Advice on 14ish day Peru Bolivia trip

Esox Lucias

Howdy all,

First time posting in here, and wondering if any of ye have any knowledge of Peru and Bolivia.

Basically I'm on a short timeframe as I want to get to Brazil (Sao Paulo) by the 26th of June for the Belgium v South Korea game.

So, are there any must do things i should try and fit in while there? At the moment im landing in Cusco on the 11th of June and doing the Salkantay Trek for 4Nights/5Days ending in Machu Picchu. But from there I am stumped. Would really like to see the Amazon for a few nights, Lake Titikaka and the Bolivian salt flats, as well as La Paz and end up in Santa Cruz (cheapest flight to Sao Paulo is from there), but the logistics of it all is too much. So what are the things i should do?

Any help in the best way to get MP and Amazon in would be great, and any other gems ye may know of as well would be appreciated.

Thanks

solerina

One issue I see straight away is that Cuzco is at very high altitude, you are recommended to be in the area for at least a day or two before beginning the trek....believe me its a good idea, I had been at altitude for 5 days before starting and still got short of breath quite easily (and was fairly fit at the time) also we had 18 days in Peru alone and didn't see nearly enough so 14 days to combine it with Bolivia is a bit of a rush if you really want to see anything...plus Cuzco is a great town, its well worth spending more than a day in it !! We did the peru panorama trip with G Adventures which combines all you want to see in Peru but it took 14 days...was fab though !!

themacman

You can bus it from Cusco to Titicaca to LaPaz.

From LaPaz you can do a dirt cheap trip to the Amazon, flying in and out, spend a few days on the river.

Don´t miss the Salt Flats they are spectacular.

I agree though, you are really pushing it timewise.

Esox Lucias

Cherrs peeps.

Knew I was pushing it timewise and ye have just confirmed.

Any ideas what would be the best itinery for me then? Il be in lima on the 10th and have to be in santa cruz on the 25th... had settled on just doing the trek and amazon well and seeing what I can squeeze in inbetween. Would obviously love to see titikaka and salt flats.

Again, thanks for the replies and help.

solerina

I am not suggesting you book this trip but it would give you an idea of a rough time frame....it was busy but not rushed and I really think you shouldn't see all these places in any less time. The internal flights are essential if you want to see this amount in 2 weeks as the bus journeys involved would be very long.
http://www.gadventures.com/trips/peru-panorama/PPP/2014/

sarkozy

I was beaten to it. You might be absolutely floored by the altitude for the first few days - everyone is different in this regard. One way or another, your body won't have enough oxygen. You may, but not definitely, suffer some pretty bad headaches for a while, too. There's nothing to do immediately, except descend about 100/200 feet. But, if this happens I would highly recommend buying yourself a bag of coca leaves and either chew them or make a nice tea out of them (literally drop them in hot water and let it brew). I suffered terrible altitude sickness in Potosí and he helped hugely. That's the highest city in the world, so coming down to Orouro and then the Lake and into Peru was nothing after that.

I think your schedule isn't awful. We made it from Buenos Aires to Lima in 3 weeks. We managed to pack a lot in.

We did it all ourselves, winging it as we went. Cuzco is so tourist-friendly, there's no stress once you get there. There's a central tourist office and you can sort everything out there or on one of the side-streets off the square.

Bolivia is a different kettle of fish - I prefer it - but it's a bit more chaotic and you need to ask along the way what the best bus companies are and to get their timetables. But it's all fine, really, if a little hairy at times. Do watch your possessions. I had my stuff swiped in Potosí bus station (I was a sitting duck, sick with the altitude and consequently not very alert).

I don't know if it might make sense to fly from La Paz to Santa Cruz to save some time. However, it might be a shame missing the drive east, which I hope would take you into the sub-tropical Yungas region and then further east to Santa Cruz.

Just: do not underestimate how you might be affected by the altitude and plan accordingly.

PS: the best guidebook for South America by far in our experience is Footprints.

Esox Lucias

Cheers people for all the help.

Its shaping up now. I think i may have underestimated the time needed
to spend in cusco.

One final question tho re internal flights. Ive read online that i can book them at the cities. But am i better booking them beforehand? Are they much cheaper? I would like the flexibility of just being able to book the day before i fly out of cusco and down to la paz. But if i have to book, its what I expected to do anyway. Any of ye have any knowledge of this?

Cheers again.:cool::)

solerina

Esox Lucias wrote: »

Cheers people for all the help.

Its shaping up now. I think i may have underestimated the time needed
to spend in cusco.

One final question tho re internal flights. Ive read online that i can book them at the cities. But am i better booking them beforehand? Are they much cheaper? I would like the flexibility of just being able to book the day before i fly out of cusco and down to la paz. But if i have to book, its what I expected to do anyway. Any of ye have any knowledge of this?

Cheers again.:cool::)

I'm assuming things havn't changed since I was there but it used to be the case that booking internal flights was easy and reasonably cheap (a day or two before flight), however it was dearer for foreigners than it was for locals....so beware when booking !!

themacman

solerina wrote: »

I'm assuming things havn't changed since I was there but it used to be the case that booking internal flights was easy and reasonably cheap (a day or two before flight), however it was dearer for foreigners than it was for locals....so beware when booking !!

FWIW http://www.peruvian.pe/en have recently scrapped the "foreigner" rule