Peru - From Cuzco to Machu Picchu. Options.

Hello. I am planning this trip. I e-mailed PeruRail to book the Hiram Bingham up the hill and back. With regret they have not yet responded. I am getting close to the date which I must commit for my award air ticket. Can someone please comment on other options to reach Machu Picchu from Cuzco? Is it correct you can only book the Bingham via e-mail? Any comments appreciated. Thanks

I did receive a reply. FYI. It is necessary to wire $ for your trip to Peru.

It is necessary to wire $ for your trip to Peru.

Really? I am going next week and this is what they told me:

About payment, please it has to be cash only (american dollars or local currency) (total bill is USD 202.32) and you can buy the tickets until one day before the day of your trip (in the morning). In order to buy the tickets you will need to bring your passport and of course your reservation code number.


Are you trying to get the tickets pre-paid because you will not be in CUZ the day before your trip?

Yes. I will only arrive into CUZ the afternoon before my trip on the Bingham. Peru Rail confirms only cash or wire. Where are you getting this lower rate please? Thank you

Ah, you are on the Bingham. I didn't catch that. There are three train options:

(from: http://www.orient-express.com/web/tper/tper_perurail_thetrains.jsp)

1. Backpacker train. Cheapest, "roughest" $65.45 pp
2. Vistadome. This is the one we will take. It is about $101 pp. Free snacks.
3. Hiram Bingham. Leaves later than the others, $476pp. Includes meals, bus and entrance fees.

I have figured that the Vistadome plus the required 20 minutes bus ride (about $10RT), admission ($20) and meals (?) is the best way for us. We also prefer traveling in more of the local style when possible (although I realize that in this case there really are virtually no "locals" going to MP). I also am not interested in paying $476 pp!

If, like me, you are not using a tour company, you might want to check with the hotel you will be staying at to see if they can pick up the train ticket for you. Be aware that flights to CUZ are frequently delayed or cancelled, especially in the afternoon. You may want to plan your trip so you arrive in CUZ early in the morning the day before your trip to MP, or you may find yourself missing out. Our flights are screwed up already, and I expect them to get worse. Lan e-mailed me about a schedule change for our CUZ-IQT flights:

Origen: CUZCO
Fecha Salida: 12APR2005 (0730 hrs.)
Destino: LIMA
Fecha LLegada: 12APR2005 (0850 hrs.)
--------------------------
Origen: LIMA
Fecha Salida: 12APR2005 (0750 hrs.)
Destino: IQUITOS
Fecha LLegada: 12APR2005 (0935 hrs.)

The fact that our new connecting LIM-IQT flight leaves an hour before we arrive in LIM seems irrelevant to them. Maybe they expect a really late departure from LIM!

I am now re-booking our LIM-CUZ flight and returning IQT-LIM flight. The CUZ-LIM-IQT I will worry about later. I think the best way to handle a trip to a relaxed culture such as this is to expect nothing to be as scheduled and roll with it.

Thank you for the fine information. A fellow FT has a friend who just came back from the Bingham. I am expecting a call from her. If anything interesting I will advise herein. I will take another look at my CUZ flights. I am only in-out of LIM to CUZ. Regards

Our flights are screwed up already, and I expect them to get worse. Lan e-mailed me about a schedule change for our CUZ-IQT flights:

Origen: CUZCO
Fecha Salida: 12APR2005 (0730 hrs.)
Destino: LIMA
Fecha LLegada: 12APR2005 (0850 hrs.)
--------------------------
Origen: LIMA
Fecha Salida: 12APR2005 (0750 hrs.)
Destino: IQUITOS
Fecha LLegada: 12APR2005 (0935 hrs.)

The fact that our new connecting LIM-IQT flight leaves an hour before we arrive in LIM seems irrelevant to them. Maybe they expect a really late departure from LIM!

I am now re-booking our LIM-CUZ flight and returning IQT-LIM flight. The CUZ-LIM-IQT I will worry about later. I think the best way to handle a trip to a relaxed culture such as this is to expect nothing to be as scheduled and roll with it.


