About Peru: Ancient Cities & the Andes by G Adventures

Thinking about booking the Peru: Ancient Cities & the Andes tour by G Adventures? Here’s a quick review with some information to help you make your decision. You may also see this tour advertised as Ancient Cities and the Andes, but -rest assured- it is the same tour.

All information valid as of late May 2022, unless otherwise indicated, and -no- I was not furnished to write this review.

You’ll notice on the booking page for the “Peru: Ancient Cities & the Andes” tour with G Adventures you have three booking options: Inca Trail, Lares Trek, and Cusco Stay. Fundamentally, the three itineraries are exactly the same until Day 10, when the three groups split apart; the Lares Trek and Cusco Stay groups reunite in Aguas Calientes on Day 12, with the whole group being joined again at Machu Picchu on Day 13.

I chose the Lares Trek option. Without getting into too many details as to why, at the time of the tour I was at the upper edge of the age limit (39-years-old), was recovering from a knee injury, and didn’t want to be a liability on the Inca Trail (which has very tight timing and logistics). Instead, I chose to be a liability on the Lares Trek ;-)

Now, as to why I chose this specific trip over the probably hundreds of Peru itineraries offered by dozens of tour operators, simply put I had a fairly specific set of requirements for a Peru trip. First, I wanted a trip which went to both Nazca (with the option for a sightseeing flight) and Colca Canyon. Second, as mentioned I thought the Inca Trek would be beyond my capabilities, so I had to scrub any itineraries which included that. Third, I wasn’t too interested in revisiting the Amazon (I didn’t have a great experience my first time there, admittedly), nor was I really too interested in adding extra days to visit Lake Titicaca. Lastly, I was looking for a tour no longer than sixteen days. This one fit like a glove, and -given that I was coming up on the 39-year-old age limit- I jumped on it.

I will admit, I had some reservations about this itinerary. The first one was the lack of sightseeing in Lima (which, as you’ll see, I more-or-less addressed). The second was the inclusion of three long-distance buses, including two overnight buses. I’m a fairly no-frills traveler, but I’m also not on my gap year anymore, and the thought of sleeping two nights on buses really gave me pause.

You can read about my experience on the Lares Trek in candid detail here. I won’t let my own shortcomings affect my assessment too much; however, I will say that if you choose to book the Lares Trek option, be mindful of the following things:

First, it was an admittedly difficult trek and you do need to do some preparation going up steep inclines for long periods of time in advance to get through it with your sanity intact. I hike several hundred kilometers a year, but -living on the East Coast of the United States- my access to long mountain climbs is extremely limited, and I think that impacted my overall enjoyment of this activity as I was on the struggle bus most of the time.

Second, the altitude is no joke and even slowed down a couple of extremely young and fit trekkers in my group to a near crawl. I’d say if you’ve never been above 4,000 meters / 13,000 feet before, try and get some higher altitude exposure in before committing. I’ll talk more about altitude and altitude sickness down below.

Third, the pace of the trek is strenuous. I’m not sure if my group was the exception rather than the rule, but it seemed like we were always rushing from waypoint to waypoint. This made enjoying the trek a bit more difficult, admittedly.

Lastly, I’ll say be honest about your age and abilities. We had a 19-year-old in my group, for example, and -while that doesn’t sound like too much of a big deal superficially- you start to realize real quick you’ve had an extra lifetime of wear-and-tear on your body compared to these folks.

Assuming you can check all of these boxes, certainly consider trying the Lares Trek. The views are amazing, the remoteness is tremendous, and the accommodations and weight limit are much better than the Inca Trail (I’ll talk more about that in the trail accommodation and trail weight limit sections below.

My group was roughly evenly split between the Inca Trail and the Lares Trek. We did not have anyone choose the Cusco Stay option (we did have one elect to drop her Inca Trail option and ended up having an “Ollantaytambo Stay” experience; I’ll discuss that further below.)

We (the Lares Trekkers) had a little bit of time to speak with the Inca Trail crew upon our return to Cusco in the evening of Day 13 and get their feedback about their experience. I’ll try and summarize their thoughts real quick:

I’ll be tremendously transparent upfront and say this group was not able to see Machu Picchu from the Sun Gate upon their arrival due to clouds and fog. Given the timed entry requirements imposed by the Peruvian government, you can no longer loiter at the Sun Gate for that Instagram-perfect shot. I’m not sure if anyone had their hearts set on accomplishing this goal, but I’m certain their endorsements of the Inca Trail experience would have been significantly more boisterous.

Second, the group all commented that the rumors about the never-ending stairs were all true (thankfully validating my decision to do the Lares Trek instead). If you have leg or knee issues, as I do, this is something certainly to keep in mind. With very few exceptions, the Lares Trek does not have large obstacles to step over.

Third, they stated while the pace was aggressive, the overall distance traveled was much shorter and the overall altitude a bit lower than the Lares Trek; difficult as it is to compare this to the Lares Trek, it is at least fair in my opinion to rate the difficulty as comparable, with distance and altitude trading off for the constant stair climbs.

Fourth, it is worth noting that on the Lares Trek you get a night to freshen up in Aguas Calientes, whereas the Inca Trek folks visit Machu Picchu and are returned to Cusco without having a chance to freshen up beforehand (their last showers being several days in the past at that point).

Fifth, the crowds on the Inca Trail were not noted as an inconvenience, contrary to my expectation that they might be.

Sixth, everyone appeared to have at least enjoyed their time on trek, whereas a couple of folks (myself included) had some reservations about the Lares Trek overall.

Lastly, it didn’t appear to me anyway that anyone’s experience at Machu Picchu was impacted by tiredness from the Inca Trail. I will add (actually, stress) that the Lares Trek group had significantly more time at the Machu Picchu overlook to take photographs (like the one at the top of this page) as compared to the Inca Trail group. If getting this shot is essential, weigh this factor heavily in your decision making.

