Genuine Service and Care

Peru | May 1 - May 19, 2024

A historic hotel situated twenty minutes (by foot) from the historic center of Cusco. Our room was very nice and comfortable, however, wifi was extremely poor in the room. It was stronger elsewhere in the hotel. We did not have enough time to make use of the restaurant for any meals, yet, the hotel did put together breakfast boxes for our early morning departure, and they were amply sufficient.

This is a popular hotel in the Colca Canyon. We booked it particularly for the hot springs and the spa, both of which were nice, the hot springs more so than the spa. The restaurant is very good, serving a full breakfast and offering local dishes for dinner. The staff were welcoming and helpful.

We were able to find our guide easily, and he helped us with our transfer to our hotel. Along the way, he shared some thoughts about Lima, and its surrounding neighborhoods, all of which were useful. He pointed out various places of interest, and restaurant types that we could consider. He also gave us tips on how our process would go when we returned to Lima airport, to transfer from our domestic flight to our international flight, as we would be doing that on our own.

Our guide, Nancy, was awesome! She was punctual, friendly and engaging. More to the point, she figured out very quickly what we wanted to see and experience, and how we wanted to go about doing it. As such, she made on-the-fly adjustments that had us walking through the neighborhoods instead of driving through them, while also showing us to more off-the-path sites and sights, that were better aligned with our interests.

Our guide, Cesar, was also amazing! He was enthusiastic and eager to share his knowledge and affinity for Cusco with us. Cusco and its surroundings are historic, beautiful, and widespread. Cesar helped us maximize our time and our experiences by adjusting our itinerary ever so slightly, enabling us to see and do more than what we had planed. His recommendations for restaurants were on point.

We wanted to get our hands dirty with the local community, and this experience got us to do just that. From working with textiles to digging up crops, to dancing and sharing a lunch, this was an immersive, personal experience that was really impactful. Pisac is a large archeological site, and it would take more than a day to explore it all. However, our specific hike was tailed to our wants, and we spent a few hours on a 4km trail that got us to incredible vistas and historic sites that were well explained by our guide.

Olly (for short) is a small town that offers up a lot of sights and experiences. Situated about halfway between Cusco and Machu Picchu, and a stop on the railway between the two, it is easily accessible. There are serval Inca sights to see, and I appreciated getting to ones that were on and off the main tourist circuit. The town itself is very scenic, with a lively marketplace and historic center.

The cooking method, and explanation, are good experiences. And the lunch that follows is very good! This is a more commercial enterprise and less personal than I would have preferred. There was a missed opportunity for this to be more inclusive with a tour of the farm (not just the distillery and beanery that were targeted for sales) and to have more interactions with the staff.

The salt ponds are a wondrous sight. The scale of the development is impressive, and the photography opportunities here are vast, with different colors and elevations to point your camera at. However, that's all this is - a view of some salt ponds.

Like the salt ponds, this is a limited experience. The history of the place is fascinating, and the photography opportunities are good (albeit less so here than at the salt ponds). If you are already in the Sacred Valley, this is a worthwhile stop. But if you are only in Cusco, I wouldn't make the trek to visit these exclusively.

The National Reserve is vast, and unspeakably beautiful. I would say the same of the Sacred Valley as well, but the landscapes here are totally distinct, with different wildlife and vegetation. You can take photos and videos endlessly here, and still fail to capture the magnitude of the area. If you're driving from Arequipa to the Colca Canyon this is a super worthwhile route to take.

Getting to the starting point for the hike is an adventure in and of itself. It is in the middle of nowhere, in what's already the middle of nowhere! The hike itself is relatively short, but it is steep. If going in the midday sun, bring a lot of water - and trekking poles, though not strictly necessary, are helpful. The fortress itself isn't much, but the viewpoints from it, are spectacular and worth the effort to get to, both in the drive there, and the hike.

We had spent several days with our guide, Antonio, already, so he was familiar with our travel style, and our preferences for food and drink. As such, he was able to curate a food tour that was particularly aligned with our tastes (quite literally). We had a great time eating our way around Arequipa, combined with a nice walking tour of the city, and Antonio's lecture points.