I hope your trip went well, and hopefully you'll have a look at this when you get back. How did these flights work out?

We have a trip planned in August, and have those exact flights booked - CUZ-LIM-IQT.

How did you get round it?

Arrrggghhh !! I always get upset when I hear of someone taking the train. You should do the walk !! Even a person of below average fitness can do it pretty easily ....

We just got back from our trip and had an absolutely amazing time. I think the highlight was our days at Muyuna lodge upriver of Iquitos. Our guide (Usiel) was incredible. He told us that April was one of the best times for the trip as the water was at a good level to see stuff like monkeys. He also said that some of the "premier" lodges closer to Iquitos had very little wildlife left. He said that the guides had to "make a big deal about some ants or termites" because there wasn't a lot more to see and that at some of these lodges the guests wanted a refund because they didn't see what was promised (he also said that some of the lodges promise the guests will see everything including polar bears) :-). He recommends Muyuna or Yarapa; Yarapa is more expensive and much "plusher", but is in the same area.

Our flights were as to be expected. We wound up with Lan LIM-CUZ and CUZ-LIM and Tans LIM-IQT. Our Lan IQT-LIM flight was cancelled. There was a pretty big mess, but Lan got us on the over booked Tans flight so we could catch our return international flight (this did not make some people happy).

I brought nice, crisp $100 bills. When we arrived, we learned that the series starting with CB was not accepted due to counterfeit problems. I was told that it is common and it changes quickly. You may want to check with your hotel or some other booking the day before you go and see if there is a series that is banned (not that it won't change) or at least make sure you have a variety of series. I met a woman who only had the CB series. I had to contact my bank because my ATM card didn't work, most places I went didn't take credit cards (or charged a fee) and I ran out of non-CB series money.

Let me know if I can be of any assistance.

Oh, and Ozzie, I would have loved to have hiked the trail. From the age and condition of some of the people I saw heading out, I figured it didn't have to take too much effort. We just didn't have the time. With only a week, we chose to visit the Iquitos area instead of hiking the trail. I would love to do it sometime.

Oh, and Ozzie, I would have loved to have hiked the trail. From the age and condition of some of the people I saw heading out, I figured it didn't have to take too much effort. We just didn't have the time. With only a week, we chose to visit the Iquitos area instead of hiking the trail. I would love to do it sometime.

I guess with a week I understand. It is just such a sight seeing the sun rise over the site from the sun gate, I don't know how anyone could miss it !!

For my money, I'd rather fly to Puerto Maldonado and take a boat up the Madre de Dios and Tambopata rivers to Tambopata Research Center (http://www.perunature.com/lodges_trc.php). Even jaguars are not uncommon there, never mind red howler monkeys, and 14 species of psittacines. The early morning kaleidoscope of colr with all the macaws and parrots arriving at the collpa (red earth riverbank) to eat dirt is unforgettable. Check out Rainforest Expeditions (http://www.perunature.com/home.php) - the Center is a lovely rustic place to see wildlife and birds, walk the miles of trails, support the research and training going on there benefitting the Peruvian people, and the nearby Eseieja community. I even saw Pacaranas here - they had been thought extinct, and my photos were requested by the Smithsonian Insitution (I gave them gladly); a nice thrill.

Thank you for the fine information. A fellow FT has a friend who just came back from the Bingham. I am expecting a call from her. If anything interesting I will advise herein. I will take another look at my CUZ flights. I am only in-out of LIM to CUZ. RegardsHow was the Bingham? Was it worth the $$$?

With regret I had a conflict so this is probably going to be a Fall trip.

Well, in my opinion, the Vistadome was very nice. Small meals both ways in a comfortable, fairly new car. I am sure the Bingham is even better, but the Vistadome was almost what I expected the Bingham to be like. I would not hesitate to take it again, even for a special trip like a honeymoon. It was very similar to a low priced airline flight. I would much prefer to find ways to put the extra money in the pocket of locals (who really need it) rather than Peru Rail.