The Cusco Stay option gives you a bit more time in the Sacred Valley and an extra day in Cusco before taking you by train to Aguas Calientes on Day 12. As mentioned, nobody in my group opted for this but -unless you are a hiking enthusiast or landscape photographer- I actually don’t think choosing this option will detract much if at all from the overall tour experience. In fact, if I were to de-age myself and do it again, this is probably the option I’d choose, believe it or not.

So, my best advice in making a decision between the Inca Trail, Lares Trek, and Cusco Stay would be to assess your overall fitness, desire to do several strenuous days of activities on the tail-end of a long, exhausting trip, and your desire to capture specific pictures (Sun Gate, the Machu Picchu overlook, Andean landscapes, etc.)

Obviously, I can only speak first-hand about the Lares Trek, but it seems like the majority of those who went on both treks had a great experience. If you just want some outdoor time in the Andes before arriving to Machu Picchu (or, if you are concerned about your ability to do the Inca Trail, as I was) the Lares Trek is a pretty decent substitute.

If you were unable to secure an Inca Trail permit for your preferred travel dates and you are “stuck” with the Lares Trek, don’t dismay. My group had quite a few permit-less, last-minute bookers and I don’t think any of them felt cheated by taking the Lares Trek instead of the Inca Trail. In other words, don’t let the lack of permit stop you from taking this tour!

I will say if walking through the Sun Gate at Machu Picchu is one of those must-check bucket-list items, arriving to Machu Picchu by bus from Aguas Calientes is certainly no substitute for that. My best advice in that case is to rebook your trip to ensure you have an Inca Trail permit. Bear in mind, however, that coming through the Sun Gate is no guarantee that you’ll be able to see Machu Picchu at sunrise as mentioned above. So, realistically, you’re rolling the dice. But, at the end of the day, it is your time and money - invest it how you like!

Simply put, booking with G Adventures is always a breeze. Their customer service is fantastic, their deposit and payment is super-easy, and their rebooking process is incredibly flexible.

Our group CEO, Kike, was awesome. We faced quite a few challenges during our trek (which I cover extensively in my travelogue), but Kike did everything he could to keep morale high, make contingency plans, and get us back on track. He was particularly helpful when I was dealing with my stomach bug. Hopefully you get a CEO of Kike’s caliber on your journey!

The trekking crew overall was very good; the porters were awesome, the cooks put a lot of heart-and-soul into their work. The only negative I’ll add is I had an issue with the trekking guide’s decision to pace off the fastest hikers rather than the slower ones.

The upside of the Ancient Cities & the Andes tour is you get to see quite a lot of Peru in a short period of time for a great price.

You would also want to consider this specific itinerary if an overflight of the Nazca Lines and a trip to Colca Canyon are important to you. I looked high-and-low for an alternative trip offered for the same price which checked these two boxes and I could not find one.

Lastly, G Adventures is a great, reliable, and well-known tour operator with decades of experience in group tours. They are going to provide a quality product no matter which tour you take, and there is something comforting in this type of reliability, particularly in South America.

I will be the first to admit there are many, many more reasons to not book this tour than to book it. So, in the interest of transparency, here are a few reasons you might consider an alternative (including one of the others offered by G Adventures).

First, and obviously, is the age restriction. If you are older than 39, look elsewhere. G Adventures does offer a similar tour called “Absolute Peru” for the 40-and-older crowd; the major differences are cost (of course), fewer overnight buses, and stops in the Amazon and at Lake Titicaca.

Second, if you are looking to stop at the Ballestas Islands, Huacachina, or -of course- Puno / Lake Titicaca or the Amazon, I recommend exploring a different itinerary. The Absolute Peru tour mentioned in the last paragraph stops at these places so give that one a look.

Third, if you want to climb Huayna Picchu, that’s simply not an option on the Ancient Cities & the Andes Tour. Similarly, there is not enough time in Cusco to visit Rainbow Mountain. You can book a Rainbow Mountain tour independently for the morning after the tour, but I assure you that the super-early wake-up time is going to be a stressful mark to hit as you are going to be tired from your day at Machu Picchu.

Fourth, you dislike long-distance buses. As mentioned, this tour has one daytime and two overnight long-distance bus rides; it also has several long shuttle bus rides with rest stops peppered throughout (Arequipa to Chivay comes to mind) which can be trying at times. I’ll talk more about these buses down below.

Lastly, you like some leisure time on your vacation. Yes, I did just mention a whole lot of sitting on long-distance buses, and -while you are certainly not doing anything during these stretches- it is hardly relaxing. What I mean is time in your room or relaxing poolside - this tour is mostly go-go-go, although I expect the Cusco Stay option would be a bit more mellow overall.

Admittedly, this trip didn’t get off to a great start. Like the vast majority of flights to Lima from the United States, my flight landed extremely early in the morning. Customs was relatively easy, and soon enough I was out of the airport.

I had pre-booked an airport transfer, which -annoyingly- did not show up. One unbelievably marked up taxi ride later, I was at the group hotel in the Barranco neighborhood south of Lima’s city center. I’ll confess the non-existent transfer was G Adventures’ only major blemish on this trip.

It is worth noting that Barranco is not close to Lima’s Airport, about a 40-minute taxi ride all-in-all.

If you choose to book the transfer with G Adventures, make sure to get the telephone number of the transfer company from the booking agent in advance. This way, if the driver doesn’t show up, you can at least hopefully have them send a replacement driver. Otherwise, I recommend negotiating a taxi ride price in advance. The taxi drivers at the airport are absolute hawks bordering on scum; be sure to use the official taxi stand rather than negotiating with someone outside.

There were a handful of pre-tour options offered by G Adventures, including two Lima city tours, a cooking tour, and a bicycle riding tour around Barranco. I politely declined these options as I found the timing for most of them a bit odd and the costs a bit excessive. The city tours also departed from and ended at locations nowhere near Barranco. All the same, if these appeal to you, be sure to check with your booking agent how these may or may not interfere with the mandatory group meeting in the evening. I’d also bear in mind the morning of Day Two, you’ll have time to explore Barranco by foot.

