Phima Voyages

The trip in Cusco was well planned. We appreciated the logistical planning for transport and the guided tours in English. The travel agency in Cusco set up a what's app group and Jime was very prompt in her responses in the what's app chats. She was also very helpful and would provide exact and accurate instructions for each day's activities. In particular, we want to thank our tour guides (Edilberto Huamani in Sacred Valley and Cusco archeological sites tour, Fatima in Machu Picchu and Ketty in Rainbow Mountain tour) for giving us excellent overview of the history of Cusco. They were very kind and enthusiastic in sharing their knowledge with us. They spoke English very well and we could converse easily with them.

For the trip to Pisac, we had a Spanish speaking guide with a translator who seemed like an intern with the tour company. It was unfortunate that we realised the Spanish guide had a lot of information to share but the translator did not manage to translate the information accurately. For example, the Spanish guide spoke for 1 minute regarding the archeological sites in Pisac, and the translator followed up with 1-2 sentences which did not appear to represent what the guide had wanted to convey. The translator did not have very good command of the language as well. Although we enjoyed the sights in Pisac, we thought we would appreciate the sites further if there was a good English speaking guide with us.

The rainbow mountain tour allowed us to appreciate the beautiful scenery but I suffered from altitude sickness. It was also very cold in the mountain with strong wind, and we were unprepared for the weather. Jime had mentioned that it was very cold in the rainbow mountain the day before the trip, but we had not packed thick jackets for our entire trip in Cusco. I will suggest that the tour company should warn the participants regarding the weather and give the temperature ranges in the mountain, and also give warning regarding possible altitude sickness + give information regarding the altitude and how strenuous the activity may be, so that the participants can gauge if this tour is suitable for them.

Overall, we still enjoyed our trip and will recommend other tourists to consider booking the tour with this company, especially for English speaking visitors. The itinerary allowed us to experience many aspects of what Cusco has to offer, and we understood more of the Peruvian/Incan culture from our trip. Thank you Martina for planning this.

Martina and her team did an amazing job. The follow up with great on every part of the trip. We felt very comfortable in a foreign country.

Well, done

Martina was awesome and planned the trip well however the execution of the trip lacked the quality we expected from Kim Kim.

Language was a big issue in Peru. We had an hard time understanding the English speaking guides. Many drivers who came to pick us up didn’t speak a word of English which was also very challenging. The guide in Lima lacked energy and was not engaging. She took us to a restaurant that lacked hygiene and we ended up not eating. We took a bus from Lima to Nasca but guide told us journey was 4 hours rather than 7 and we got off on wrong stop. Thank god someone spoke English and asked us to get back on bus. I specifically requested a meal in Nasca but when we checked into the hotel the front desk had no clue about our meal and to top it all they didn’t speak English. So 11 pm in the night after 7 hours of bus we were out on street looking for food in a town where we didn’t understand the language.
Cusco excursions were amazing and our guide Will was stellar. Hotel in Cusco smelled like someone had defecated in the room but hotel staff was unable to identify the issue (entered room multiple times). Amazon trip was the most memorable for us but on our way back Lima airport was shutdown - nothing that tour guide can control however every time we called them they didn’t answer rather preferred to communicate via WhatsApp messages. That was strange... I wish they would pick up our calls given we were stuck in Cusco and language was a huge barrier for us. I do want to point out that texting via WhatsApp was prompt.

All in all I feel for the money we paid, guides could be better and definitely hotel should have been top notch - they weren’t. The airport issue took all the pleasure out of the vacation and the fact that tour guide was not willing to talk rather chat only added to frustration.

Everything was amazing. Martina planned a perfectly balanced trip, just what we asked for. We had 2 guides: Diego and Herlin, both we top notch guides, knowledgeable, patient, friendly and helpful! Hands down would work with everyone again in the future!

Hotel Reviews

Costa del Sol Wyndham Lima Airport

Lima

Busy busy! Front desk was a bit slow but room was clean & steamroll was great.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Sol Natura Hotel

Ollantaytambo

Friendly staff, clean rooms and nice breakfast.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Jaya Suite Machu Picchu

Aguas Calientes, Machu Picchu

Clean and great staff. Breakfast was also really nice. A bit loud due to location being by a soccer field but overall, happy with the hotel.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Llipimpac Guesthouse

Cusco

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Antigua Miraflores

Lima

Friendly staff, clean rooms, great location. Restaurant was fantastic, ate there 3 times and loved it each time. Highly recommend, super cute atmosphere and good energy

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Antigua Casona San Blas

Cusco

Perfect, so clean! Wonderful customer service, friendly, helpful, responsive and the food was perfect too.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Via Ferrata and Zip Line and Pisac

Peru

Wow! What an experience! Our guides were very professional, polite and helpful. I had a hard time climbing since it was my first time but they were so encouraging and patient. The zip line was so incredibly fun!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Free Afternoon in Cusco

Peru

Beautiful hotel and city! Great day!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Sacred Valley tour : Chinchero, Maras and Moray by bike

Peru

Great day! Challenging by bike but worth it when you get on the road and get to coast with a beautiful view.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Diego was kind, professional, flexible, knowledgeable! 10/10. He made our day perfect

Transport

Eddy was great! Safe and helpful

Short Inca Trail 2 days / 1 night : Day 1

Peru

Highlight of our trip. Herlin was encouraging, knowledgeable and helpful! I learned so much and had a great hike! Would absolutely love to have Herlin as a guide in the future!

