<![CDATA[ALUSOARE

<![CDATA[ALUSOARE - Peru]]>Tue, 15 Oct 2024 00:54:06 +0200Weebly<![CDATA[the kindness of people]]>Fri, 12 Aug 2016 08:30:47 GMThttps://www.alusoare.com/peru/the-kindness-of-people

Peruvian people are for sure special and here I want to share one of my experiences :)

Before going to Peru I wrote to the Romanian embassy in Peru to tell them that I will be in the country for about 2 weeks. A couple of hours later I received an e-mail that was telling me that the Peruvian consul in Romania, Mr. Carlos Cuento would like to invite me for a Skype call to give me more details about his country. I was surprised and impressed! It rarely happens that officials take actually the time to give touristy advice, but Mr, Cuento seems to be from a different breed. :)

Some days later he called me and after 30 min of discussions,besides the very valuable information I got from I got from him, I also realized how much he loved hist country and how proud he was for being from Peru. Another thing that he told me was and I realized only afterwards was that over the last (several, don't remember exactly but a lot) years he was spending 2 months travelling around Peru and until now he did not manage to see everything. (I wanted to do it all if possible in less than 2 weeks!).

At the end of the call, he asked me to send him my plan and what we aim for so that he can tell me if this would be feasible and if he can add any tips for the particular places that we were going. I did and he called back to share his thoughts with me. as said, impressive!

Now after more than one year since I am back I realize that I still have to see so so many places in this beautiful country with extreme kind people.

Thank you!

]]><![CDATA[Machu Picchu & Huayna Picchu]]>Fri, 08 Jan 2016 11:43:32 GMThttps://www.alusoare.com/peru/machu-picchu-huayna-picchu

The top highlight in Peru is Machu Picchu and even though it is super popular & touristy the trip is totally worth it.

Book your entrance in advance only 2000 people allowed per day. Here you can find the official website where you should also by the tickets from.

If you want also to climb Huayna Picchu get prepared as it is quite intense, for this hike there are 400 tickets a day

200 from 7-8 AM
200 from 10-11 AM

You need to have the passport with you to enter. At the exit you can ask to get your passport stamped that you have visited Machu Picchu :)

How to get there:
You can hike up from Aguas Calientes or take the bus. I would recommend the bus especially if you want also to hike the Huayna Picchu as the effort is significant. You can buy the bus tickets from a kiosk next to the bus station in Aguas Calientes (you can't miss it). As there is only one company operating on the route the trip is expensive: 74 soles per person.

Huayna Picchu Hike

Around 10AM we went towards the entrance for Huayna Picchu. You will enter with other 200 people. You will have again to register once when you enter and then again when you go out.

It took us 2h altogether (including the stay at the top)...it can take longer though to reach the top (2,720 m). The hike is quite difficult but totally worth it! Make sure that you are in good health conditions, as besides the uneven size of the stairs, the lack of enough oxygen can make things even more complicated. Go in your own rhythm there is no need to hurry anywhere. Get water with you to help with the way up, and watch your step especially on the way down, it can be slippery.

I got on TripAdvisor a lot the of questions which hour is better to book for the Huayna Picchu, the answer would be: it depends.

We went for the second group and it was an excellent decision. We arrived at Machu Picchu quite early 8ish AM as we wanted to get pictures without all the crowds. It was super foggy till around 9 AM, thus the view from the Huayna Picchu would have not offered you a lot with the morning hike.

We left Machu Picchu around 1PM to get to our train back to Cuzco.

#ILoveToTravel

]]><![CDATA[Tips for getting to Machu Picchu]]>Tue, 01 Dec 2015 10:57:13 GMThttps://www.alusoare.com/peru/tips-for-getting-to-machu-picchuGoing to Peru makes it a must to go and see one of the 7 wonders of the modern world: Machu Picchu!

You have a couple of ways to get here. Three of the most common ones are:

Option 1: By Train + Bus: You can get a Bus to Ollantaytambo and from there the PeruRail
Option 2: Walking the Inca Trail: the classic version are 4 days (3 nights) walking which is quite expensive: 300–400$ don’t know the exact price.
Option 3: Alternative Route

In order to save some money and have a more local type of experience we decided to go for the alternative route, which although exhausting turned out to be a very nice trip.

We aimed to reach Aguas Calientes same day as the next day we had the tickets for Machu Picchu & Huayna Picchu.