As mentioned, the pre-tour hotel was located in Barranco, a pleasant, artsy neighborhood south of Lima’s city center. Our departure hotel was Hostal Gemina, a quiet albeit small boutique-style hotel in central Barranco. If nothing else, the nice thing about this hotel’s location is it is a short distance away from the Metro Barranco grocery store.

Your choice of hotel may vary, of course.

Like I said, the majority of flights from the United States to Lima arrive early in the morning. As such, luggage storage was a consideration for me as I wished to take part of the day to explore the city. Thankfully, Hostal Gemina was willing to store my luggage (in fact, my room was also ready for check-in which was super nice!)

I chose to spend the morning riding the Lima Hop-On / Hop-Off tourist bus which left from Larcomar at 0915. Despite its name, the bus isn’t really a hop-on / hop-off bus in the traditional sense; rather, you see some sights from the bus en route to the Plaza Mayor, where you get off and see some sights. The bus returned around 1300; however, if you wished to spend more time downtown, you could take the afternoon bus back to Larcomar (or take a taxi directly back to your hotel). I was super tired by this point, so I elected to return to Larcomar and take a taxi back to Barranco from there. Below is a map from Hostal Gemina to the pick-up point for the tourist bus:

The welcome meeting is your opportunity to meet your tour group and your CEO. It is also your opportunity to get a schedule, provide necessary documentation, as well as ask any questions you may have. Every G Adventures trip I’ve been on has followed the welcome meeting with a group dinner, which is a great chance to get to know your travel companions. Don’t miss this if at all possible!

I’ll do my best to not just rehash the information on the G Adventures website and give some specific insight into activities. Caution: your experience may vary.

Day One: Day One is traditionally your arrival day in country. As mentioned, you can certainly drop your baggage off at the hotel and go exploring, or -if you are lucky like me- your room will be ready and you can catch a nap before the Welcome Meeting. After the meeting will be a group dinner (since this was Barranco, I seem to recall my meal costing 20-25 U.S. Dollars). Read more about my Day One here.

Day Two: There is no group activity planned for the morning. Simply grab some hotel breakfast and explore Barranco. Our bus for Nazca left early afternoon (somewhere between 1 and 3PM), so if you haven’t explored downtown Lima yet, you may be pressed for time. I also highly recommend you go to the local grocery store and stock up on snacks and drinks for the next few days, opportunities will be scarce. You’ll meet up and take a small shuttle bus to the main bus depot.

The long-distance bus was decently spacious and the ride was fair. We arrived in Nazca after sundown, where several vans transferred the group to the hotel.

Day Three: If you have booked the Nazca Lines flight (if you have the means, do it!!!), you will be picked up very early from the hotel and shuttled over to the airport. Our flight departed around 9AM. You will likely be broken up onto different flights from your travel mates due to weight and balance considerations, but the flights take off so regularly this ultimately won’t be a big deal. I was onboard with one traveler from my group and -coincidentally- a couple of travelers from the Absolute Peru tour I mentioned above. G Adventures’ choice of vendor - Air Movil - has a good track record and is a reliable vendor. You can read more about that as well as my Days Two and Three here.

If you are not going on the scenic flight (about half of my group didn’t, to be honest), you will be shuttled by van to the Nazca Lines overlook tower along the highway where you can see a few glyphs. You will then return to the hotel, where you will have some downtime poolside until your flight travel mates return. Afterwards, you’ll participate in a Pachamanca, a method of cooking meat and vegetables using hot stones. I think it is the intent to have the Pachamanca for dinner, but we ate it for lunch because of -presumably- the overnight bus schedule.

After a dune buggy ride and some sand boarding, we had the opportunity to freshen up at the hotel before transferring to the Nazca bus station. We ate at a Peruvian chicken restaurant chain before boarding our first overnight bus to Arequipa.

Day Four: Arriving in Arequipa (mostly) on-time, we took a shuttle bus to our hotel where we could freshen up before doing a short city orientation walk. After lunch, I took the optional Arequipa City Tour which -despite covering some of the same ground as the orientation walk- was still quite worth the effort. A word of warning: some colleagues and I almost missed the bus for the City Tour because our lunch took well over an hour - just be mindful of the time, and I recommend getting something grab-and-go if you’re doing the city tour (and, no, I’m not saying that because I got food poisoning at lunch….) If you don’t do the city tour, the afternoon is all for yourself. There’s plenty to do independently, so don’t fret if you skip the City Tour. There are also plenty of shops, and Arequipa is the best place to pick up souvenirs, in my opinion.

The group met up for dinner, with half deciding to go to a really terrible pizza and brew pub combo, with the other half heading to a traditional Peruvian restaurant. Read more about my Day Four here.

Day Five: The morning of Day Five, you’ll check out of your hotel and take a city bus-type vehicle to Chivay (this is a personal vehicle for just your group, not a shared intercity-type bus like you’ll have taken to Nazca or Arequipa). You’ll make a couple of stops along the way for coffee and to take some photographs; all the same, it is a long journey, so be sure to have plenty of drinks and snacks available. The mountain passes you will cross are extremely high, so don’t forget to take your altitude medicine ahead of time!

This is a pretty mellow day once you arrive in Chivay. You’ll have lunch with the group before having the opportunity to visit one of the local hot springs. I was too sick to head to the spa, so I can’t tell you how that goes (instead, I took a much-needed nap). The group relinks for dinner and drinks.

Day Six: Early in the morning, the bus will take you to Colca Canyon to see the condors. Despite my illness, this was perhaps the highlight of the trip. You’ll stop at a small village for coffee and snacks on the way back to Chivay. There, you will eat a group lunch before heading back to Arequipa.

I won’t lie, the afternoon of Day Six is the most trying part of the whole trip. You take the several-hours-long bus back to Arequipa (where you can pay a small fee for a day room to freshen up) before boarding the overnight bus to Cuzco. This bus is incredibly long (about twelve hours), which means that over the course of the afternoon and evening, you’re spending nearly a full day in transit.

Read more about my Days Five and Six here.

