Lima
The Lima airport is nothing remarkable. It actually has a Starbucks and a decent food court (pre-security), and some shopping at duty free (post-shopping). There is no free wifi for general use. The international side has a lounge that both One World and Star Alliance premium members can use (I'm not sure if other brands can use it, so please check), which serves OK food but has very slow wifi. It has computer terminals that are infinitely faster though, so if you are not limited to your own device, try to snag one.
When you exit the arrival area, immediately on your right will be the official taxis called Taxi Green. The rates are fixed based on where you are going, and we were charged S/. 50 to Miraflores. It took us about 40 minutes. The driver said normally it would be about 30 minutes, but there was highway construction which resulted in a diversion.
There are Scotiabank ATMs on the second floor of the airport that do not charge you a fee, so when you exit arrivals you can walk straight ahead and take the escalators on the left up, turn right, keep walking, and see a bunch of ATMs. There are also other banks, but we found Scotiabank to be sufficient. :-)
Figuring out a SIM card was a pain, but basically you have to go to a shop that sells the card itself (they call it "chip" there). We found a department store with Movistar and Claro desks, and managed to get a chip, but then had to go to a pharmacy to get a top up card. We paid about US$5 for the chip, and US$10 for 500MB of data for 30 days (but the maximum daily use was 10MB).
Restaurants generally do not include tip (one did, Senzo in Cusco for 18%, which did not have very good food though service was good and the ambience was lovely), and the Lonely Planet told us to tip 10%. Sometimes when restaurants run your credit card, they include a buffer for authorization of up to 20%, but will only charge whatever tip you write down on the paper.
Negotiate a rate before you get into a taxi. To/from airport/Miraflores is S/. 50. We managed to get S/. 20 rate between Miraflores and the old historic center, and S/.10 between Miraflores and San Isidro.
The folks in Lima do not speak very good English. Do try to learn some key Spanish words, otherwise I suppose pointing and gesturing might help. Lol.
Food was generally salty. This applies to all of Peru. I felt like a salt pan after this trip.
Puno
Airport seemed like a giant container. Do not expect anything.
Altitude here is high, I think around 14,000 ft. Consider taking diamox or some other kind of altitude sickness pills. Coca tea is supposed to help with altitude sickness. I liked the taste, and warm drinks, so I kept drinking it but not sure if it actually helped (maybe, maybe not).
Taxi fare is around S/. 80 from Juliaca airport (JUL) to town, and takes about an hour. We managed to negotiate S/. 75 on principle heading into town, but got our hotel to get us a taxi back to the airport for S/. 80.
Our Lake Titikaka tour cost S/. 75 each. The hotel said it is possible to go to Uros (reed islands) on our own, but not Taquille (boat might go there and not wait for you to return, no scheduled boats), so we opted for a tour. Taquille was just OK, so if you have limited time or just want to chill in Puno which has lots of great shopping (we are told it is much cheaper than Cusco) you can just take the scheduled boats to Uros to see the reed islands. It is really amazing how they built them!
Cusco/Sacred Valley
Airport sucked, had some food. There was free wifi but Dawg had to fiddle around for a long time to get it to work, so just take it as there was no free wifi.
Cusco is also at elevation, I think around 11,000 ft, but lower than Puno. Diamox was also recommended.
Our friends' hotel included a free transfer to the airport. Lingon and I took our taxis separately since we came on different flights - he arrived earlier and negotiated S/. 20, so I did the same. Lonely Planet said it would cost S/. 12-15, and Wiki Travel said S/. 10. The official airport taxi price is S/. 40, so unless you are the sort who is embarrassed to bargain, you can save quite a bit here.
Food in Cusco was much more expensive.
Shop around for a Sacred Valley tour (Pisac, Ollantaytambo and Chinchero). The Lonely Planet said we could get one for $22 (not including the tourist ticket, which is either S/. 70 for 2 days or S/. 130 for 10 days (about US$25 or $46). Zito and Dawg's hotel was quoting USD$75 and ours was quoting $88 including the tourist ticket and lunch, but we went near the main square and found a travel agency that charged us S/. 30 not including the tourist ticket and lunch. What a deal right? Not sure how the tour would have been like if we took a more expensive tour, but we enjoyed the ruins anyhow and our tour guide spoke some good English so I was happy.
Inca Trail
I believe we start around 9,000+ ft. of elevation. It is VERY highly recommended to stay in Cusco for a few days to get acclimatized and I completely agree with this if you plan to do the Inca Trail, because the Inca Trail is brutal.
Of all the big hikes I have done (the other two being Kilimanjaro and W Trek at Torres del Paine), this was the most interesting, since there were ruins to see and stories to hear along the way, since people lived here many many centuries ago.
While I think this is a really amazing hike, I recommend it with reservations, since it really was quite a physical challenge.
Cell service was poor. Toilets were poor. Please practice the third world squat if your tour company does not bring a portable toilet for you.
After the hike, you will be taken to Aguas Calientes for lunch and to take the train back to Poroy where probably your tour agency will meet you and transport you back to Cusco. We were booked on the second train at 4.43pm, which was way more time than we needed. There is a 3.20pm train, so try to get your travel agency to book that for you if possible. We did the Huayna Picchu hike and managed to finish up around 12.30pm and be at our designated restaurant (where our bags were stored) at 1.00pm, and for us we just wanted to go back and relax so waiting there was brutal. All the restaurants in Aguas Calientes seemed to be cash only, so make sure you have some cash to pay the bill! They also take USD but the exchange rate is poor.
