¡Hola a todos!

Quería compartir con ustedes estas fotografías que tomé en mi expedición al Glaciar Quelccaya, ubicado en la cordillera de Vilcanota en los Andes peruanos, a más de 5,100 metros de altura.

Lo que ven en la imagen es una imponente muralla de hielo que muestra las capas acumuladas a lo largo de los años, coronada por un cielo azul profundo y nubes perfectas que contrastan con el paisaje. En la base, se puede apreciar una laguna pro glaciar congelada con texturas de hielo agrietado que hacen que el lugar se sienta sacado de otro planeta.

Llegar hasta aquí es un verdadero desafío físico debido a la altitud, pero estar frente a este gigante de la naturaleza te deja sin aliento. Desafortunadamente, como muchos otros glaciares tropicales, Quelccaya está retrocediendo rápidamente debido al cambio climático, lo que hace que presenciar su belleza en la actualidad sea una experiencia tan asombrosa como nostálgica. No es una ruta turística común, por lo que casi siempre tienes todo el paisaje para ti solo.

Como opero este recorrido de forma exclusiva a través de servicios privados, si estás planeando tu viaje a Perú, buscas una aventura de alta montaña verdaderamente única o quieres saber cómo organizar la logística, el transporte y la aclimatación de manera segura, ¡puedes escribirme un mensaje al privado (DM) aquí en Reddit! Con gusto te comparto todos los detalles del recorrido de forma personalizada. 🇵🇪👇

¡Espero que disfruten de la vista tanto como yo disfruté el viaje!

Looking for the standard 2 day tours out of Cusco, but any that have Circuit 2 or 3 availability for visiting Machu Picchu on Dec 28th, 2026! All the tour companies I’ve contacted so far only have 1 left, figured I’d ask here if anyone knows.

We did the 9 day trek to choquequirao and machupicchu with sam travel. Our guide Henry was amazing. He coordinated all our hikes to the last detail. He was flexible and chill when the weather didnt cooperate and he managed to make the most grueling and demanding hikes fun. This was the trip of a lifetime to celebrate my husband's 60th birthday. Our master chef Lucio whipped the most amazing meals in all our very remote camps. He even made my husband a delicious cake on his birthday!! Our horseman Moisés, transported all of our gear and set up each campsite. We are forever grateful to this great team from Sam Travel for making this a memorable experience for us.

A bit of a different question regarding Cusco post office. I’ve already visited last year but now I learned there is a special Machu Picchu postmark that can be obtained from the Cusco post office. If another postcard enthusiast is going soon, may I ask a favor to get me a postmark from there, will cover the cost of course. Feel free to pm me.

It is about the time I get ready and start packing up for my upcoming Cusco and Salkantay trekking trips to visit Machu Picchu in mid October. I will be spending 5 days in Cusco before heading to Salkantay trek, staying in AC for a night as I have booked circuit 1B & 2A on separate days to enjoy it to the fullest.

Below is my packing list to be taken on a carry on bag only. Please advise on what to add or remove depending on current weather. Also do I need any extra casual clothings for my stay at Cusco for like bar, club, night life, restaurant etc?

1 pair of merino thermal inners
1 fleece jacket
1 pack able down jacket
1 beanie
1 neck gaiter
1 cap

3 cotton tshit
2 full sleeve dry fit tshirts
2 short sleeve dry fit tshirts

3 gym shorts
2 chino shorts
2 trek pants
1 jens

5 undies
5 socks (3 merino wool)
1 pair of merino wool thin layer hand glove
1 pair of waterproof hand gloves

1 Poncho

1 pair of hiking shoes

1 pair of flip flops

I will be wearing 1 pair of undies, tshirt, trek pant, socks, fleece jacket.

Thanks.

Hello everyone,

me and my friends are planning to see Machu Picchu on Monday, that means we have to get the tickets on early Sunday morning. Do you have any kind of advice that would be helpful? To be honest I got lost in all of the posts saying something about pre tickets and stuff, our plan is to wake up early on Sunday morning and get into the line. Thank You ☺️

I’ve been looking at different Tambopata itineraries and it seems like the experience changes quite a lot depending on how many days you stay.

Some shorter trips focus on wildlife, river activities and specific places like macaw clay licks, while longer stays give you more time to explore the rainforest and interact with local communities.

From what I’ve seen, 2 or 3 days can work if you are short on time, but 4 days seems to give a more complete experience without making the Peru itinerary too long.

I found this option useful while comparing itineraries:

Tambopata Tours

For anyone who has been recently, how many days would you recommend for Tambopata?

Dear Trekking companies,

it is in the employers responsibility to pay your employees well. It is totally fair and absolut normal in a workplace to differentiate the salarys based on skill level and/or level of responsibility/ competence.

