Gallavanting around PeruI'm up early to eat breakfast this morning, and Bill has gotten up to eat with me. I am sad to leave this group of people, who have also become good friends in such a short time. I will miss them.
Kike arrives at 7 with a van to take me to the bus station. My seat is at the very back of the bus, next to Danielle, an Australian girl who is traveling the world for a year. We are about the same age, and end up talking for much of this long day of driving.
We stop every couple of hours to rest, stretch, and explore. The day is overcast, the first such day since I arrived in Cusco. The ride is long, and the guide on the bus is not nearly so skilled nor knowledgeable as Marco. But it's fun to stop in the little towns along the way, to see the small museums or exotic ruins or colorful markets. We stop for lunch at mid-day, a generous, varied buffet at a small restaurant, and eat well before piling back on the bus.
We arrive in Puno around 5 pm. After a little confusion, I find the woman who is supposed to pick me up and transfer me to the hotel. She tells me what I can expect for the next couple of days--I'll be heading out to Amantani Island on Lake Titicaca--and I ask her to explain in Spanish so that I can practice my comprehension. I'm surprised at how much my high school Spanish has improved even in these 10 days. I can speak it more confidently and understand a remarkable amount.
We arrive at the Q'elqatani Hotel, which is quaint and very centrally located, just off of Calle Lima. The bed is perhaps the most comfortable of all I've slept in on this trip. Danielle and I had decided to meet for dinner, so we venture out together along Calle Lima. She is frugal, so much so that she bargains for the price of our meal at the restaurant. With my group, I ended up paying more for meals than I'd expected, but we always went to fairly fancy restaurants. Danielle teaches me about the 'tourist menu,' a set menu that generally includes a choice of appetizer, drink, entree, and dessert, for a set price which is much less expensive than the ala carte menu. A pity I didn't know of this option earlier . . .
After dinner we explore the local markets. Night has fallen, and the streets are a blur of light and color and sound. We find stands that sell fruit, books, music, meat, clothing, jewelry. This part of town has few tourists--we are almost the only light-haired people, and the Peruvians stare at us curiously. Perhaps not many tourists venture this far away from the main areas of town.
We've used Adventure Life for several trips in the past and have always been very pleased with them. The staff is personable and professional at the same time. Erin put this trip together for us in just a few days, and it has everything we were looking for! I recommend them without hesitation.
benn
1 month ago
I served as the person responsible for planning a trip to Galapagos and Machu Picchu for a group of 14 people. Jane with Adventure Life was very helpful throughout the process. Making suggestions, offering insight, and in the end helped me overhaul an initial plan into something even better. Also, Jane makes all the plans including the flights within and between Peru and Ecuador. Thanks to her this is going to be a stress-free adventure. After making the final decision about the trip, Jane gathered the contact information for all the travelers and sent out the details to each traveler individually with links to pay deposits, upload passport info, and personal preferences. She also ensured a group email was sent out to the entire group welcoming us to the trip preparation process. Our trip is a year from now and we are excited to make this once in a life time trek. I am happy to have organized things through Adventure Life. However, two small issues came up that were a little off putting. First, Adventure Life adds $50 per person to the cost for each traveler as a donation to a Galapagos conservation fund. I think this should he offered as something that can be added at each traveler’s discretion. Instead, it is automatically added, and each person must ask to have it removed if they do not want it included. Second, although the trip deposit may be paid with a credit card without incurring an additional fee, the balance must be paid in another way to avoid a 3% credit card fee. Maybe this is standard with all travel agencies. In the end I would definitely go through Adventure Life for the next big trip.
Brenda Nielsen
2 months ago
I think it was very helpful that Franny and I spoke on the phone. I think she had a better idea of what we were looking for, and she planned a great itinerary for us!
Elizabeth
3 months ago
My representative Kevin was very responsive generally and in crafting our itinerary to our specific priorities.
Rocco Labella
3 months ago
Easy.
Great work on the follow up and details by Waru.