Day Seven: You’ll arrive in Cusco in the morning, and -if you’re like us- you won’t arrive anywhere near close to on-time. We had a much-needed group breakfast at a cafe just off the main square before having the morning to ourselves. I was sorely in need of medication by this point, so I headed out with Kike to a local pharmacy.

One really useful thing I’ll point out: if you need to get laundry done, the hotel in Cusco has same-day turn-around if you drop your laundry off first-thing upon arrival. It would be to your benefit to have your laundry separated out in a bag and ready to drop once you arrive in town. I dropped mine off around 1000 hours and it was back after dinner that evening.

What you choose to do is really up to you, but it is really important I point out you will have a mandatory mid-afternoon pre-trek orientation meeting at the local G Adventures office (1500 or 1600, if my memory serves - FYI, this is where you can rent a sleeping mat, sleeping bag, and trekking poles). Given that our bus arrived late, this really limited what we could do in town. I stuck to the city center, as did most of my tour mates. But, honestly, this is where the schedule really started to deviate from what was on the G Adventures website pre-tour.

This is only a hunch, but I imagine if we arrived into Cusco on-time we would have done a group tour of some of the sites in-and-around the city. Instead, we ended up doing this the next day.

Super important note: After the mandatory meeting, we had one activity we needed to conduct. Essentially, from this point on we would take only the essential luggage we would need until Day Thirteen. This meant separating out anything we didn’t need and storing it at the hotel in Cusco to be collected again on the afternoon of Day Thirteen. This also means parting with your main suitcase / backpack / luggage, but don’t worry: you are issued a duffel bag for use from here on out. You should also take whatever backpack you plan to carry on the Lares Trek / Inca Trail with you. Double- and triple-check what you leave at the hotel - if you forget it, there’s no chance you’ll be able to get it. Should you realize you need something from the bag or need to drop something else into it before you depart on the morning of Day Eight, no worries: just ask the front desk for access to the storage room. Also: bring a luggage lock!

After this, we met back up to get a group dinner at a nearby restaurant before turning in for the night.

Day Eight: Waking up early, we headed to Pukamuqu before heading to Ccaccaccollo, a local village that G Adventures sponsors as part of its Planeterra program. Again, I suspect having to push back our Cusco activities a day caused us to arrive in Ccaccaccollo later than anticipated; this meant that our opportunity to visit the weaving co-op had to be pushed back until the next day.

In Ccaccaccollo, we were divided into groups of three or four and headed out to local families’ houses where we’d stay for the night and share our meals. My host family was super kind, and it was a wonderful experience all-in-all. After lunch, we were recruited to do some farm work in a nearby corn field. A short hike preceded dinner with our families. At night, we were lucky to see the total lunar eclipse; if it weren’t for this entertainment, I’m not really sure what else you’d have to do besides catching up on sleep.

One word of warning: there is only one small shop in Ccaccaccollo with completely random opening hours, so stock up on drinks and snacks in Cusco before departing!

Day Nine: As mentioned, we visited the weaving co-op in the morning before departing Ccaccaccollo. We had an incredibly (and, honestly, disappointingly) short drive through the Sacred Valley before arriving into Ollantaytambo, where we checked into our hotel for the evening. Again, I suspect with the reshuffled schedule, the Sacred Valley Tour option wouldn’t have been feasible. We did get the opportunity to taste some guinea pig en route, so there was that.

The group did a quick walk to a nearby ruin; I declined, taking another quick nap as I hadn’t yet fully recovered from my stomach virus. I did take the opportunity to stock up on sundry items for the Lares Trek, including snacks and a poncho. I recommend you take advantage of your time in town to do this.

After the group tour, we had to pack and weigh our porter bags for the Lares Trek and Inca Trail. This process took several hours, particularly because the weight restrictions for both treks are so tight. We then had to separate out the remainder of our gear into hold baggage (read: trash bags) which would stay at the hotel while we went on our treks. So, to be clear, at this point we had 1) our porter bags (which were the duffel bags we previously received in Cusco), 2) our personal backpacks, which we would carry ourselves on the Lares Trek / Inca Trail, and 3) a hold bag (garbage bag stuffed with dirty clothing and whatever else we didn’t need for the next couple of days) that would stay in Ollantaytambo, and 4) our main luggage which we left in Cusco. My best advice is to come up with a plan in advance of what you will need for each phase of the trip; this will make your time sorting luggage in Cusco and Ollantaytambo way less stressful. Before you depart your home for your trip, take some time to weigh the items you’ll need for your trek - we had folks ditching all sorts of overweight items into the garbage bags in Ollantaytambo because their bags were several kilos overweight.

I’ll talk about trek packing strategies down below, so don’t worry that I’m not providing details now.

After this kerfuffle, we had a nice group dinner at a nearby restaurant.

Read all about my Days Seven, Eight, and Nine here.

Day Ten: As mentioned, this was the point where the Lares Trek, Inca Trail, and Cusco Stay folks (if we had any, that is) would go their separate ways. Us Lares Trek folks were taken by a small shuttle to a nearby village to collect our porters before stopping at a local market to get some supplies. We were also joined by two other G Adventures travelers, whom I believe were part of the Absolute Peru group I mentioned earlier.

We then arrived at the trailhead for the Lares Trek and began walking. Again, I was the old slow-poke of the group, which meant the group constantly had to wait for me. Oh, well: the trek leader said we were significantly ahead of schedule as we came into a small village where we had a pleasant group lunch. After lunch, more walking uphill to get to our campsite for the evening. Our campsite had a hardened building where we had an excellent meal, had some beer sold by the locals, and played some cards:

Our campsite also had hardened bathrooms and even a shower, if cold-ass water is your thing.

Our porters went ahead with our duffel bag luggage, arriving in advance to make lunch as well as to make dinner and set up our campsites by the time we arrived. The Lares Trek uses donkeys to carry most of the gear, which is why your hold baggage allowance and quality of life is higher compared to the Inca Trail, where all the gear is carried by people.