Quality of Experience

Food

Box lunch was great! Good quality and delicious

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Short Inca Trail 2 days / 1 night : Day 2

Aguas Calientes/ Machu Picchu

Another amazing day with Herlin, bye went out of his way to get my husband into a part of Machu Picchu, but he missed the previous day due to sickness. Herlin is so passionate about his country, his work and Machu Picchu. I couldn’t have asked for a better person to help us experience such a magical day!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

City Tour Cusco

Cusco

Really surprised by how much we loved this day! We aren’t much for guided tours but Eddy and Diego were so great! We had a ton of fun learning about the country and culture. They really went above and beyond for us.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Our first time using KimKim and it was an excellent experience. Martina, our local specialist was very prompt in her responses and took into account our preferences. The logistics were flawless - airport transfers, domestic tickets, tours everything worked out as planned. Our local guides were excellent as well - Jime, Melbin, Darwin, Will and took care of everything. It was a new experience for us to offload all the planning to someone else; all we had to do was show up. Thanks Martina and team!

Phima Voyages made our trip to Peru so easy because they planned for and took care of every detail. Martina who is very knowledgeable about the area asked all the right questions, and really listened to our responses. We had a truly amazing time. Not only because Peru is amazing, but because Martina, Alex, Wilfredo, and the various drivers, made it easy for us to to focus on how amazing Peru is. Wilfredo is a wonderful guide- very knowledgeable, kind, and intuitive. He gave us the right amount of detail as he gauged our interest based on our questions. Thank you to Phima Voyages!

We had an amazing trip in Peru, planned by Martina with Kimkim. All our local guides were great, and we enjoyed all the places we visited. We booked a private tour and our guides were very flexible with timing and such. We started the tours each morning, and were back to the hotel late afternoon everyday and it felt like a nice mix between guided tour and free time for ourselves each day. Some thing that could have done better -
1. We arrived in Lima late in the evening and were supposed to have a free half day to tour Lima ourselves the next day, before we flight to Cusco in the afternoon(we asked for an afternoon flight so we could have the free half day in Lima). That's why we chose to stay in a hotel in Miraflores(45mins from the airport) instead of right by the airport. However, the pick up time to the airport was 9am for our 1pm flight. We ended up staying in a hotel far from the airport for no reason, wasting our whole morning, just waiting at the airport for the flight.
2. Our return flight from Lima was around midnight so we had a full long day. The tour planned originally was to go to Caral archaeological site, which is 4.5 hours each way. That's 9 hours of car time plus we had to fly home that night. So instead, we decided to do a Lima city tour instead(since again we couldn't do it ourselves earlier). The tour was good, but it did feel like it was dragged long because we had so much time to fill. The local guides were very flexible though, changing our plans from Caral to Lima city tour with short notice.
Overall, we still had a great experience with Kimkim and would go with them again.

My husband and i just came back from a weeklong and activities-filled vacation from Peru. I could not be more thankful that we went along with Martina's agency. Being busy all the time-she has really been my brain throughout this trip. She created a trip for me, and my husband based on our likes, and it was perfect! Huge shoutout to the rest of her team. Gwen was always one step ahead of us in terms of our day-to-day activities. our drivers and guides were absolutely wonderful. We couldn't ask for more. Yuri and Yefry ,Juan Carlos and Percy -they were all professional and knowledgeable. Special mention to both Angel and Edgar-they were there during my toughest time battling through altitude sickness and they went above and beyond to take care of me. Even my husband said that they looked and sounded really concerned for my wellbeing.
With that being said, Cusco was wonderful. A very clean city, I might add. Machu Picchu was extraordinary. But i really enjoyed Palcoyo Mountain. If not for the harsh condition up there, i could've have stayed there all day. Peru is beautiful. We can't wait to go back!!!! Martina, expect am email from me one of these days. We'll do this again!!!!!!!!!!!

Hotel Reviews

Llipimpac Guesthouse

Cusco

A very quaint hotel in the middle of bustling Cusco, you instantly feel at home and relaxed in this hotel. The front desk person-i forgot his name is just oh so respectful and charming. They take good care of the place.

Location

Sol Natura Hotel

Ollantaytambo

I like the hotel set up..They have some sort of indoor garden/oasis in the middle of the hotel, surrounding the rooms. Rooms were big enough and clean. Just a tad bit noisy since our room was right by the entrance and we can hear conversations when people walk by our room but when nighttime comes, it's really quiet Good location too--right across good restaurants and walkable train station.

Casa Vivencial Raqchi homestay

Very authentic Peruvian stay with the local family. Obviously, the comfort is not the same with the hotel but one night of immersing yourself with the locals and they are embracing you and welcoming you to their home--it's an experience in itself.

Casa Vivencial Llachon Homestay Ruben

Puno

Loaction is very good. Overlooking Lake Titicaca. Another first-hand experience with a Peruvian family. They helped me get tucked in bed as this was when i got really sick with altitude sickness. Room was comfortable enough. We just didn't have any hot water for the shower.

Activity Reviews

City Tour Cusco

Cusco

Cusco is surprisingly very clean. I loved all the architectural design. It's a bustling city but still relaxing..

Ollantaytambo - Aguas Calientes - Machu Picchu - Cusco

Ollantaytambo

Amazing structure of Machu Picchu--just amazed as how intact it is despite hundreds of years that has passed. and how the people brought all those rocks on top -surrounded by the Andes Mountain is beyond my comprehension. It is a legitimate wonder of the world.

Palcoyo excursion

Cusco

Now this is what i call a marvel...I've seen mountains but not colorful mountains. I would want to go back if i can. I just can't stop appreciating how wonderful it really is. I got sick with altitude sickness, but it was really worth it.

Activites at Llachon, Lake Titicaca : Uros, Textile Workshop and Hiking

Llachon

Another amazing day with the floating villages. Very ingenious of using totoro reeds to build a floating village. How cool is that? Looking at those people--i didn't see any stress in their faces. Do they even know what stress is? They just looked very content in how they live their lives. It was just relaxing sitting with them and just looking at how calm and content they looked.