Posts by Ticapi

Afterward, we head back down to the city to buy some sandwiches and slices of cake before returning to the hotel. We settle onto the terrace and quietly enjoy the view and the sunshine. Later, we head back into town and stop by the San Blas covered market. Less authentic than the San Pedro market, it’s still lively and colorful. We order fresh fruit juices: everyone picks their fruits, and the ladies cut and press them right in front of us.

Next, we make our way to the Plaza de Armas before heading back up to the hotel to pack our bags. In the evening, we go out to eat at the restaurant Inti Llay, just near our hotel. This new spot turns out to be an excellent choice.

















The rest of the travel journal is here: https://voyageforum.com/v.f?post=11469689;a=11469689

Wednesday, May 7

The breakfast buffet is well-stocked, and we enjoy it before starting our day. We walk up to the Sacsayhuamán archaeological site, passing by the Sapantiana aqueduct. Along the way, I get a WhatsApp call from Laurent. He tells me our flight to Lima has been delayed again—we won’t arrive until 3:00 PM, which leaves us little time to visit the city center. I ask if he can try to move our flight to the morning. A little later, Laurent calls back: there’s still space on the 10:00 AM flight. We agree, and five minutes later, we receive our boarding passes. What efficiency!

The Sacsayhuamán site is massive and offers stunning views of Cusco in places. The enormous stone blocks, perfectly fitted together, are a testament to the Incas' genius. We climb up to the site of the former round tower of Muyukmarka, then descend toward the Chuquipampa esplanade. We watch a mama llama and her two little ones playing together, then climb the hill to admire the Inca’s Throne before heading to the natural slides of Suchuna. We spend much of the morning wandering this vast site before reaching the Cristo Blanco viewpoint. The statue, surrounded by a fence, is swarming with tourists, making it hard to take photos. Plus, the view from Sacsayhuamán or the San Cristóbal viewpoint is just as beautiful.

Beautiful view of the Sacsayhuamán ruins



Intipunku

Muyukmarka

The zigzag-shaped wall

The natural slides of Suchuna



The view of Cristo Blanco

If crossing the Salineras is still allowed, you can continue the descent on foot to the Urubamba River (which you cross on a small wooden bridge) and then join the road to Ollantaytambo

Unfortunately, crossing the Salineras is no longer allowed.🙁 But there are still plenty of short hikes to do in the area. I think you can easily spend a week around Cusco without getting bored.

Just one more little detail: the walking times listed in the travel journal always include photo stops, breaks to chat with people, and so on.

We like to take our time and really soak in the scenery. After all, it’s a vacation, not a race!😉

Could you tell me how long this hike takes and how difficult it is, please?

It’s more of a walk than a real hike. At the end, there’s a short descent to the parking lot, but nothing steep.

I don’t remember the exact time, but we took less than an hour, stopping to take photos. It’s a short, easy stroll. It’s nice to arrive at the salt flats on foot.

I guess a lot of us are waiting for the rest 😎 It's true that publishing a travel journal takes a lot of time (even without bugs).

I managed to post the rest without any bugs. 🙂

Ricardo meets us at the parking lot and then drives us to Chinchero. Before visiting the church, we buy some empanadas but only manage a few bites. A small stray dog, very thin with swollen teats, approaches timidly and finishes the rest. We hope this meager meal will help her feed her pups.

The view of the salt flats from the road



We then quickly visit the church, still under renovation, before strolling through the Inca site and the artisan market set up on the main square. Before meeting up with Ricardo again, we visit a small museum next to an alpaca wool shop. The quality of the wool is beautiful. We take the opportunity to do some shopping.

















Back in Cusco, we head to the Atoq San Blas hotel. What a nice surprise—we’d booked a superior room but were upgraded to a junior suite. The room is lovely, and the view is stunning. We have tea on the terrace and enjoy the panorama of the city. As dusk falls, we wander down the streets of the San Blas neighborhood and go for a cocktail at a bar with a view of the Plaza de Armas. We end the evening at the Rucula restaurant. Once again, the dishes are delicious and beautifully presented.

The rest is here: https://voyageforum.com/v.f?post=11469006;a=11469006

Tuesday, May 6

Ricardo picks us up at 8:30 AM and drives us to the Moray site. There are very few people around; the tour operators haven’t arrived yet. Moray is an ancient Inca laboratory, made up of a series of terraces at different levels. This setup allowed for the creation of microclimates, with each terrace replicating the climatic conditions of various geographic zones within the Inca Empire.

Before exploring the site, Ricardo takes us to a specific viewpoint. There, he reveals an unexpected detail. From above, the site isn’t perfectly round or oval—it resembles the shape of an avocado.



We then ask him to drop us off at Maras, with the plan to walk to the salt mines. He leaves us at the edge of the village and points out the meet-up spot. This little hike is really pleasant: we pass shepherds with their sheep and follow a small canyon, with lush vegetation and colorful rocks, before overlooking the Maras salt mines. Arriving on foot offers stunning views and lets us capture the beauty of the site before descending.