Again, it is difficult for me to speak for the Inca Trail participants; however, it sounded like they had a full day of walking uphill, followed by a pleasant evening of camping at a trailside campsite. I am uncertain as to the specifics of their accommodations, to be honest, but -since every four-day Inca Trail itinerary is basically the same- I’m sure an internet search will reveal all the necessary details.

Day Eleven: More walking uphill in the morning, followed by more walking downhill in the afternoon. For the Lares Trek, this is by far the most difficult day. I had a terrible time on Day Eleven for a variety of reasons (you can read more about my Lares Trek experience here) but suffice it to say a combination of my stomach virus, the extreme pace of my colleagues, and some gear malfunctions meant that I just wanted the whole damn thing to be over with. Your experience may vary, but for me it was a strenuous day. And, for others, too, who had altitude sickness along the way.

Lunch was provided in a nice (albeit shit-filled) meadow where we ate underneath a tent. We stretched the afternoon hike to go several kilometers further than a normal Lares Trek would on Day Eleven; I have a theory as to why this is which I detail in my travelogue, but the brass tacks are that I suspect the trekking team already knew our train to Aguas Calientes had been cancelled and we needed the extra several hours we’d normally spend on the trail the following day to hike in. Sneaky sneaky! We passed the “normal” campsite, which looked pretty nice (hardened bathroom building, from what I could tell); our alternative site had a hardened toilet building, and the meal tent where we had another great trail meal.

Day Twelve: Our Day Twelve went off the rails (pun intended), so I can’t imagine you’ll be able to glean much from this. All the same, we were told the night before our train into Aguas Calientes was cancelled, and that we would have to hike from the Hydroelectric Station to Aguas Calientes along the railroad track. This added several extra hours of walking onto our trek. This also meant that we had to go back to Ollantaytambo to drop off our trekking bags. So, if you are keeping track at home, we now had: 1) our personal backpacks, which would now have everything we needed for Aguas Calientes crammed into them … good thing I had a large backpack!, 2) our trekking bags stored in Ollantaytambo, 3) our extra non-trekking luggage from Ccaccaccollo stored in a garbage bag, also in Ollantaytambo, and 4) our main luggage in Cusco. What a mess!

Arriving at the Hydroelectric Station, we cranked out our hours of hiking in good order, arriving mid-afternoon in the town. We checked into our hotel with a bit of free time to explore. Some folks went to a hot springs; I, instead, restocked my snacks and drinks and relaxed at the hotel. Our “Ollantaytambo Stay” compatriot was already in Aguas Calientes, having arrived the day before after hearing about the train cancellation. This meant the only folks missing were the Inca Trail folks, whom we’d meet up with the following day. They were presumably having another day of walking up or downhill, followed by an overnight at a campsite with questionable facilities. For those of us in Aguas Calientes, we had a lovely post-trek dinner.

Day Thirteen: We took an early morning bus from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu. Our timed entry tickets meant we were arriving right after sunrise and just before the fog lifted. With some careful loitering, we were able to see the clouds disappear to reveal Machu Picchu in all its glory! This was right around the time I spotted the Inca Trail group coming down the mountain. At last, we were reunited and had a lovely tour of the citadel.

Afterwards, shit got real. We weren’t certain if we’d have a train back to Ollantaytambo, but -thankfully- the strike was resolved and we caught a late afternoon train (a miracle, frankly; we’d have to hike back to the Hydroelectric Station if that train was cancelled; I was fine with that, but I’m sure the Inca Trail folks would have been livid). Now, back in Ollantaytambo, we had to collect 1) our garbage bags of hold luggage, and 2) the Lares Trek duffel bags we ditched the morning before. Then, back on the bus for an early evening race to Cusco, where we were reunited with our hold luggage for some spirited repacking. It wasn’t until 2100 or perhaps even later the entire group was repacked, showered, and ready to go to dinner. We enjoyed a going-away dinner at the nearby Irish pub. I paid for the group’s drinks after losing a bet of sorts … you can read about that on my travelogue here.

Day Fourteen: We all went our separate ways. Some of us flew back to where we came from, while others spent an extra day or two in Cusco. There are plenty of options, for sure, but -again- if you are hell-bent on seeing Rainbow Mountain, and you choose this day to do it, you’ll probably be on the struggle bus a little bit. Just fair warning.

We stayed at the following hotels during the trip (your results may vary, of course):

• Day One to Two: Hostal Gemina, Barranco, Lima

• Day Two to Three: Hotel San Marcelo, Nazca

• Day Three to Four: Overnight Bus

• Day Four to Five: Arequipa Inn, Arequipa

• Day Five to Six: Casa de Lucila, Chivay

• Day Six to Seven: Overnight Bus

• Day Seven to Eight: Hotel Cusco Plaza Saphi, Cusco

• Day Eight to Nine: Homestead, Ccaccaccollo

• Day Nine to Ten: Hotel Las Orquideas, Ollantaytambo

• Day Ten to Eleven: Campsite

• Day Eleven to Twelve: Campsite

• Day Twelve to Thirteen: Andino Machupicchu, Aguas Calientes

• Day Thirteen to Fourteen: Hotel Cusco Plaza Saphi, Cusco

If you are hiking the Inca Trail, you’ll be at a campsite from Day Twelve to Thirteen; if you are doing the Cusco Stay, I’d expect Day Ten to Twelve will be at whichever Cusco hotel you were previous at.

Generally speaking, these are small, boutique-style hotels. The rooms at each were adequate, but on the small side when compared to a Western-style chain hotel. The amenities - while basic - were adequate; most provided soaps and shampoos, as well as towels. The linens were clean and the beds and pillows were good enough to get a good night’s sleep. Each hotel offered breakfast, which was greatly appreciated.

The hotels in Arequipa, Chivay, Cusco, Ollantaytambo, and Aguas Calientes were centrally-located and within walking distance of shops and attractions. The hotel in Lima was well-located within Barranco, but - as mentioned - was a good distance from both the airport and central Lima. Lastly, the hotel in Nazca was secluded from the town, but this was appropriate as none of the visited sites are in the city center itself.