Route: Cuzco — Santa Maria — Santa Teresa — Hidroelectrica — Aguas Calientes.

Cuzco — Santa Maria

We left at 4AM from our hostel in Cuzco towards the terminal de Santiago.We got the taxi for 4 soles. Once at the terminal a combi was just leaving with 3 more free places. The guy was asking 20 soles, in the end we paid 15 soles per person. From there a 5h trip to Santa Teresa. The road is brand new, so although a lot of turns we did not feel that it was a dangerous road as I read around the internet. What might surprise you are the rivers that are passing over the street as there are no bridges.

Santa Maria — Santa Teresa

Well, people in Santa Maria got used to the tourists. As they know you don’t have too many options to get to Santa Teresa they started asking higher prices and negotiating turned out difficult. They also leave in a certain order so going to someone else would not help. We got the ride for 10 soles per person. It was a true local life experience. It was a normal 5 persons car, the guy had his wife in front, the 3 of us on the back seats and then in the trunk a local lady that needed to be dropped off on the way, we picked up some other people on the way..we were 8 in the end. I am very sorry I did not have the chance to take a picture of the car, it was quite funny too see.

Santa Teresa — Hidroelectrica

Once here you have 2 options, further take a combi/taxi or walk. We asked some locals and they told us it would take about 2.5h to walk so we walked. Normally you just need to follow the road, there are some crossroads where we had to ask just to be sure but you should not have any problem.

Hidroelectrica — Aguas Calientes

You basically need to follow the railway tracks. There are some arrows at the beginning, so it is absolutely impossible to get lost. You just need patience & watch out for the train :)

After some 10 km you get to Aguas Calientes.

If you need more details on the route, we more or less followed the information on this post (in Spanish).

#ILoveToTravel

]]><![CDATA[Trekking ideas: Colca Canyon]]>Tue, 01 Dec 2015 08:36:52 GMThttps://www.alusoare.com/peru/trekking-ideas-colca-canyon

With a depth of 3,270 m Colca Canyon is one of the deepest Canyons in the world (twice as deep as the famous Gran Canyon in the US). Excellent trekking experience!

We did not experience any height sickness, but at the time of the hike we have been travelling at > 3000 m for almost 2 week.

There are mainly 3 classic tour options:

1 Day Tour - this does not involve trekking, same as 2 Day tour up to Seeing the condor from there, return to Arequipa
2 Day Tour - will be elaborated below
3 Day Tour - same as 2 day tour but at a slower pace

There are loads of agencies that organize the tour, so make sure to check several before booking one. All the agencies have the same tour no matter what they will tell you. We paid 95 soles per person after negotiating the price. I don't remember the name of the Agency but it was in Plaza de Armas under the arcades it had a stand with post cards at the entrance.

price included: 2 breakfasts, 1 lunch, 1 dinner, 1 night at Oasis Paraiso Colca, the bus and the guide
price excluded: 2nd lunch - buffet all you can eat 28 soles, entrance at swimming pool with hot waters + 70 soles for the entrance in the National Park

The bus picked us up at 3AM. In the morning in the bus is cold so get something warm along, sleeping bag if possible as well. Get an extra t-shirt as you will sweat during the hike so you will need to change and get a bathing suit as there are swimming opportunities. As always pack as light as possible, not more than a daypack.

â€‹Our guide Yolanda, explained us a bit the difference between the people living in the Canyon, namely about the Collagua and the Cabana cultures. She also explained us how we can differentiate between a male, female and baby condor. The view is very nice and it is kind of funny when you see all the people pointing out: "look look there he is".

At 9:15 we went to meet our new guide (Pati) and the group that we were going to go for the trekking part. Yolanda was going back with the 1 day tour people.

So, we meet Pati and our instructions are as follow you have to climb down for 6km (aprox 1000 m) you have to wait when you reach the river, they estimate this to a 4h walk. We managed to do it in about 3h. Watch your step as due to the small stones and sand you can slip easily. Also if issues with the knees think twice before deciding for the trekking experience.

â€‹After the river there is a bit of an uphill, we had lunch on the way and could taste some right from the tree figs and grenadine (yummy).

After around 1h of flat walk we came to a point where Pati told us: This is a test for tomorrow, if you manage to do this piece in 18 min or less you will be able to finish tomorrow's climb in less than 3h. So all with enthusiasm started strong and after a while we realized we were breathless :S .. once you find your rhythm everything goes easier. I managed to finish in 14 min and needed a Gatorade at the end :) . This picture above is very representative for 2 reasons...down there where you see the pools is the place we were about to sleep ... and the 2nd reason is the line you can see up the mountain: 5 km -- 1000 m climb next morning.

