South America – Big Amazing World

How to Machu Picchu

Kim & Johnny Aguas Calientes, alpacas, Bus, Cusco, Cuzco, llama, Machu Picchu, Ollantaytambo, Peru, South America, Train, Train Trip 0 Comment

Machu Picchu has probably been on 99% of all travel bucket lists since the invention of travel bucket lists. It was number 5 on ours and yet we went into this venture with a ton of trepidation. The big fear was that there is a lot of time, money and preparation in getting there and hopefully it wouldn’t end up a tourist trap with just a couple piles of rocks on a hill.

Since we’re not people who like to leave other people in inexorable suspense… It wasn’t just a pile of rocks it was much more.

So, how do you Machu Picchu? We (six of us) decided to forgo the travel/tourist companies and booked all of the travel ourselves which saved us thousands per couple and was not that complicated. Details of that are at the bottom of this article.

The train ride from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes is part of what made the trip great. The majestic mountains viewed from the glass-topped train, the river with farmers and colorfully dressed local towns people strewn about, and the band going train car to train car playing pan-flute music really sets the tone for Machu Picchu.

Aguas Calientes is a small town at the base of Machu Picchu that has shops, restaurants and most importantly the bus terminal. You can walk to the entrance to Machu Picchu, but it is best done by bus unless you are an extremely good hiker and completely acclimated to the thin air. Altitude sickness was something we saw over and over while up on Machu Picchu. From the looks of it, the park is used to the problem as we saw them administering oxygen to people several times. Believe it or not most of the people were young . Getting acclimated to the altitude is very important as there are tons of steps and it is a very large area. You see people hunched over half way up steps everywhere. Having spent a few days at Lake Titicaca and a day in Cusco both of which are higher altitude than Machu Picchu, we were good to go.

The short bus ride up and down along the cliff is scarier than many amusement park rides. At the park entrance there were several tour guides offering their services but we opted to go it alone having been that road before. We purchased our entrance tickets, a map and a small book that had the basics of what everything was and never looked back.

One of the cool things about Machu Picchu are the llamas and alpacas that roam the terrain freely. We saw several of them running scared from people who were chasing them for pictures and opted for a different approach. The park had placed small apples around for them to eat so we sat in an area where bunches of them congregated to eat and let them come up to us. It made for some great photo opportunities, well, that was until people saw us there then came over and scared them away.

Another cool thing was the several amazing trails off the beaten path like the one along the cliff in the picture below. The thing that was odd was that we never saw the tour guides anywhere near any of them. To us it seemed like the people who took the tours missed out on some of the best parts of Machu Picchu. We used our map as our guide and because of the sheer size of the place we found ourselves referencing it pretty often.

We walked around for hours on end snapping photo after incredible photo and sometimes just sat to take it all in. Somehow, one of the “New” Seven Wonder of the World, Machu Picchu completely lived up to its hype.

This is how WE did it (we had two other couples from USA join us)

Used round trip Delta Airlines using miles to fly roundtrip to Lima Peru from the USA
Flew to Lake Titicaca for a few days then to Cusco Peru both on Tam Airlines booked on Cheapoair.com
Took a taxi to Hotel in Cusco (JW Marriott booked on points)
In Cusco town square we purchased round trip train tickets from Ollantaytambo (a town close to Cusco) to Aguas Calientes on Peru Rail.
Early the next morning we took an early taxi from our hotel to the train station in Ollantaytambo Peru. (booked the Taxi at the hotel front desk)
Took the Peru Rail train to Aguas Calientes (small town at the bottom of Machu Picchu)
In Aguas Calientes we got off the train and purchased a round trip bus ticket to Machu Picchu
Took the bus up to the Machu Picchu entrance
After a day at Machu Picchu we took the bus down the hill back to Aguas Calientes .
Then the train from Aguas Calientes to Ollantaytambo Peru (read below)
Taxi from Ollantaytambo to our hotel
Taxi from hotel to Cusco Airport
Flight from Cusco to Lima (Tam Airlines)
Lima flight to USA

A few tips.

I’m pretty sure 90% of the people staying in the hotels in Cusco are going to Machu Picchu. Just ask at the front desk of any hotel and they will tell you what to do, how long taxi/train rides are and everything else you need to know. They have answered these questions a million times.

We purchased tickets for Peru Rail in the Cusco town center. They were much cheaper than purchasing online. After we received a detailed explanation, we chose the train embarking from Ollantaytambo Peru because the train from the closest train station in Poroy Peru got you up to Machu Picchu way later in the day and the extra cost was the same as the cab. They do not have taxi’s or a bus that will take you to all the way to Aguas Calientes (at the bottom of Machu Picchu).