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Now back to the review!

Well, in so many words … very trying. If you asked my group what they disliked the least about this trip, this would probably be the number one answer by a mile.

Before I shred these apart, let me talk about the positives. First, G Adventures has partnered with Cruz del Sur, which - as far as I can tell - has the best safety record of all long-distance bus companies in Peru. The bus definitely made stops to swap out drivers at regular intervals, and each passenger is able to monitor the bus’ speed and overspeed warnings from their seat. Drivers did chirp the warning on the downhills of the mountain passes, but were quick to correct the speed. G Adventures books the first class tickets for their tours, and our group frequently had the majority of these seats (which are located on the upper deck of the bus).

The bus seats are generally comfortable, but the seat width and pitch varied from journey to journey. The seats do not lie flat, but come pretty close.

Now, for the not-so-good.

First, the toilets on-board allow for liquid waste only. On a twelve-to-fourteen hour journey, this isn’t a great option. I’m not sure if this was a post-COVID measure, or if they’re always like this; nonetheless, it was trying.

Second, the bus doesn’t make any stretching stops. I don’t think many people minded this, but sitting for twelve hours straight isn’t great for the human body. Navigating around (or even standing) on the buses was quite a challenge given the winding nature of the roads.

Third, the on-board power didn’t often work. This was a bummer for those of us who needed to charge our phones and cameras, in particular.

Fourth, the climate control on these buses was wildly inconsistent. One bus was freezing cold, the next boiling hot.

Lastly, these buses were never on-time, particularly our bus into Cusco which was several hours late.

Here is the paradox: if you want to visit Nazca, in particular, you’re going to need to take an overnight bus. So, really, it boils down to what you want to see vs. your comfort level. In this case, I think one of our overnight buses could be avoided entirely, but I will discuss that later on.

My group dealt with two primary medical maladies: stomach viruses, and altitude sickness.

First, let’s talk about stomach issues. I suffered terribly from a stomach virus for most of my trip which, admittedly, sucked a lot of joy out of this trip. And I wasn’t the only one who had to make a visit to the pharmacy, either. Hopefully you can learn from this lesson and avoid suffering the same fate.

I am relatively certain that I got ill from water either 1) in an ice cube, or 2) on undried vegetables. Best advice: make sure that all the produce you eat is completely dried off; also, make sure if you consume ice in a beverage that the ice is made from bottled water.

Kike was very helpful to get me to a pharmacy to get medicine. Thankfully, no doctor’s prescription is needed and the medicine helped out greatly within a few days. As mentioned, I wasn’t the only one who made the journey; if math is any indication, you have a one-in-five chance of taking the trip yourself.

As for altitude sickness, unfortunately you don’t know if you are prone to altitude sickness until you deal with it personally by spending time above 4,000 meters / 13,000 feet for a prolonged period of time. My best advice is to consider Diamox, a medication which - among other things - helps with altitude sickness by passing carbon dioxide in your blood through your kidneys. This does make you urinate more frequently, but altitude sickness can be debilitating. Be sure to start Diamox a couple of days before getting to altitude.

Some folks recommend coca leaves or coca tea to treat altitude sickness. I can’t speak for this personally, but people (particularly locals) swear by it. Give it a go!

We had a couple of bad cases of altitude sickness during the Lares Trek. The symptoms of this included disorientation, vomiting, and muscle cramps. Thankfully for those affected, the symptoms were short-lived and reverted upon return to Ollantaytambo.

As far as I can tell, both the Lares Trek and Inca Trail feature most of the same accommodation. For both treks, you will have a shared two-person tent with an air mattress and a sleeping bag. Meals are served in a large tent on folding tables and chairs with actual silverware, cups, and plates (Lares occasionally features dining in small permanent structures). Each trek provides a wake-up service with coffee and tea available at your tent in the morning, and each morning and evening, a hot water basin is provided for washing up. The trekking teams really do their absolute best to provide a comfortable service!

The main difference between the Lares Trek and the Inca Trail is the availability of sitting toilets. These are common on the Lares Trek (the first night campsite even had a shower building!), but rare on the Inca Trail which relies heavily on squatting toilets. In both cases, please be sure to bring toilet paper.

(I didn’t have any campsite photos, admittedly, so this one is embedded from the G Adventures website.)

Both the Lares Trek and Inca Trail use porters who carry not only the bulk of your personal items, but also all the food and camping equipment you and your group will use.

On the Inca Trail, all the equipment is physically carried by the porters themselves, whereas on the Lares Trek, donkeys are used to assist.

The porters - somehow! - manage to break down your tents, load up the equipment, pass you on the trail, set up lunch ahead of you, tear down the lunch site, pack up, pass you again, and arrive at the campsite before you get there with your sleeping arrangements already made. Unbelievable stuff, honestly.

The porters I interacted with at least seemed to enjoy their jobs; all the same, their jobs are incredibly difficult and please be sure to tip them for their excellent service. I recommend following the tip guidance from your CEO.

It is Peruvian law that the Inca Trail porters not carry more than six kilograms per person per trek. This weight limit is strictly enforced.

Six kilograms may seem like a lot, but bear in mind your sleeping bag and mat count against the weight limit. This combination, if rented at the G Adventures office in Cusco, comes in at three kilograms, which leaves only three kilograms for all of your personal items for four days and three nights. Any excess must be carried in the backpack you take with you.

As mentioned above, the Lares Trek uses donkeys so the weight limit is a little more forgiving. That said, I wouldn’t push eight kilograms overall.

This weight limit caused a lot of issues for folks in Ollantaytambo the day before the treks began and lots of personal items were getting shuffled between the trekking bags, the personal backpacks, and the hold baggage. Again, come up with a plan in advance and this process will go a lot smoother.

I’ll talk at length about what to pack for the trek down below in case you are in need of inspiration or advice.