When you return you can take the train all of the way back to Cuzco or get off early and take a bus for the last leg. The bus only costs a few dollars at most and saves something like 1/2 hour. Some tour packages include the bus for a fee that can be 10X what you can buy the bus ticket for at the station. We stayed on the train the entire way. There were only 2 other people in our car and this wound up being a very special part of the trip. We returned to CUZ at night and it was great to be able to see (and photograph) the city at night. I would have paid extra to STAY on the train.

Terri

Arrrggghhh !! I always get upset when I hear of someone taking the train. You should do the walk !! Even a person of below average fitness can do it pretty easily ....

I must be of very below average fitness. I thought the hike was pretty tough.

This is what we did in Dec 2001:
The train is very slow getting out of Cusco because it has to climb steep mountains... the total trip is about 4 and a half hours, and usually requires getting up at the ungodly hour of 5 or 6 am. Instead, we took the train from Ollantaytambo (AKA Ollanta), a village in the Inca Sacred Valled. From Ollanta, the train trip is only 90 minutes long.

You can get to Ollanta from Cusco by bus. We got there by cab (about US$15). They also have shared cabs (called "colectivos"), but they cram in 5 passengers in a station wagon, not comfy, and definitely not private, but costs less than US$2 per person.

From Ollanta we took the Backpacker train (US$10 one way) in the evening. We took it back to Ollanta the next day late in the afternoon. In MP (the town below is called Aguas Calientes) we stayed at the Gringo Bill hotel for $25.

Please note prices may have changed in the last four years....

2005 RATES
Route Train Round Trip One-Way Trip

Poroy-Machu Picchu-Poroy Hiram Bingham US $476

Cuzco-Machu Picchu Vistadome US $101.15 US $59.50

Backpacker US $65.45 US $41.65

Ollantaytambo-Machu Picchu Vistadome US $69.02 US $41.65

Backpacker US $51.17 Not applicable

Perurail.com

How much did you all pay for your intra-Peru flights?

Gf and I are planning a trip to do the 4-day hike. We are arriving in LIM on award tickets and understand that we will need to fly LIM-CUZ and then IQT-LIM on the return. Is that correct?

How much did you end up paying for those flights?

g_leyser, did you get your award tickets on AA? If so, and if you plan less than a 24 hour stop in Lima, you can get your onward ticket to Cusco as part of the award ticket.

There are several airlines who fly within Peru, all with websites that can give you fare quotes. Check www.lan.com for example.

I'm finding the booking process for Perurail to be painful. I'd like to get the run down on train availability over a few days, but can't seem to get Ninoska or Alvaro to move beyond providing information piece by piece. (To Alvaro's credit, he's responding pretty quickly, but he still doesn't give me complete information.) I can't quite explain it, but I don't feel like I'm getting the whole scoop on what trains are available.

Any recommendations on an agent/process I can use that will eliminate the need to work with Perurail and and to stop at their office in Cuzco to buy the tickets on the way in? (We were planning on going straight to Ollantaytambo from the airport.)

Gracias. :)

Be careful using prepayment via wire. If you do not pick up your tickets at least 24 hours in advance per their policy (even due to circumstances beyond your control) you will probably forfeit your tickets and have to pay again. I am speaking from first hand experience here.

Also, check your tickets for errors before leaving the window. They'll charge you to fix their own mistakes.

PeruRail has a monopoly going - please be careful with them. You cannot win a fight with them unless you don't go to MP.

This seems an appropriate thread for tacking on a related question.

We wre traveling from Cusco to Puno this weekend, and have purchased tickets online. We are taking an early morning flight from Lima to Cusco (yeah, I know it's risky). If things go according to plan, we should arrive at the train station about half an hour before departure time. Thit T&C's indicate that tickets should be picked up an hour before. Will they really hold us to that, or will they do the exchange at the Cusco train station?

Cheers.