Machu Picchu bus tickets are easily purchasable when you get to Aguas Calientes. About $15 dollars for them to take you to the entrance at the top with a return ticket included. You can also walk to the top, but it is a big hike.

We recommend purchasing a bottle of wine in Aguas Calientes for the train ride back to Ollantaytambo . Make sure to take an opener with you that day! We did, and they will supply you cups on the train.

Staying in Aguas Calientes is also an option, but the hotel prices in our opinion were not worth it, plus we loved Cusco!

One Day in Quito Ecuador

Kim & Johnny Basílica del Voto Nacional, Ecuador, El Panecillo, Historic Center, Quito, South America 0 Comment

More often than not, travel has a lot to do with luck. The way our airline miles flight and a separate flight to the Galapagos worked out, spending a day in Quito Ecuador would save us a bunch of money and miles. Also as luck would have it, that day was Fat Tuesday. There will be more on the Ecuadorians crazy way to celebrate that later.

After a bit of research we picked three things that may have been of interest to us in Quito. The Historic Center of town which is supposed to be one of the best in South America, the El Panecillo Statue and the cable car that supposedly had great views of the city. We only had one day and because of that had to nix the cable car ride.

In the morning, we got up had breakfast and asked for a cab to the Historic Center. We got dropped off at the bottom of El Panecillo hill. In retrospect we should have got dropped off at the base of the statue, which at the time we didn’t know was an option. It was a long 700 step climb to the top of the hill especially when Quito itself is 9250 feet above sea level. The air was very thin.

The 130 some foot high “El Panecillo” statue of the Virgin Mary stomping a serpent was quite a site and for a few dollars you could climb up the base and get an even better look of the city. In the distance we could see our finish line for the day the Basílica del Voto Nacional.

So I mentioned that it was Fat Tuesday. In Quito and all over Ecuador they celebrate Carnival by dousing each other with water and spraying foam on anybody near by. They actually sell carnival spray foam cans all over town. We saw people on the back of pickup trucks with Super Soakers having people throw pots of water on them. It was a battle for the ages and a lot of fun to watch. We had been sprayed by foam and Super Soakers all day, but people were nice enough that if you weren’t spraying back they wouldn’t completely douse you. .We chalked it up to another cultural event we were lucky to experience.

After the long trek back down the hill, way easier than the climb up, we entered the Historic District of Quito. All around was amazing architecture, restaurants, pubs, open air markets. We even got some honey fresh from a live bee hive.

I must mention that we are pretty much clueless travelers. We didn’t even know what Quito was until we started planning a Galapagos trip. That being said we saw people in line to view stuff and just jumped in line. The first line we got in was to visit the Church of La Compañia de Jesus. I must say, I have stopped in many churches all throughout Europe hearing about how one is better than the other. This Church of La Compañia de Jesus is one of the most amazing artisan crafted churches I have ever seen. The 160 years of wood working intricacies and gold leaf trim that adorned every inch of the inside of the church was incredible.

We wondered the rest of the way through the historic district occasionally stopping for a wine, beer and food all the while getting surprise foamed or squirted. We love their brick oven pizza in Ecuador almost as much as they do!

Finally we had made it to Basílica del Voto Nacional, the “must see” according to everyone we had talked to. Supposedly it’s a replica of the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris with one exception. The gargoyles that adorn the outside are 1/3 Notre-Dame gargoyle replicas, 1/3 animals native to Ecuador and 1/3 native animals of the Galapagos.

The thing that made the Basílica del Voto Nacional more unique than any other I had been in was the access to everything. We felt like we were insiders, custodians or maybe even part of the clergy. There is scaffolding with 2 x 12 boards that crosses long ways above the top arches you see in the picture above that lets you view basically how the arches were formed. Across the scaffolding, which by the way has a railing, there is a small ladder that leads to an open outside deck. From there even another very narrow very steep set of steps that takes you up to the top of the spire.

At the top of the spire waiting for us was another incredible 360 degree view of the city and framed between the clock towers the starting line of the day the El Panecillo Statue.

This is how we did it.

Used airline miles from USA to Quito Ecuador
Booked a hotel online, there are hundreds of well-known hotels and others lesser knowns
Taxi from airport to hotel
Taxi to Historic District. (We recommend getting dropped off at the El Panecillo Statue instead)
Taxi from Basílica del Voto Nacional (there’s a taxi stand right out front) to hotel
Taxi from Hotel to airport.

How to Iguazu!

