The beginning and end of this trip came with unplanned flight ✈️ changes for us. Our arrival flight 🛬 was diverted and our departure flight 🛫 was delayed due to bad weather. Our first day in Peru was delayed significantly. Thankfully, we were able to rebook flights, juggle some things around and still make it to all the places we intended to see.
Day 1 Arrival(s) 🛬
- We arrived in Lima a couple hours before our flight to Cusco.
- Collected bags, cleared customs and immigration.
- Got to the domestic terminal, got through security and arrived at gate.
- Arrived in Cusco at 9:00pm.
- Took pre-booked taxi to Ollantytambo Hotel El Albergue 📍 (about 90 minutes).
Absorbed in watching the airport operations at Miami INTL.
Day 2 Machu Picchu ⛰️ 📷
- We woke up bright and early, and headed to breakfast at the hotel.
- Took the 7:30 am train from Ollantytambo 📍 to Machu Picchu Pueblo (village) also known as Aguas Calientes 📍.
- Had a snack at a cafe 🥐.
- Found a guide and bought tickets for the bus to take us up to Machu Picchu.
- Stood in line for our bus.
- Made it to the Machu Picchu entrance and walked circuit 2 (about 2 hours).
- Took the bus back to Aguas Calientes.
- Got some Lunch at Govinda Cafe.
- Did some shopping and explored the artisanal market.
- Took the train back to Ollantytambo.
- Had dinner at the wonderful farm to table restaurant belonging to our hotel, calle El Albergue.
Absolutely mesmerized by Machu Picchu.
Day 3 Sacred Valley 🙏🏽
- After breakfast we walked to the Ollantytambo ruins📍.
- Explored the ruins for about 90 minutes.
- Back at the hotel, checked out the organic farm, coffee roastery, traditional underground oven and land, belonging to the hotel.
- Checked out of hotel, took pre-booked taxi to Maras salt mines📍.
- Had lunch in Pisac town.
- Went to Pisac ruins📍.
- Next, stopped by Cochuasi Animal Sanctuary📍 to see condors, llamas 🦙, alpacas, vicunas, pumas etc. all being rehabilitated.
- Reached Cusco and checked into hotel.
- Went to Pizzeria Trattoria Casa Grande Cusco close to our hotel for dinner.
A whole side of a mountain is covered by salt mine flats.
Day 4 Humantay Lake 🏔️ 🐴 🥾
- Wake up at 3 am to be ready by 3:30 am for our tour.
- Day trip to Lake Humantay📍.
- Breakfast with tour, in-village near the trailhead.
- Hike for the first 30 minutes of the trail.
- Hike or ride horses 🐴 the rest of the way up the trail.
- Spend about an hour at the lake walking around, taking pictures and catching your breath.
- Hike back downhill.
- Drive 🚐 back to cafe for lunch.
- Get back to Cusco, walk to hotel from drop-off point.
- Went to Taste of India restaurant close to our hotel for dinner.
Majestic mountains with glaciers and lake.
Day 5 Rainbow Mountains ⛰️ 🌈
- We had another early wake-up for our day trip to Palcoyo Rainbow Mountains📍.
- 3:45 am pickup from our hotel.
- Drove to a little village along the way for breakfast.
- Drove 15 minutes to Inca bridge.
- Made it to Palcoyo Rainbow Mountain.
- Hiked the trail to the end to see all the rainbow mountains.
- We did not go to the stone forest as that involved more elevation gain, but it is included in the tour.
- Drove back to the village restaurant for lunch.
- Made it back to Cusco by 5 pm.
- Rested and showered at the hotel.
- Dinner at Vida Vegan Bistro.
Fantastical place, might as well be another planet.
Day 6 Cusco town ⛰ 🏘️
- Had breakfast at the hotel.
- Headed to the Artisanal 👨🏽🎤 market 🛍️ around 8:45 am but it was closed.
- We waited till about 9:30 am but it never opened. We walked towards the San Pedro market 🛍️, stopping at several other small markets along the way. They only started opening at 10:00 am but the Artisanal market remained closed until 10:30 am (the last time we checked).
- Shopped for chocolates 🍫, food items, sweaters and souvenirs at San Pedro market.
- Made it to lunch at Gharwal Indian restaurant.
- Stopped by our hotel room to drop off our shopping.
- Went to Museo De Cacao for a brief chocolate making workshop (booked in advance).
- Walked around the San Blas area for about an hour (waiting for out chocolates to chill) visiting some markets, shops and cafes.
- Picked up the chocolates and walked back to the hotel.
- Headed to dinner at Greenpoint vegan restaurant.
Chocolate making workshop was brief and fun.
Day 7 🚂 Perurail 🚞 to Puno
- Breakfast was at our hotel.
- We took a taxi from our hotel to the train station in Cusco.
- From here we boarded our train to Puno.
- We enjoyed a wonderful 3-course meal onboard the train, afternoon tea service and amazing views along the way.
- Once we arrived in Puno📍 around 7 pm, we checked in and headed to the restaurant in the hotel for dinner.
Probably the best train ride experience yet, for us.
Day 8 Lake Titicaca 🐟 🛥️
- We had breakfast at our hotel overlooking the magnificent Lake Titicaca📍.
- After breakfast we got picked up by our tour company to take us to the harbor in Puno for our boat tour.
- Our tour began by making a stop on Uros islands📍 - the man-made reed islands found in Lake Titicaca. Here, we spent time on a family’s island learning about the island’s history and how it was made.
- We went on a reed-made boat-tour to another Uros island.
- From here we made our way to Taquille island📍 (about 90 minutes).
- On Taquille island, we hiked an uphill road to the center of town. From here, the road was more downhill until it brought us to a family home / restaurant with expansive views of the lake. We had lunch with our tour group.
- From here, we made it back downhill to a different harbor from the one we were dropped-off at.
- The boat then took us back to Puno harbour ⚓️.
- We browsed the market here for a few minutes before taking a pre-arranged taxi back to our hotel.
- Once back at the hotel, we saw some alpacas 🦙🦙🦙 out our window. These belonged to the hotel. We couldn’t resist paying them a visit. We went back to the room and freshened up for dinner at the in-house restaurant.
Taquille island scenary is rated one of the best by NatGeo and we agree!
Day 9 Lima town and beach 🌊
- We had breakfast at our hotel and checked-out.
- We had a pre-arranged taxi take us to the Inca Manco Cápac International Airport also known as Juliaca airport about an hour away from Puno.
- Once at the airport, we headed to the lounge to wait for our flight.
- We boarded our flight and made it to Lima.
- We had a bit of trouble figuring out where to catch the airport shuttle provided by our hotel. Once we got to the hotel, we had lunch at the in-house restaurant.
- We called an Uber to take us to the Miraflores neighborhood📍. However, after trying to wait almost an hour and 2 different drivers, Uber never arrived.
- We decided to go with the hotel’s taxi service and used them to get to Miraflores.
- We arrived at Lovers Park and walked till the Lacromar shopping mall along the paved walkway overlooking the cliffs and the ocean.
- We enjoyed the walk watching surfers in the ocean and the local neighborhood.
- We walked around the Lacromar shopping mall for an hour or so before having dinner at KO Asian Kitchen.
The high cliffsides setup of Lima beach is very unique, with active surf scene.
Day 10 Getting 🛫 Home 🏡
- Having discovered the day before that our flight was several hours delayed, we woke up, had breakfast and headed to the airport.
- After getting to the airport we found out that we would not make it to our connecting flight to get home as it was cancelled due to bad weather. We ended up spending a night in Miami before making it back home a day later than originally planned.