30

I don't feel surprised at all, but thx for the heads up.

31

Guyanas are wild and beautiful, but also expensive. There are places in Peru and Bolivia (more in Bolivia) almost intact by tourism, and it cost fraction of what you would pay in Guyanas. It's enough to go off the beaten track.

32

For sure you will find 3 million hectares of wilderness protected as UNESCO World Heritage Site in Switzerland.

33

that was a serious fight :S

Just don't loose machu pichu if you never have been there is amazing doenst matter if its crowded it really worth going other wise a lot of people wouldn't go :)

34

that was a serious fight :S

Just don't loose machu pichu if you never have been there is amazing doenst matter if its crowded it really worth going other wise a lot of people wouldn't go :)

35

Tuturutu:
Para tu informacion, he estado en varias de las maravillas del mundo incluyendo Bagan (Birmania), el Taj Mahal (India), Borobudur (Indonesia), Las Piramides de Giza (Egipto), Tikal (Guatemala), Palenque Mexico), La Alhambra (España) y Petra (Jordania). En muchos de estos lugares se practica la doble tarificacion local/extranjero, y esto no es lo que me molesta. Me parece que el precio del boleto de entrada para Machu Pichu para los extranjeros no es irrazonable. Lo que si es irrazonable es
1) El costo del tren a Aguas Calientes que considerando el precio que cobran es uno de los trenes mas caros del mundo por KM recorrido y eso tomando en cuenta que el servicio es PESIMO!
2) El hecho de que sea imposible reservar un boleto de tren por internet (aunque te hagan creer lo contrario pero en el sitio web nunca funciona), lo cual complica la posibilidad de planear por adelantado.
3) El hecho de que ahora que hay un numero limitado de entradas que venden por dia, que sea dificil coordinar la compra de entradas y el boleto de tren por adelantado. Esto se puede hacer facilmente por internet (se hace para las entradas de La Alhambra por ejemplo)
3) El hecho de que el bus para subir a las ruinas tambien sea ridiculamente caro.
4) El hecho de que la Orient Express tenga una concesion exclusiva para venderte bebidas al lado de las ruinas y que te cobren 4 veces mas de lo que deberia costar.
5) Em hecho de que los pasajes de avion de Lan Peru para ir al Cusco cuesten 4 veces mas cuando comprados en el sitio internacional de Lan
Todo esto lo unico en que resulta es darle un muy mal recuerdo al turista que va al Peru y lo mas probable es que no le incita a volver al Pais porque sienta que viajar en el Peru es muy complicado y porque en el Peru te tratan de extraer demasiado dinero por ser turista. Nuestra meta deberia de ser simplificar las gestiones para que los turistas no tengan que perder el tiempo "haciendo tramites" o tratando de buscar alternativas razonables para no hacerse embaucar por la industria turistica nacional.

Y para tu informacion, yo como Peruano pago menos para la entrada a las Ruinas (pero mis acompanantes extranjeros no) y el tren para peruanos no pasa muy seguido, tiene un servicio aun peor que el tren normal y si estas viajando con extranjeros te fuerzan a separarte de ellos porque ellos no pueden entrar en el tren local.

Tu comentario resume el problema del turismo en nuestro pais: son extranjeros asi que paguen pues!! y ese no es la actitud recomendable para incitarlos a que vuelvan. Piensa un poquito!

36

No digo que este bien or mal pero hay muchos turistas en Peru, sobre todo en esta zona a pesar que todo este cada bez mas caro para ellos y siguen viniendo

37

Guys, I don't know have you noticed but this is English speaking forum....good practice for travellers, but not a propionate branch. Try "Speaking in Tongues" branch.

Gracias por su cooperación ;-)

38

Sorry about that Ban Janti
you are right. I was anwering to the post by another poster who posted in spanish using very poor arguments to justify the "hassle" to go to Machu Pichu.

My points are the following:
1) The cost of the train to Aguas calientes is excesive and one of the most expensive trains in the world considering price/km and the service is horrible.
2) Whenever I have tried reserving a train ticket through the Perurail site whether for me or for friends, the online booking does not work, thus forcing people to go through an agent or through them directly at the last minute and risking not finding place on the cheaper trains. This happened to me in 2005. I have just checked their site again and the problem persists.
3) The fact that there is a limited number of tickets and that these are difficult to get online also complicates further things.
4) the bus to go up to the ruins is also very expensive.
5) Orient Express has an exclusive right to selling beverages next to the site at 4 x times the normal prices.
6) Plane tickets via Lan Peru to Cusco cost 4 times more when booked through a European Lan Website and twice as much than when purchased at the american website.