Kim & Johnny Argentina, Brasil, Brazil, Foz do Iguaçu, Iguazu, Iguazu Falls Pictures, Pictures, South America, Travel 0 Comment

Well this was a fine how do you do! Having just booked a week at Carnival in Rio de Janeiro we scoured all of the travel websites for something else to do in Brazil. It had to be something both interesting and relaxing because we had planned on going all out for Carnival. The place that kept popping up was Iguazu Falls or Foz do Iguaçu located on the Brazil and Argentina border. It also came onto our radar as one of the NEW Seven Natural Wonders of the World. So we booked it and are very glad we did.

Living just a few hours from Niagara Falls we went into this venture with a load of apprehension, after all Niagara Falls feels like a tourist trap. While you can just drive right up and see the falls, you feel like you’re in a city. You’re basically viewing an incredible force of nature while surrounded by something very unnatural.

Luckily Iguazu Falls was nothing like Niagara being located in what is basically a rainforest park with beautiful trails and wildlife. Amazing wildlife. Monkeys, Toucans, several different kinds of Coatis, lizards, giant iguanas, thousands of butterflies, and a selection of colorful birds that would keep any bird lover happy. We saw them all!

Choosing a hotel was more of a chore than usual. The hotel needed to be on the Brazil side of the border because we only have Brazil Visa’s and Argentina has a $160 visa/reciprocity fee that we were not willing to pay for a two night stay. (I will tell you how to visit the Argentina side without paying the fee coming up)

The first idea was to book a natural rainforest hotel in or near the small town that is nearby by the airport. The second idea was to book the Belmond Hotel das Cataratas that is located inside the park. We chose the Belmond 99% based on the idea that we needed to relax. It ended up so much better. The Belmond is the only hotel on the Brazil side that has open access to the park, you can walk down to the falls any time, even during non park hours (9am to 6pm). This made for our favorite part of the entire Brazil trip.

Landing at the Foz do Iguaçu International Airport Brazil we promptly went to the taxi booth and asked for a taxi to hotel. They said they would drop us at the park entrance and the Hotel would pick us up. It cost about $5.50 for the ride and sure enough there was a hotel shuttle at the park entrance.

We arrived at the hotel at around 11am and went through the customary unload the bags and bathroom break. From there we walked out the front door of the hotel to a view of part of the falls. It was completely jam-packed with people and tour buses. It was so congested, to walk 100 feet on the trail took us 1/2 hour and all we saw were people’s backs. At that point even though we were antsy to check out the falls, we abandoned hope and walked back to the hotel where free lunch and the pool awaited us. We knew that at 6pm the park would be devoid of tourists.

At 6pm we were rested and primed to venture back to the trails, this time there was not a soul around. It was only us and it was weird, not as much just weird as it was really really weird. A ways down the path we ran into about 20 Coatis with pups that didn’t seem to mind us walking by as they raided one of the parks strategically placed garbage receptacles. Then it was iguana after iguana, lizard after lizard and you couldn’t find somewhere to look that didn’t have a butterfly in view. Looking up, every once in a while you would see a monkey jumping branch to branch.

It took about an hour and a half to do what was really should have been a 25 minute walk to the Brazil side heart of the falls, the “Devil’s Throat”.

So there we stood, all alone in the middle of that bridge you see in all of the pictures with hundreds of people on it. The roar was so loud you couldn’t hear the other person yell from a few feet away. The mist from the falls drenched our clothes as we stood dumfounded trying to figure out how we could possible be the only people around in the middle of one of the 7 Natural Wonders of the world. (If you look real close you can see one of us on the middle of the bridge below)

For three days, we made sure to walk the trails before and after the park closed. It was that cool of an experience. They have boats you can get on to ride right up close to the falls, but we opted out because we felt we got that really close up to the falls feeling by just walking right up to the falls.

As for the trick to get to the Argentinian side of the falls without paying the USA tourist $160 reciprocity fee… It was as simple as booking a tour of that side of the falls from the Brazil side. The tour buses do not stop at the border for passport control. You can go do a day tour and return. You won’t get your passport stamped as being in Argentina, but as long as you know you did it, then who cares. Make sure to make it back on your bus in time or you will have a very painful border crossing back to Brazil if you need to take a taxi.

Sunset Candle light dinner at the Belmond Hotel overlooking Iguazu Falls.

This is how WE did it.

Airlines miles used to fly from USA to Rio de Janeiro airport GIG (you must have a Brazil VISA $160 good for 10 years)
Bought one way plane tickets from Rio to Iguazu Falls (about $156.00 each person)
Taxi from Iguazu Falls (Brazil) airport to park entrance $5.50
Free Hotel shuttle from park entrance to Belmond Hotel
3 Nights in Belmond (2 would have been easily sufficient)
Shuttle back to entrance (cab waiting – ask at front desk)
Cab back to airport $5.50
Airline miles back to USA from IGU airport.