Bottom line up front, the food on the trails is exceptional and will not leave you wanting. There is plenty of variety in the food, which is well-made. Coffee, tea, and water are also abundant. It is frankly amazing what the support staff is able to whip up on the trail, so be sure to tip them appropriately for their efforts. If you take the Inca Trail, you may even get a special treat I won’t spoil here. If you have a dietary restriction, don’t fret - we had vegetarians and vegans on the trip, and they were well accommodated.

This trip visits many different types of climates; as a result, you’ll need a variety of gear to get you through.

Starting with clothes, simplicity is the key. Make efficient use of hiking / backpacking clothing, and definitely take advantage of doing laundry in Cusco. Don’t overthink it: a couple pairs of hiking pants with zips / spandex-type leggings, a couple pairs of football shorts, some synthetic t-shirts, underwear, and socks, and a synthetic hoodie will get you through most of this. Bring a good, compressible puffy coat (like the Patagonia Nano Puff®) for colder days, as well as thin gloves, a beanie / toque, and a set of long underwear. Don’t worry too much about wearing clothes twice - you’re going to stink, just accept it for what it is now. You will not have time to do laundry at the end of the trek, so don’t forget a clean set of clothes for 1) the inevitable post-trek drinking event, and 2) your travel the next day - you can store these in Cusco. Aside from socks and underwear, I say you only really need one change of clothes for the trek. This will also help you save weight for things like battery power banks (you’ll want these!)

You may notice this is a bit different from the packing list provided by G Adventures - you’ll notice I don’t recommend long-sleeved hiking shirts, a scarf, special sleeping clothes, or a fleece jacket. I’ll tackle these one at a time. I encourage you to have a long-sleeve synthetic undershirt or long-sleeve underwear shirt for sleeping and maybe a cold morning on the trail; but I promise you that once you get moving you’ll be ditching a long-sleeve hiking shirt pretty quickly, especially if you have a jacket on. Also, the undershirts are lighter and take up way less room than a long-sleeve shirt. A scarf will, frankly, get in the way and I encourage you to get a more versatile Buff head wrap anyway. If you bring a pair or two of football shorts, your sleeping gear is covered - the sleeping bag on trail is plenty warm, in my opinion, and you don’t need fleece sleepwear or anything special. Lastly - and perhaps most controversially - I don’t really think you’ll need a fleece jacket or sweater. Most of the trip, you’ll be fine with just a puffy coat, and for cooler nights on-trail the thin synthetic hoodie should take out most of the chill while taking up half the space of a fleece jacket.

As for shoes, you can get away with a pair of hiking shoes (or even running shoes) and sandals. I can’t speak directly for the Inca Trail, but at least on the Lares Trek there were no deep water crossings to worry about.

For both the desert near Nazca and the trek, a brimmed hat and sunglasses are essential - also, don’t forget your sunscreen!!! Lastly, the buff will help greatly with sand during the dune buggy tour and the sand boarding.

As for trekking equipment, my best advice would be to rent your sleeping bag, sleeping mat, and trekking poles in Cusco unless a sleeping bag or mat you already own are lighter than the ones that you can rent and you are concerned about weight in your trekking bag, or you have collapsible trekking poles you already love. I would come up with a plan for a pillow - I stuffed everything into the tour-provided duffel bag, but if you require something a bit more comfortable, considering bringing a small backpacking pillow. You’ll need a personal backpack and a water bottle, my best advice is to not use a bladder-type water bag as 1) they are tricky to fill, and 2) if the hose is frozen, they don’t work well. A small flashlight may be useful and will help save power on your cellphone.

Speaking of electronics, there will not be any opportunity to charge your phone or camera batteries on the trail. Saving as much weight as you can for battery banks will be a smart decision. You’ll need these, especially if you rely on your phone as a camera and a phone. I’ll talk more about photo gear below, but budget this equipment into your weight calculations carefully, and realize there is a very good chance you’ll be carrying all this gear yourself.

You’ll want some entertainment on the buses; some folks brought small computers or tablets with them. I say: save the space and weight and make friends instead. If you must watch something or listen to music, consider just using your cellphone.

Concerning rain gear, I recommend buying a poncho at a shop in Ollantaytambo for use on the trail rather than bringing a rain coat with you on trek. Leave your proper raincoat in either Cusco or Ollantaytambo.

As far as health and welfare items for your trek, take essential medication and women’s hygiene items (obviously), a plaster or two, the aforementioned sunscreen, a toothbrush and small toothpaste and floss, and a small synthetic towel. Beyond this, you won’t need it - leave it in Cusco or Ollantaytambo. All the hotels had soap and shampoo from what I can recall, so don’t sweat that too much.

Concerning security, you’ll be spending lots of time on public long-distance buses. While these are generally pretty safe, I recommend a money belt to hold your passport and money. This will keep these items close to your body and make it more difficult for pick-pocketers to grab them.

One last thing: toilet paper, toilet paper, toilet paper.

Overall, the packing list from G Adventures for the trip is a good starting point. My best advice is to use this as a guide and consider opportunities to exclude items rather than include them.

Like the clothing I mentioned above, keep this simple.

For starters, one camera body is totally sufficient. Two batteries will also be enough, particularly if you have a USB battery charger that you can plug into a battery pack on the trail. Two SD-cards will also do you just fine.

I’ll recommend you only bring three lenses: a low aperture wider angle lens (like my f/1.8 Sigma 18-35mm), a medium range telephoto lens for the condors (I used a Canon 70-300mm), and maybe a discreet pancake for the cities. It may be tempting to add better telephoto lenses for the condors, a wider-angle lens for the trek, or other lenses for what-if situations. If you load up on this extra gear, your life will become more difficult (I promise).

You most likely won’t need a tripod. The only reason I had one was to photograph the lunar eclipse. A small flexible tripod will do the job if you just can’t live without one.

Last thing, I’ll recommend a backpack strap camera holster for the trek. This will make taking photos much easier as you won’t need to stop and fetch your camera from your backpack every time you want to snap a picture.

