Salt PansWe were up at 6 a.m. and headed down for breakfast in the hotel, another fine meal. We walked through the village and bought a few souvenirs at the market. We walked up to the hot springs but didn’t go in because we were short on time. As we were walking back down the hill Linda stepped in a hole and twisted her ankle, nothing serious, but ironic considering the amount of walking we had done. We met up with Ayul around 10 a.m. and headed for the train station which was going to take us back to Kilometer 82 where we would get a van ride back to Ollantaytambo. The train ride was quite pleasant. It followed the Urubamba River, and you could still see the damage that was caused by the flooding from January. Some sections of the tracks were still under repair. We arrived at Kilometer 82 and got on the van to head back to Ollantaytambo were we would pick up our luggage and met our next driver who was going to take us back to Cusco. The drive was about 3-4 hours long. We stopped several times along the way to sightsee. We were both tired so we were not as enthusiastic during this part of the trip. We arrived back at our hotel in Cusco at around 3:30 p.m. and checked in. This was a sad time because we had to say goodbye to Ayul because he was not going to be seeing us off tomorrow. Over the last 9 days we shared many conversations, meals and laughs with Ayul, I feel that we grew to know Ayul as a friend. He was and OUTSTANDING guide throughout our adventure. After a short time in our room, we went down to the main square for dinner and to purchase a few more souvenirs. It started to rain so we headed back to our room for the night.
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.