This place below is called today: Las Palmeras - Oasis de Sangalle.

The swimming pool have temperate water at about 20 degrees (I would have liked a couple of extra degrees) the rooms very basic, no electricity, the walls of the toilets and showers are out of a sort of bamboo so you can basically see quite easily inside. The dinner area is very basic as well only one light around. I enjoyed sleeping one night there it looked indeed like a little paradise :) and you can rest very well.

TIP: get a head lantern with you + extra battery for your phone.

Next morning we had to wake up early and at 5 AM the climbing started so that we reach the top before the sun was starting to shine over us. The breakfast was only later on, after we went up.
So as I said: 5km uphill in total 1000 m. Reference: Average time 3h, fastest time 1h, slowest time 7h.

Based on the experience from the day before I knew I have to go in my own rhythm, so I started walking and only stopped at the end (no breaks, unless a donkey was coming and I was letting him pass in front of me :P) in total 2:20h! Very happy with my time :)

After the hike, we had breakfast then we left towards the hot water springs, on the way we stopped in one of the villages on the way where you could buy some souvenirs or drink Colca Sour which is similar to the Pisco Sour only that it uses Sancayo juice instead of lime juice.

From there we had 1h time at the hot water springs and than back to Chivay where we had lunch. From there up to the top at 4910m. Where you have an overview over some volcanoes, It was snowing when we got there so could not see much. The way back to Arequipa could not be without some very cute Lamas and Alpacas

The schedule in general was:

Day 1:

03:00 AM -- bus picks you up at hostel, leaving towards Chivay
06:30 AM -- arrival at Chivay + breakfast
08:30 AM -- arrival at Cruz del Condor - Raise of Condor
10:00 AM -- arrival at Pampas San Miguel, downhill trekking of the canyon
13: 00 PM -- break, lunch
14:00 PM -- leaving towards CosÃ±irhua, Malata
16:00 PM -- arrival at Oasis + dinner

Day 2:

05:00 AM -- uphill trekking of canyon
08:30 AM -- arrival at Cabanaconde for breakfast
10:00 AM -- leaving towards Chivay, stops at Antahuilque y Maca
12:00 PM -- arrival at terma waters La Calera
13:00 PM -- lunch (buffet) in Chivay
14:30 PM -- departure to Arequipa, stops at 4910m + to see the llamas & alpacas

#ILoveToTravel

]]><![CDATA[the mystery lines: NAZCA, Peru]]>Tue, 01 Dec 2015 08:03:27 GMThttps://www.alusoare.com/peru/december-01st-2015One of the most spectacular yet unknown remains of the Incas are the Nazca lines. Up to now nobody knows how exactly they were created and why.

The above picture was not done with a smartphone but with a canon professional, still the view from the plane is very clear and if zoomed even pictures taken with a smartphone are clear enough....in the end the memory stays with you does not in the picture. The above figure is the Colibri.

We arrived in Nazca at 5:30 in the morning coming in from Arequipa. Pay attention as at the bus station there are already people waiting trying to rip you off with the flight over the lines. As we were still trying to actually wake up, we had a coffee across the street and the owners advised us to get all arranged directly at the aerodrome, what we also did. Once there again some agencies were trying to convince us to go with them, but we said we want to check out the "offer". So after looking around we decided to get the standard tour with Aero Paracas.

We booked the 4 person plane paying 70 USD per person. As we did not have so much cash with us, they agreed to pay them the money at the end to the driver that was bringing us back to the city. You can pay with VISA but there is a 6% extra charge...so either get enough money with you or try to convince them to pay afterwards. You can pay in soles.

During the flight, the pilot & co-pilot explained us where exactly we should look so that we can see the figures. It is everything super clear so if you follow the instructions you won't miss them for sure. Everything takes around 30 minutes. Neither me nor my friends felt any type of height/plane sick. At the end you can stamp your passport that you have seen the Nazca lines and you get a certificate. :)

Once back to the city, we went eat at Limon & Sazon close by the bus terminals. We had the chevice mixto and spade fish, EXCELLENT, really good and fresh food, I totally recommend it.

Well, enjoy the flight, if available get a good camera to have nice shoots, if not you will for sure have a great memory.

#ILoveToTravel

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