Val and I are getting old. We met today to figure out a rough plan for out trip. In the old days, our rough plans were to have our flight and first night booked and wing it from there. This has always worked for us, on road trips to the Rockies, across the US, circumnavigating Mexico, and backpacking through Thailand, Ecuador, and Costa Rica. But now, we want a bit more comfort perhaps. We have a bit more money. And at one point today we were comparing which pain medications we were bringing to Peru for our various aches and pains. So...
Maybe we're not exactly old, but not as carefree as we used to be (some would say careless but they have never bribed a Mexican border guard with a stack of Maxim magazines to get out of a jam and thought nothing of it at the time. Hmm, maybe they have a point. But I digress). So, a planning session to figure out a route.
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| Planning session - manager |
When we met last time we had lots of places we wanted to go, our map was covered in little stickers - go here! fly there!. But Peru is big and our vacations are comparably short. So expect a 'Joanne and Valerie in Peru' part two at some point. We are going to have to limit ourselves to the south for this time. And a very traditional, overly Instagramed route at that. Lima, down the coast, over to Araquipa, Puno and up to Cusco and Machu Picchu. I believe that Lonely Planet calls it the 'Gringo Route'. Slightly shameful but greatly efficient.
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| Planning session - management mandated break |
Not that I am complaining. This allows us to see some super cool stuff (and fingers crossed, finally a condor?) and have the time to do it. Val gave up the Amazon and I gave up the mummies of Leymebamba. Thus another trip soon. We tried to fit some northern stuff in but it just meant we would be rushing in the south. So, the age old travel question: is it better so see less of more places or more of less places. We decided on the latter, well probably a compromise of the two. And even with out revised routes, we are still rushing on some towns to make time in others (Machu Picchu and the sacred valley over several days for example).
I made a little calendar so we could keep track as we thought about dates & locations
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| hands on manager - checking the details |
And then cleaned it up so we can plot a few days ahead while we are on the move
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| Each day, morning and afternoon (this worked for us in the past) |
In our defense, we do need to know some hard dates because we have to book our train to Aguas Calientes, Machu Picchu entrance tickets and our flight from Cusco to Lima for our flight home. Plus work around that festival in Puno.
Rob at work warned me that Jan/Feb is actually summer break for South American schools. So, while it is low season for northern hemisphere tourists, it may be high season for southern tourists. I posted a question to TripAdvisor Peru Forum about hotel availability in January/February. General feedback, no worries. Lots of cheapish rooms available on short notice. But we did look over Booking.com today and booked in for Lima when we arrive and Puno for part of the festival. Puno is very booked already so that was probably wise. Other than those two locations, we are going to try to stay flexible as we travel between the three main spots. I am about to get much busier at work so hopefully I don't have time to overly think/plan.
Other trip related info. I have an appointment with the travel clinic in October. It's time for some boosters I think.