Visit Peru!!!! :-)
The Lima airport is nothing remarkable. It actually has a Starbucks and a decent food court (pre-security), and some shopping at duty free (post-shopping). There is no free wifi for general use. The international side has a lounge that both One World and Star Alliance premium members can use (I'm not sure if other brands can use it, so please check), which serves OK food but has very slow wifi. It has computer terminals that are infinitely faster though, so if you are not limited to your own device, try to snag one.
When you exit the arrival area, immediately on your right will be the official taxis called Taxi Green. The rates are fixed based on where you are going, and we were charged S/. 50 to Miraflores. It took us about 40 minutes. The driver said normally it would be about 30 minutes, but there was highway construction which resulted in a diversion.
There are Scotiabank ATMs on the second floor of the airport that do not charge you a fee, so when you exit arrivals you can walk straight ahead and take the escalators on the left up, turn right, keep walking, and see a bunch of ATMs. There are also other banks, but we found Scotiabank to be sufficient. :-)
Figuring out a SIM card was a pain, but basically you have to go to a shop that sells the card itself (they call it "chip" there). We found a department store with Movistar and Claro desks, and managed to get a chip, but then had to go to a pharmacy to get a top up card. We paid about US$5 for the chip, and US$10 for 500MB of data for 30 days (but the maximum daily use was 10MB).
Restaurants generally do not include tip (one did, Senzo in Cusco for 18%, which did not have very good food though service was good and the ambience was lovely), and the Lonely Planet told us to tip 10%. Sometimes when restaurants run your credit card, they include a buffer for authorization of up to 20%, but will only charge whatever tip you write down on the paper.
Negotiate a rate before you get into a taxi. To/from airport/Miraflores is S/. 50. We managed to get S/. 20 rate between Miraflores and the old historic center, and S/.10 between Miraflores and San Isidro.
The folks in Lima do not speak very good English. Do try to learn some key Spanish words, otherwise I suppose pointing and gesturing might help. Lol.
Food was generally salty. This applies to all of Peru. I felt like a salt pan after this trip.
Puno
Airport seemed like a giant container. Do not expect anything.
Altitude here is high, I think around 14,000 ft. Consider taking diamox or some other kind of altitude sickness pills. Coca tea is supposed to help with altitude sickness. I liked the taste, and warm drinks, so I kept drinking it but not sure if it actually helped (maybe, maybe not).
Taxi fare is around S/. 80 from Juliaca airport (JUL) to town, and takes about an hour. We managed to negotiate S/. 75 on principle heading into town, but got our hotel to get us a taxi back to the airport for S/. 80.
Our Lake Titikaka tour cost S/. 75 each. The hotel said it is possible to go to Uros (reed islands) on our own, but not Taquille (boat might go there and not wait for you to return, no scheduled boats), so we opted for a tour. Taquille was just OK, so if you have limited time or just want to chill in Puno which has lots of great shopping (we are told it is much cheaper than Cusco) you can just take the scheduled boats to Uros to see the reed islands. It is really amazing how they built them!
Cusco/Sacred Valley
Airport sucked, had some food. There was free wifi but Dawg had to fiddle around for a long time to get it to work, so just take it as there was no free wifi.
Cusco is also at elevation, I think around 11,000 ft, but lower than Puno. Diamox was also recommended.
Our friends' hotel included a free transfer to the airport. Lingon and I took our taxis separately since we came on different flights - he arrived earlier and negotiated S/. 20, so I did the same. Lonely Planet said it would cost S/. 12-15, and Wiki Travel said S/. 10. The official airport taxi price is S/. 40, so unless you are the sort who is embarrassed to bargain, you can save quite a bit here.
Food in Cusco was much more expensive.
Shop around for a Sacred Valley tour (Pisac, Ollantaytambo and Chinchero). The Lonely Planet said we could get one for $22 (not including the tourist ticket, which is either S/. 70 for 2 days or S/. 130 for 10 days (about US$25 or $46). Zito and Dawg's hotel was quoting USD$75 and ours was quoting $88 including the tourist ticket and lunch, but we went near the main square and found a travel agency that charged us S/. 30 not including the tourist ticket and lunch. What a deal right? Not sure how the tour would have been like if we took a more expensive tour, but we enjoyed the ruins anyhow and our tour guide spoke some good English so I was happy.
Inca Trail
I believe we start around 9,000+ ft. of elevation. It is VERY highly recommended to stay in Cusco for a few days to get acclimatized and I completely agree with this if you plan to do the Inca Trail, because the Inca Trail is brutal.
Of all the big hikes I have done (the other two being Kilimanjaro and W Trek at Torres del Paine), this was the most interesting, since there were ruins to see and stories to hear along the way, since people lived here many many centuries ago.
While I think this is a really amazing hike, I recommend it with reservations, since it really was quite a physical challenge.
Cell service was poor. Toilets were poor. Please practice the third world squat if your tour company does not bring a portable toilet for you.
After the hike, you will be taken to Aguas Calientes for lunch and to take the train back to Poroy where probably your tour agency will meet you and transport you back to Cusco. We were booked on the second train at 4.43pm, which was way more time than we needed. There is a 3.20pm train, so try to get your travel agency to book that for you if possible. We did the Huayna Picchu hike and managed to finish up around 12.30pm and be at our designated restaurant (where our bags were stored) at 1.00pm, and for us we just wanted to go back and relax so waiting there was brutal. All the restaurants in Aguas Calientes seemed to be cash only, so make sure you have some cash to pay the bill! They also take USD but the exchange rate is poor.
Visit Peru!!!! :-)
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