, the ability to climb the ruins in Oilantaytambo (which I had not done previously) was excellent. The tour concluded with us being dropped off at our Cuzco hotel.
The Agustos hotel in Cuzco was over a mile from the City center and the lack of air was very noticeable. However, we sucked it up (literally) and made the walk anyway. Since we arrived late from the Sacred valley tour, we opted to stay close to the hotel and have some local empanadas from a bakery in one of the local grocery stores (I have learned on my travels that its hard to go wrong with a bakery empanada!). We picked up a couple of bottles of wine and made an enjoyable night of it in the hotel.
The next morning was Palm Sunday and we didn’t have the City tour until 2:00. So, we took off walking to the City Center. Along the way we stopped in and caught part of the Palm Sunday service at one of the main churches. Palm Sunday is a special day in this predominantly Catholic country. Ladies and children were selling woven palm branches in front of the church for 2 soles….about 55 cents. We bought one and proceeded to the square just in time to see a military procession. Afterwards we headed back to the hotel for our afternoon tour.
Michele was our tour guide again. She was from Cuzco and enjoyed telling us about the “Inca” and their customs. Cuzco was the capital of the Incan Empire and she enjoyed describing how the local Incan faith had become interwoven with the Roman Catholic Faith. We toured both the Inca Palace and the Catholic Cathedral.
Two stories stood out to me, the first was the painting of the last supper located in the Cathedral. The painting showed Jesus drinking the local drink instead of wine and the dinner meat was a Guinea Pig. She also explained that Judas in the picture was actually a depiction of the Spanish Conquistador, Francisco Pizarro, who betrayed the local people and tricked them into helping him defeat the Inca.
The second story involved the “Black Christ”. This statue of Jesus crucified was created around 1620. There was a massive earthquake in 1650, and this statue was carried out of the Cathedral in a procession. It was believed that when the black Jesus was removed from the Cathedral, the aftershocks from earthquake subsided. The statue is black from the smoke from the candles lit at the base of the statue over the decades. Each year on the Monday following Palm Sunday, the Black Jesus is taken from the Cathedral and driven through the streets. Everything shuts down on that Monday, and people line the streets and toss flowers in front of the black Jesus in hopes of being blessed for the following year. Unfortunately, the processions were in the Evening and we were leaving before they began. After the tour ended, we headed for one of the local cafes overlooking the Plaza De Armas for a Pisco Sour. This is the national cocktail of Peru and tastes kind of like a Margarita with whipped egg whites on top. It did taste better than I had remembered.
The next morning we walked back to the Plaza to see all the preparations for the evening processions and do some last minute shopping. In the Afternoon, we were transported back to the Airport for our late afternoon flight. We got back to the Ibis Hotel around 7:30 for our lst night in Peru. We were picked up at 5 in the morning for our flight back to Florida. We were met at every destination and everything was well planned.
Looking back on this trip and our experience with Exoticca Travel; everything was well coordinated and implemented. I was very impressed with the service and I couldn’t have done this any cheaper. I feel comfortable on recommending them for others that want to group tour experience. This is probably the least expensive way to visit Machu Picchu, Of course there are downsides of group travel and there is always time wasted waiting, but at the same time, you meet new people and share some interesting experiences. Bottom line; we are considering booking additional Exoticca trips….for the price, its hard to beat! Ecuador maybe?
Waddle on ducks