TR: Galapagos and Peru in July/ Aug 2015

[Milboo]

Yeah no!!

I will confess I did not go up to the Guard's Hut for 'that' iconic photo either. Part of me regrets this in hindsight but I was struggling a little with the heat combined with the altitude and was a bit lightheaded.

 

[Major]

I was about to ask if you had any problems with altitude sickness

 

[Milboo]

Generally speaking no, did not have trouble with altitude sickness and was not noticing any major effects. I landed in Cusco in the morning, travelled around 90 mins to the Sacred Valley and spent the day there before I took my first Diamox tablet. But I chose to take these as a precaution anyway.

My friend said it hit her the minute she walked out of Cusco airport and her chest just felt tight and she found it hard to breathe.

At worst for me it just took more effort when exerting myself physically i.e. climbing stairs was harder.

Had very little side effect from the Diamox too - except the first night when I took a full dose and then had to get up every 2 hours for the bathroom! After that I took a half tablet only and about day 2-3, I was getting a little tingly in my feet which is common.

 

[kpc]

Next stop was Pisac to visit the markets. Was not overly busy but found it hard going shopping on the cobblestones! We did visit a jewelry shop there and purchased some nice silver pieces. Interestingly silver is sold by its weight but even in shops, there was room to negotiate.

I have to admit I really dislike shopping when it's about bartering on price. Found a couple of gorgeous scarves in here too.

Then hunger got the better of us and we hunted out the empanadas!

We stayed in Pisac a night and really enjoyed this quaint village. Did you get to visit the Pisac ruins? The Incas were amazing...

 

[Salem]

Hope your wrist is better!

 

[Milboo]

We checked into our hotel mid afternoon - the Marriott in the historical part of Cusco and located a couple of minutes walk from the main square and from San Blas.

Hotel is full of history - was a Cloister and is actually built over Incan ruins. The reception area was a chapel and things like the doors were massive.

Overall I was not super impressed with the hotel. Firstly, the room lacked a proper window as there is a level of rooms which gets blocked by portico (in hindsight I think I would have asked for a different room) and then was one of those annoying set ups where the basin etc was outside of the bathroom. Also no minibar automatically. But the main reason was the service which let them down massively:
- mid afternoon, sat in outdoor dining area where others were and simply no staff paying attention, couple alongside us were quite abrupt when a waiter did pass through - had apparently been waiting in excess of 40 mins for coffees to be delivered.
- pre- dinner - sat in bar area and waited for service, could not catch anyone's eye and after quite a wait, flagged a reception staff down who walked past.
- restaurant - stood around for quite some time waiting for anyone to turn up to seat us when it was not busy.

Disappointed as as we were recommended this hotel over the Belmond which had been my first choice.

Courtyard of Marriott - can see room windows peeking out behind arches. They did have a massive roof system on pulleys too.

Entrance area of hotel looking back to street

The massive entry doors

In our wanders we did pop into the Belmond for a look

This was their inner courtyard

On site they have the original chapel which was spectacular!

it was like this all around the entire room!

 

[Milboo]

Unfortunately I cut short our afternoon of exploration with my little accident and committed the ultimate sin (in my books if nothing else) and ended up in Starbucks (ugh full of backpackers nursing the last dregs of a single drink and soaking up free wifi) so I could clutch a cup of ice in an attempt to restore movement to my hand

Just around the corner from the hotel was the famous wall containing the 12 sided stone made by the Incas and which then had a palace built on top of it. Tour group was about 10 deep when we arrived so we kept moving! But again - amazing what the Incas could achieve:

Heading up to San Blas. We ended up walking up here the following night to Pacha Papa so my friend could have cuy and damn it's hard going!!

Started to drizzle and came around the corner and found this group gathered together to sit out the shower and could not resist the opportunity given the colours and textures in their clothing

One side of the main square

and the other with the main cathedral

Some of the locals

 

[Milboo]

Sadly had to cancel a reservation at MAP Cafe for dinner as I could not use my hand

But next day we chose an alternative to a tourist bus - opted for the Tranvia which was an old tram carriage on wheels! We finally located the office in the main square and ended up being the only passengers for the 2 hour tour of Cusco! Ok it was not as comfortable as a bus suspension wise but we sat out the back in the open and had an awesome time!
Don't take it if you want a great commentary!

Parked up at the White Christ statue

And inside

Incan flag and bull statues seen on the top of buildings

It tours the historical centre, crosses into the modern city but then climbs the hills above Cusco for amazing views and via Sacsayhuaman ruins

 

[Milboo]

Views from up high

The city was originally laid out in the shape of a puma, one of the sacred Incan symbols. If you also look to the left of the second photo, mid photo you can see the runway of the airport.