The result of such practises to visit our number one tourist site is that many tourists leave Machu Pichu not just with the souvenir of the ruins, but with the memories of the hassle and high cost necessary to go there. At least, I as a peruvian am disgusted at such practices.

Regards

39

@Daniel - don't worry, tuturutu looks like typical troll, you really don't have to answer people who offend you starting with "what you are saying is extremely stupid".
He also wanted to show of with his (unimpressive) Spanish... (rather Spon-glish).... typical troll

40

Thanks to all for the replies (except to the two who wanted to have a slap fight on the internet....). For the record, I love ruins and history (been to angkor wat, borobudur etc), and i was just wondering if i should skip MP in favor of some of the "quieter" places, and spend a little extra time on lake T (not Puno per se). I think i'll just make it up as I go (it will probbaly be in September, so maybe a bit less crowded). I'm definitely going to cusco, but time will tell if MP will be included or not....

cheers..

41

Machu Picchu is an amazing place and a shame to miss it. It would be better to just time your visit to avoid crowds. As one of the other posters mentioned, I took the train the night before and stayed at Aguas Calientes, then took the first bus up in the morning. There were only a few other people in the entire site, mists were swirling around the mountains, and it was a very spectacular and memorable experience. Then, the tourist train rolled in around mid day, and it was definitely time to get out of there. But it was definitely worth the visit.

42

I've been to Peru several times and have combined visits to the busy places with visits to not-so-busy places, like Chinchero, or Colca Canyon.
I've also been to Bolivia and La Paz is just as crowded as Cusco. I liked Puno & Takile Island on the Peru side, but I loved the Sun Island on the Bolivian side. The salt flats are crowded but you can find space to have fun. The thing I enjoyed just as much as the salt flats, if not more, was 3-day jeep trek through the Bolivian desert. You see a few people, but not crowds.
If you are planning to travel to Peru & Bolivia, I think there is a way to visit, explore & discover the undeveloped places as much as the crowded places.

43

Don't miss MP! My first visit was in1974. We walked up. There were about 8 of us in the ruins for three hours before ANY tourist buses arrived. Stunning experience. I went again last year with my daughter. I almost didn't go since I didn't want to ruin the memory I had of this sacred place. The second visit was different but even more stunning and fulfilling. A 5:30 bus up from Aguas Calientes got us in the first group to arrive. We climbed straight to the top around the Guard's Tower through the mist. Sitting at the top was a magical experience watching for the ruins be revealed bit by bit through the shifting mist. We felt quite alone with the ruins.

Once we had the full view we explored from top to bottom as the tourists began to arrive below. There are no other people in our photos. We saw only a few in our immediate vicinity during our 3 hours exploring. By ten o'clock we were about finished and the echo of a thousand voices was filling the ruins (and annoying us). I said to my daughter, "Usually, when I visit a ruin I sit for awhile trying to imagine what the place would have sounded like when the inhabitants were living there. Well, this could well be what it sounded like!" This observation totally changed how we were feeling.

Bottom line: I am so glad I didn't give in to the temptation to avoid MP because of its popularity. It is truly "the best of the best of the best"!

Two weeks in Peru/Bolivia? The other don't miss is the Southern Circuit in Bolivia. MP, SC in B, and travelling down the Amazon from Peru were the three highlights of our trip.

44

Go to Egypt and skip the Pyramids...?

No ...I don't think so... Not on your first (perhaps last) trip to a place...

I always do the major sites...first...no matter what...

Then...if you come back a second time...you can skip them...and branch out to something more off the beaten track...

That's why I always advocate staying put for 3 or 4 days in any destination... "Doing" a destination from the back of a taxi to and from the airport...or while booking tickets at the railway office... is not traveling...

First time in a place...stay on the beaten track... Do the "required" photos...see the places...then move on...

Generally these Off the Track places are just ordinary people doing ordinary things... which is fine...

But don't miss the Big Stuff...for the ordinary stuff... You may regret it later...

When will you "do" Machu Picchu...? ....if you just hang out at the Starbucks, the hotel...or browse the markets...?