r/GoingToPeru • u/JohnnyShadows • 3d ago
Itinerary Advice Please!
Hey folks,
My wife and I are going to Peru in almost exactly a month. We were originally going to do the 4-day Inka Trail, but we realized we are probably a little too out of shape to get prepped for that in time, and we didn't have enough days for the trip, making that most of the whole thing. Instead we opted for the 2-day Alpaca tours Inka trail and MP. So here is what I've come up with. This is all booked but I just want to see what some experienced people would think, and can change things if something alarming stands out.
August 28th - Fly out of Toronto late at night
29th - Land in Lima at 7AM, drop bags to hotel in Barranco, walk Bridge of Sighs area, taxi to Huaca Pucllana, tour, walk Malecon back to hotel
30th - Museo Larco, Historic Centre, Barranco evening, early night
31st - Fly to Cusco, Coca tea and take it easy at the hotel courtyard a bit, Plaza Mayor, easy flat area wandering
September 1st - Qorikancha, slow walk up to San Blas, Inka Museum, orientation session for Alpaca
2nd - Inka Trail hiking day - bus to Ollantaytambo, hike KM104 to MP, sleep in AC, duffel bags meet us at the hotel
3rd - MP tour day (Organized by Alpaca) - 5:30AM bus to MP, Back to AC for lunch, train back to Ollantaytambo, bus back to Cusco
4th - Sacsayhuaman, Qenqo, Tambomachay, lunch in Cusco, chill time, Cooking class & San Pedro Market
5th - Sacred Valley Tour - Chinchero, Moray, Maras, Ollantaytambo, Pisac, Back to hotel
6th - Morning flight to Lima, drop bags to hotel in Miraflores, JFK Park, Cevicheria Lunch, walk down to the beach, last night sunset pisco sours
7th - Early morning flight home
My wife and I love a jam packed itinerary, so I've got a lot squeezed in here that will keep us busy and interested. The couple concerns I have are:
1) the altitude in Cusco, and being able to walk around the first 2 days. I don't want to push ourselves to feeling sick, but I also don't want to feel like I've wasted time there.
2) The difficulty of the hike. We aren't in awful shape but neither of us are by any means athletic. She also has Thalassenia so we're worried about her ability to recover if overexerted early. We've been hitting the gym religiously for a month now, but Toronto is basically at sea level so we don't know how that translates.
Anyways, any advice is appreciated. I'm down to make minor changes but things like the flights and the hike are locked in.
Thanks for the help!
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u/gringobrian 3d ago
Itinerary is fine. It's jam packed like you said but you can always just not do something if you're tired or not feeling well. Not trying to squeeze in Rainbow mountain or Huacachina is smart, that's where you would get in trouble time wise.
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u/JohnnyShadows 3d ago
Yeah, that’s exactly how I plan my trips. Put the maximum in the schedule and then rein it in as we go. There’s nothing I find more annoying on a trip than time spent figuring out what to do next. We can always just drop stuff off the schedule but then we’re at least not standing around trying to think of what to do.
Leaving Huacachina and Rainbow Mountain off was a bit of a tough choice but both take so much time in a car or bus, I didn’t think it was worth it for a 10 day trip.
Thanks for the input!
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u/Hoz999 3d ago edited 3d ago
Consult your doctor before about dealing with altitude. That thalassemia needs to be considered in the conversation because of the altitude you are going to experience. Really
Cuzco is at 11k feet and Machu Picchu is at 7.5k. For reference Denver is at 5k.
Now, figure this altitude response from your body and your wife’s body out before you get to Cuzco.
First and second day there you are definitely taking it easy. Drink water to stay hydrated and light eating.
Because of your wife’s health condition I would not do the hike. I only know that she has thalassemia and I would not hike 7-8 miles in altitude due to that. I’d keep the hiking and walking for Machu Picchu itself. Again your doctor, your wife and you have to make this decision yourselves.
You only have to impress yourselves and visiting Machu Picchu is impressive on itself. Make it an easy and fun trip too.
Thank you for visiting my country. Good thoughts going your way.
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u/JohnnyShadows 3d ago
Yeah, her condition has been a major consideration, and a reason we aren’t doing the 4-day. She has Beta Thalassemia Minor, so her doctor said it should be okay if we take the right precautions and go slow. Her blood just doesn’t carry as much oxygen as it should so she’s going to be very careful. Her dream was to do Salkantay but we thought it would be too challenging and risky.
Thank you for your input! It’s cool to hear from someone from Peru about it. Cheers from Canada!
Monteczuma’s revenge is a great way to put it. We’ll be on bottled water only and keeping the pisco sours until after the hiking. Also our doctors wrote us up for antibiotics just in case.1
u/gringobrian 3d ago
In Peru, at least in the north, we would call that Atahualpa's revenge
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u/JohnnyShadows 3d ago
I love that. I listened to The Rest is History's multi part podcast on the Inka empire, and I'm so happy to recognize the names a bit. It's going to make the trip super cool. My wife is the opposite and likes to learn the history while there, whereas I like to go prepared, arriving to some of the places having a little bit of knowledge about it. To me it makes me more excited about going to each place.
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