The salt mines, which have been worked since pre-Inca times, create a fascinating landscape. The pools display a subtle palette of whites, beiges, and browns, sometimes tinged with pink or ochre. We move from one viewpoint to another, snapping photos, captivated by these shades.

I wanted to post the end of the trip, but after restarting 3 times because VF glitched 😡, I gave up (for now).

I get it, it happens to me too. The bugs on VF must discourage quite a few people. Well, that’s not the only reason my travel journal isn’t progressing quickly.😅

Well, I just read about your first days in Gran Canaria... your photos are almost all with a beautiful blue sky 😊 but where’s this bad weather? 🤔 😆

I was wondering the same thing.

Hi Muriel,

Thanks for this travel journal about Gran Canaria. I’m following Agnès’s on My Atlas, but I think I’ll switch to VF—it’s way friendlier for chatting.

The hike to Roque Nublo sounds nice.

Too bad about the weather, though I personally think a sky with a few pretty cumulus clouds often looks better in photos than a completely blue one. On the other hand, a sky full of Sahara dust is really annoying and really dulls the landscape.

That almond dessert sounds tempting. 🙂

I’d be tempted to try a roof-top tent 4x4 so I’m not always dependent on hotels, but how safe is it in the middle of nowhere?

I’m not sure Peruvians are very open to that kind of thing. For safety, you’d really need to be far from everything. We wanted to rent a 4x4 and sleep in the car for a few nights like we did in the South Lipez, but I think it’s more complicated in Peru.

Otherwise, hiring a driver like you did—seems like the budget works out about the same.

That’s why we gave up on renting a 4x4. If you pick one up in Arequipa, the extra cost to drop it off in Cusco was really high. Plus, a lot of rental companies advertise 4x4s, but you end up with just an SUV. Still, an SUV is enough if you’re doing a classic trip. For us, the fact that we had quite a few days without a car made our decision easier.

PS: Bolivia is tempting me too.

For Bolivia, check this out: https://voyageforum.com/v.f?post=9888495;#9888495 An unforgettable trip with incredible landscapes. But you’ve got to love desert scenery.

I’ll try to convince my partner to keep a travel journal...

👍

Are you going to write a travel journal about your last trip? I’d love to read one about Chile and Argentina.

Hi there,

Hello, I loved your travel journal—it’s giving me a serious case of wanderlust! We just got back from a trip to Chile and Argentina that we really enjoyed.

Thanks for your message! 🙂 For us, it was during our trip to Bolivia, specifically meeting a French couple in Sucre, that made us want to go to Peru.

One question: I don’t think you mentioned it in your journal, but what’s the security situation like in terms of theft, etc.? Looking at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs map, which can sometimes be alarmist, there’s an area controlled by drug traffickers near Machu Picchu…

That’s true—the regions of Ayacucho, Abancay, and Huancavelica *seem* problematic. I say *seem* because I’ve heard they’re no longer an issue, but I don’t know for sure.

When you’re at Machu Picchu, you’re actually quite close to that region but also far enough away. The area between Cusco and Machu Picchu is very touristy, so I don’t think you’re at any risk—or at least no more than you would be in Europe.

As I mentioned in the intro of my journal, we initially planned to rent a car. In that case, we were advised to choose hotels where we could safely park the vehicle overnight.

Overall, we never felt unsafe. We walked around at night in Cusco, Arequipa, Cabanaconde, Ollantaytambo, Aguas Calientes, and even on Amantani Island. In Lima, though, we were warned to avoid certain neighborhoods, especially at night. I’ll go into more detail about that at the end of the journal.

I’ll post the rest today or tomorrow.

Thanks Luc for your message and the link, which will definitely be useful for future travelers.

For Machu Picchu, you need to be careful to book on the official site. You can find tickets on other platforms; some claim to be the official site but aren’t, and the prices are much higher there.

Hello Carmen,

Congrats on the amazing photos! 🤩

Hi Nathalie, Thanks for your message.🙂

It's magical! Your photos make me dream, Carmen 🙂

We’ve got to go there! 🙂

What a beautiful visit! The mist doesn’t take anything away from the site—on the contrary, it’s magical.

Yeah, the mist is a real plus—it gives the place an incredible atmosphere. Climbing Wayna Picchu, with the humidity, limited visibility, and super dense vegetation full of flowers, we really felt like we were on a proper adventure. It was amazing!

I was pretty sure you’d do Wayna Picchu 🙂

It was kind of the main goal of the visit. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting much from the site—I thought we’d see “just” ruins 😅 In the end, Machu Picchu completely blew us away. We felt like we were traveling back in time. Our guide was really great!

On the other hand, I just found out there’s a restaurant—I missed it during my visit.

There are actually two: one at the Sanctuary Lodge and a snack bar right by the entrance. Nothing amazing at the snack bar, but it’s handy for grabbing a bite between visits.

For the Sanctuary Lodge, for a brief moment, I thought it might be cool to sleep right next to Machu Picchu… but the price is totally outrageous. 😵‍💨 Almost 2000 € a night! That’s more than we paid for our flight tickets, including domestic flights. So, we settled for staying in Aguas Calientes. 😊

Ps: the photos are gorgeous

Thanks! 😊