Machu Picchu- DIY or travel agent
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Anonymous
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If you’ve gone to Machu Picchu, did you do all of the logistics yourself or did you use a travel agent? If you bought all your own tickets, how hard was it? It all looks doable on our own but wanted to get a sense of personal
experience. |
Anonymous
| My info is very old, because I think I went 20 years ago - but you have to do the hike through a tour company I believe. |
Anonymous
You can also use transit to get there and not hike. We did it this way because we didn't have time to acclimate to the altitude so we could do the hike. We wanted to also see Lake Titicaca and other sites. I hear the hike is amazing, but it didn't work out for our timing. |
Anonymous
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Highly recommend:
https://www.alpacaexpeditions.com/our-porters-the-green-machine/ I booked my own flights and used them for the Short Inca Trail hike. Also did several day trips with them. They are highly ethical and treat their staff well and provide high end gear and supplies. Many porters don’t even have real shoes. I found their communication excellent in both the planning stages as well as once we were there. |
Anonymous
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We used a travel planner but it was because we were doing a multi-country trip, so it just made sense to have them plan everything. We didn’t hike— we first flew to Cusco, then a train to Aguas Calientes (beautiful trip), and then a bus up to the top.
One tip: I did not think the altitude would bother me but it really did. I think we should’ve spent more time acclimating in Cusco or something; I felt like I had the flu the whole time I was there and it put a damper on the trip. There is also medication you can get to help. |
Anonymous
| It does depend on if you’re hiking or taking the train. We hiked and went through G Adventures. There are limited number of Inca hikers allowed and the Inca trail was sold out when we booked, so we did the Lares trek, which is the easier one. If you have the time and at least a solid moderate level of physical fitness it’s worth the adventure (we are active but not gym people and it was fairly strenuous, especially with the altitude, hiking over 20 miles in 3 days). They did combined trips with Lake Titicaca or the Amazon (we did the Amazon) and it was one of my favorite trips ever. |
Anonymous
| Thanks. Not planning to do the hike/trek- I’m sure it’s amazing, but my kids would complain too much, so just planning on taking the train / bus. |
Anonymous
| We just went to Aguas Calientes and arranged our own hostel/transport. There are good hikes in the park if you want to get a hike in. |
Anonymous
| We’re going in June and used a travel agency. |
Anonymous
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I hiked Machu Pichu and thought it was overrated.
What was way more fascinating was to go to Amazon Basin from Peru or Bolivia. It was amazing to swim with pink river dolphins, fish for piranhas, go in marshy swamps in a boat with guides to catch anacondas, see caiman (type of crocodiles), capybaras, etc. That was truly amazing. |
Anonymous
| We arranged it ourselves, over ten years ago. Only thing that was difficult (then) was booking the train tickets. We didn’t trek. Don’t stay in Cusco at beginning due to altitude. Stay in Aguas or the Sacred Valley (or both). |
Anonymous
The Amazon Basin around Rurrenabaque is amazing. We stayed at Chalalan years ago. And the trekking in Bolivia is incredible. But the altitude is brutal. We skipped the MP trek. But visiting MP itself and exploring Sacred Valley were also amazing. |
Anonymous
Do both. Also, having done both myself, you were not swimming with the pink dolphins. |
Anonymous
Sounds great, except - mosquitos! |
Anonymous
That part confused me, too. |