Some stats on the airport - a flight lands every 30 mins and in 2013, close to 3 million passengers passed through. Runway is 3400 metres long because of the altitude. It is a very technically difficult airport to land at due to the airport being in the middle of the city and the surrounding mountains.

Zoomed into the main square

Apparently the street that the Spanish came down when they invaded Cusco

 

[Milboo]

A few more from around Cusco.

Stopped at the Chocolate Museum and sat and watched the world go by for a bit

Eating their version of a banana split - but all was forgiven when I tasted the ice cream. Honestly the best I've ever had!

Then wandered down to the San Pedro markets which are very much for the locals and very interesting. The food hall type area down the back is supposed to have good food and otherwise each aisle in this big market was dedicated to a different type of food stuff - so a row or two for grains, one for meat, one for chocolate etc! And a couple of rows for fresh juices - all pretty much offered the same but still there were multiple stands. Basically whatever fruit you wanted could be juiced.

Seated outside was a common sight - Peruvian woman with buckets of juices including one made from the purple corn. Had to get a sneaky photo

 

[Milboo]

We finished our time in Peru with dinner at Pacha Papa in San Blas which was quite nice.

Cusco airport is chaotic! Was very grateful of have the benefit of the business class check in desks (for travelling in Y) - general queue would have been at least 80 deep. J desk had one ahead of us. Airport is undergoing renovations so lacking a lot of amenities - for example there was only 1 basic food/ drink stand after security and big queues. We had a gate change but it was not really announced unless you spoke Spanish so it was a case of follow the crowds.

I think I said this earlier but I recommend getting the window seats as it is a stunning approach. Very uneventful flight and an easy connection in Lima (from memory had lounge access) for a flight to Santiago. Flight coming into Santiago had a short patch of decent turbulence on descent.

Airport in Cusco - showing how close in it is!

heading out

 

[JohnM]

Dang! You've got me hankering to go back!

 

[Milboo]

We used a car service from the airport in Santiago to get to our hotel - San Cristobal Tower which is in the SPG group/ Luxury Hotels. My friend booked it and would not have been my choice due to location alone but it was a nice hotel otherwise. Very large room and good service. Downside was there was no portico for taxis to pull up under - we arrived in the pouring rain, you then have to get your suitcases up the escalators to reception.

We had a reservation at Borago but ended up cancelling it as we were both exhausted and could not face a multi course degustation - plus it was damn cold and pouring with rain.

We ate at the attached Sheraton and it was a really good meal but massive portions! This was the tomahawk steak!

Next morning dawned with the same weather so elected not to do a whistle stop trip to downtown Santiago instead sleeping in, having a leisurely breakfast and finalising packing before heading to the airport.

View from hotel

 

[JohnM]

That's pretty good to get a view of the Andes from SCL - even if it is under a cloud layer. Normally the smog blots out the mountains. Rain must have scrubbed the air clean.

 

[Milboo]

The final chapter...

I had continued to have issues accessing my flight bookings, including a very useless call to Qantas Chile who flat out refused to put my QFF number into my reservation (as it does not carry over from the LAN transfer). I held my ground, she said she had done it so I checked in while I was still on the line but was not done so pressed her again and voila suddenly it was there.

Excellent check in at SCL - no queues at J desks. Had a conversation there and referred to the fact it had been a bit of a nightmare with OLCI not working etc. At this time it was noted Y was oversold and I'd be on the list for upgrade due to status. Friend was rather pissed when told she was not (no status).

Waited out departure in the nice new SCL lounge. Boarding seemed a little chaotic with the queuing up and then hand luggage checks in the aerobridge. Sadly my boarding pass beeped green and I told my friend she was stuck with me.

Settled into bulkhead seats and exchanged pleasantries with a camera crew who'd just put a very very heavy piece of equipment into the locker above us (gee thanks). Then ground crew turns up asking for my boarding pass - BINGO!

I was moved to J which was relatively empty. Friend was not overly impressed with being left behind.

Can't remember his name now but had excellent CS throughout the flight. We had to do a seat cushion change as I ended up getting wet on takeoff with the condensation coming down the overhead bins.

Have to say though the food choices were pretty average - the pulled pork tacos were blergh.

But very soon this was the sight out my window and I was home...

Thanks for sticking with me! Next trip I will try and do live - probably won't be as long winded then!!

 

[Salem]

Thanks for all the info, can't wait to get there soon

 

[Bindibuys]

Dang! You've got me hankering to go back!

Ditto ....

 

[Mattg]

A very enjoyable read. I think I may just have to book another trip to South America... those sub-$1400 return QF fares to Lima at the moment are very, very tempting!

By the way, well done on getting upgraded on both the outbound and return flights. That's a pretty fine effort!

 

[docjames]

Fantastic thread, thanks for sharing, some fabulous pics!

 

[craven morehead]

Fantastic thread, thanks for sharing, some fabulous pics!

+1 from me