Peru/Machu Picchu Beta Needed- Short Notice Trip Possible? Paging Rideit, et al.

[Dhelihiker]

I base it on one really fucked up experience. We had a taxi take a "short cut" thru the hood and I was kinda freaking out. We stopped at a light and two guys were fighting and there was mob growing around the car. The driver was not reacting the way I would have and I felt like it was a bit of a set up. I was 100% sure the wife and I would be killed or sold for a 2 liter of Inca Cola.

That and the fact the doorman at our Mira Flores hotel carried a M-16 and wrote down the license plate of every taxi "in case you didn't return"

Rosa Nautica and the outlying ruins was cool experience, the Franciscan Church was cool too.

Maybe I had bad luck but Lima was little sketch to me, being with my tall blonde wife didn't help either.

Next time I go back to Peru Im doing DMT, its all the rage with the kids these days.

[rideit]

Lima *CAN* fucking rock.
no lie.
I prefer Barranco for a night or two. Great restaurants, outrageous nightlife, as safe as any major city, IMO.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractio...ma_Region.html

http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2008/dec/20/peru-lima

http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel...anco-BR-1.html

[rideit]

This place was/is outstanding...
http://riceandcurry.wordpress.com/20...peru-barranco/

[rideit]

Oh, and If you wanna toss in a day of DH....
http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/f2/...-trail-249612/

[butterscotch]

Thanks Hugh and Butterscotch!

Looks like LCP only flies to and from Haurez Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. We get in at like 1AM on Sunday night, so maybe we'll just take the first bus up there?

I don't want to mess around with the altitude though- I don't want to risk either of us getting sick. We live at 5k and regularly spend time up at 9k, but it is still nothing to mess with.

Perhaps we could fly back that Saturday to Lima to avoid the bus?

Anyone know anything about beaches in Peru? Are they worth going to?

How bout Lima? Is it worth spending a couple nights there or would we be better off staying up north of a couple extra days?

Lima has good parts and bad parts (as you might expect for a city of 8 million) and the bad parts are easy to avoid. Best food of the trip was in Lima, and nowhere else was even close.

If you're going guided in the Huayhuash, it may be tricky to do a 5-day trek. It's certainly an option to go from Llamac or Cuartelhuain to Catajambo and catch a bus from there back to Lima, but your guide/cook/arriero will all need to get back to where they started from (and you will get to pay for that).

Regarding flying back from Huaraz, I'm not sure if staying the night in Huaraz and catching a morning flight to Lima saves you any time vs. just taking an overnight bus back to Lima (I'm assuming that an overnight bus is an option). If it's clear, the views from the plane out of Huaraz will be be insane.

Btw, I am not trying to dissuade you from going to Machu Picchu, because it's amazing.

[Kevo]

The trip is kinda coming together- just need to fill in a big blank of the trek itself.

We've decided to head north.

We're staying here for two nights- http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...sh_Region.html

Also, even though it isn't a place we'd normally shell out for, we're staying at the JW in Lima our last night in Peru since I've got enough Marriott points from business travel for us to stay free. - http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...ma_Region.html

We're looking into doing a 4-5 day Cordillera Blanca hike. Anyone have experience going without a guided group?

Seems like a lot of the more reputable companies are wanting $300-$450 per person for a 4-5 day guided trek, which seems pretty darn expensive. We are more than capable of going on our own, but it is just the extra logistics of buying all our food and fuel that we're trying to avoid.

Also Rideit- do you have connections in Huarez?

Thanks everyone!

[Kevo]

Just got back. Trip was awesome, except Jen got really badly sick (brushed her teeth with tainted water) when we got back to Lima and had to spend a day in the hospital with IV antibiotics. That night I got the worst food poisoning of my life and almost went to the hospital myself.

TR to come, but pics are up here- https://picasaweb.google.com/1147256...4?noredirect=1

[Danno]

nice! bummer about the illness.