The altitude can be a challenge, for sure. Doing anything at high altitude is much tougher: aside from the air being obviously thinner, the sun is stronger and it sucks water from your body much easier than it does at sea level. On the Lares Trek, a couple of my trek mates suffered with stomach and muscle cramps; they gutted through it, but I’m sure it wasn’t pleasant.

Unfortunately, you don’t know how altitude affects you until you experience it for yourself. It is also not something easily discoverable before you take your trek - you can’t exactly jet off to Kilimanjaro for a test run, and - if you were to invest in one of those altitude training masks - you’d need to wear it constantly for hours and hours before you’d really start to feel some of the affects (your blood will be well-oxygenated for quite a while).

Don’t underestimate it. Here is a photo from the bus ride to Chivay - we are at 15,888 feet / 4843 meters. This is higher than the top of Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in the Alps. Let that sink in.

So what can you do? As I mentioned before, my best advice is to get a prescription for Diamox before you depart. Talk to your doctor about your itinerary and make sure you have enough medication to start taking this a few days before you get to altitude. You can also drink coca tea or chew coca leaves, but a warning that if you are drug tested by your employer, this can result in you testing positive for cocaine!

First things first: don’t panic. Second: be honest with yourself. Third: be transparent.

If you are in, say, Chivay and are already struggling with altitude sickness, talk to your CEO about your concerns. If you are having stomach issues, illness, or dehydration, talk to your CEO. If you are second-guessing your physical fitness, talk to your CEO.

It is better to be honest about your limitations before you get on the trail - once you’re on the trail, you are basically committed to finishing.

The trekking crew will do everything they can to make sure you get through, however; but it will still be very, very difficult.

In hindsight, given my stomach illness I shouldn’t have started the Lares Trek. I still made it through, but it was a less-than-fun experience.

If you decide en-route that you don’t want to do your trek, your CEO will make alternate arrangements for you. You may stay in Cusco, or you may stay in Ollantaytambo. The tour CEO - who normally joins the Lares Trek - will be by your side. Don’t feel bad about this - they almost certainly would rather you stay safe in the city than need medical evacuation on the trail.

For the most part, yes, but there are some considerations.

First, as mentioned you’ll be spending lots of time on long-distance buses where pick-pocketing does occur, particularly while you are sleeping. Be smart about where you put your possessions and you should hopefully be okay.

Second, there is medical safety. Plan ahead, be transparent, have medical evacuation insurance, and know your limitations - if you do these things, this is a safe voyage.

Just be careful spending time by yourself in the cities, particularly Lima, or anywhere at night. You are an easy target.

Off the top, I’d certainly reconsider my packing strategy. I took way too much clothing and camera equipment. I probably could have gotten away with 60-70% of the clothing I packed. I also took a bit too much photography equipment. This wasn’t a major issue for most of the trip, but having to lug all that shit on the Lares Trek became a real chore.

One other thing I’d do would be to seriously consider the Cusco Stay option. Not only was my Lares Trek trying, when I got back home from my vacation I was exhausted. There was nothing relaxing about the back half of this trip, admittedly, and -in hindsight- I probably could have used a me day or two. But I imagine most of you reading this will do either the Inca Trail or the Lares Trek, so I’m not really sure this passes for actual advice :-)

On my feedback form to G Adventures, I stated that the major negatives of this trip were 1) too many long-distance buses, and 2) a really delicate itinerary. Having had quite a bit of time to think about how I’d address these concerns, I think the fix is really simple: instead of taking a bus back to Arequipa from Chivay / Colca Canyon, just charter the same bus to take us to Cusco on the afternoon of Day Six.

There are numerous advantages to this strategy: first, it avoids a second overnight public bus (the longest one of the trip at well over 14 hours); second, it gives the CEO much more control over the schedule; and, third, it ensures a full day in Cusco the following morning. I suspect driving during the day is safer than at night, as well.

I recognize there are two draw-backs: first, arrival into Cusco may be as late as 2200 hours; and, second, this would certainly cost a bit more as the logistics surrounding the bus driver are a bit more complicated (lodging, multiple drivers, etc.) But I think if it is a feasible option it should be considered and I honestly believe the trip would be significantly more enjoyable if this one change was made.

That said, I want to make clear my opinion in case you are getting the wrong impression: if it comes down to an extra overnight bus or skipping Colca Canyon, I’ll gladly take the bus. Colca Canyon for me was one of the highlights of the trip, and shouldn’t be skipped because it involves an extra overnight bus.

I’ve mentioned this above, but -perhaps as a result of the late arrival into Cusco- we had very, very little time to explore the Sacred Valley. To the best of my knowledge, all optional activities described on the itinerary were not offered; this was admittedly disappointing and arguably misleading on the part of G Adventures.

One last change I’d make to how this tour is run: trek pacing. I mention this above and talk about this in my Lares Trek travelogue, but any group trek should be paced around the slowest person and not the fastest. This not only ensures everyone's safety, but it also affords those who need rest periods the opportunity to use them. A minor adjustment, but it really sucks the enjoyment out of any opportunity when you constantly feel like you are playing catch-up.

On the whole I do so long as you recognize this is more of an expedition than a vacation. As I mentioned, there is nothing relaxing about this trip - it is go, go, go, and you may find yourself having a difficult time adjusting to this tempo if you are not used to this type of pace on a vacation. I’ve also mentioned this itinerary doesn’t leave much room to explore, particularly if you want to see Huayna Picchu or Rainbow Mountain. But, all in all I think it is a good way to cram in most of the top sights of Peru in a short period of time at a great price with an excellent, reliable vendor.

Is it perfect? No - like I said, the itinerary is way too delicate and when things go off-schedule, they really go off-schedule - getting cut-out of seeing the Sacred Valley was a bummer. I’d also tweak the schedule here and there, as mentioned above.

But did I come away feeling like I had a comprehensive Peru experience? Certainly, yes. And I suspect that you will, too, so long as checking every single box isn’t absolutely necessary for you.

I think this about covers it, but I’ll update this page if I think of anything else. If you have any specific questions, please feel free to reach out to us at hdhuntphoto@gmail.com or drop a comment below.

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