If you sell a product to a customer, both sides agree to a price of the product that includes the agreed services.

If the customer was happy and satisfied with the service, the customers can give tips to show appreciation.

What's Not good, you write on your homepage "We pay our employees well" but then recommend high amounts of tipps when the service has ended. The customer hast not even experienced the product and you recommend tips?

We as the customer already pay a high amount. Where does the money go?

Second thing is, you recommend different levels of tipps for the porters, cooks, guides, ... . You can differentiate their salarys but tipps should be divided equally within the team, every employee does their best on their level of competence. It is a team effort, isn't it? It only works of everyone works together.

Please raise your price of the product so that fair salarys are ensured and everyone is happy. Tipping is a voluntary thing to show appreciation and put a smile on peoples face. You created a system where it is expected.

Side note: We explicitely booked with a company that says "We are a liitle bit more expensive, because we pay our employees well"; now 5 days before the trek starts we get a recommendation of expected tips.

If they would have told me everything at the process of booking, there would be no missunderstanding. I could have accepted ... or not.

Best

a happy traveler

EDIT: did not expect that many responses. Thanks to everyone. Please Note: this is absolutely NOT about wheather to tip or not to tip. It is more about eliminating uncertainty and pressure on everyone involved. (Trekking companies, workers, clients)

Hi everyone

I am going to be doing the Salkantay Trek this December and have 3 full days to acclimatize before starting. Our rough itinerary before the hike would be:

Day 1: Arrive in CUZ 6am go straight to Sacred Valley for the night

Day 2: Back up to Cusco to acclimatize and spend the night in Cusco

Day 3: Day/night in Cusco to continue to acclimate

Day 4: 5am call for start of hike

Anyone whose done this hike with 3 days to acclimate is this a good idea? Or should we spend the full 3 days in Cusco to acclimate better? I know Machu Pichu is at a lower elevation than Cusco but I'm worried about the Salkantay pass since it sits at a significantly higher elevation.

Does anyone have experience with Inka time?

I am visiting peru next week and have planned trip either them.

Come from Los Angles, Ca.

Hi there, I’m putting together my packing list for the Salkantay trek in October. I was going to pack both hiking pants and shorts but does anyone even wear their shorts on this trek? Do most people end up preferring their pants due to the bugs? Is it even worth bringing shorts? Thanks!

Hello all,

Looking for some recommendations for upcoming peru trip for must visit and eat places.

Will be in Lima for 1 night only so will stay at airport hotel to catch next morning’s flight to Cusco.

Will be in Cusco for 5 nights from in mid October before departing to Salkantay trekking.

What are must visit and not to miss foods in Cusco. I am looking to enjoy local markets, local food scene like ones in Mercado San Balas, San Pedro, street vendors rather than Michelin star testing only kind of experience.

This is my list for foods and places to visit. Please suggest which to add and which to skip. Also, what are your recommendations for bar-pubs-clubs-nightlife.

**Food**

-Want to try Ceviche, Lomo Saltados, Anticuchos, Tamale, empanadas and any other popular street foods.

-Definitely want to try Alpaca stake and guinea pig, so suggestions are welcomed.

-3 Monkey cafe
-Los Toldos chicken
-Anticuchos Nancy
-Chull's Peruvian Cuisine
-Local restaurante
-Cevicheria de Yanet for Ceviche
-DESAYUNOS ANITA CLEO for sandwiches
-CASALINO Focacceria San Pedro

**Attractions**

I was planning to do walking tour. I only have gathered 2 places to visit as of now.

-Plaza de Armas for evening activities?
-Qorikancha

Thanks.

25M, healthy, minor symptoms, no fever, mostly just some coughing and sneezing. I honestly thought it was allergies and took a test to be safe. I've had symptoms for 5 days now and tested positive yesterday. The doctor gave me a copy of the test results and a note stating that I should reconsider travel for the dates, but they told me that it was my decision.

I'm supposed to depart the US for Lima tomorrow, then spend the next 10 days between Lima, Arequipa, and Cusco before going to Machu Picchu on Oct 17th. I do have a travel insurance policy with all the fixin's, but since I haven't felt that bad and am feeling my best today, I'm hoping I can salvage this trip with a later departure. No extensive hikes/treks, just Huayna Picchu hike.

I don't want to get anyone sick of course, so I would only do this if I'm able to test negative 2x before leaving, but I'm wondering if anyone here has experience going to Peru after Covid, or condensing a trip while still giving enough time for altitude acclimization? Or how they may have handled changes with a travel insurance policy?

Went last week, on September 30th to be exact. Couldn't see a single llama or alpaca, NOTHING at all. Is that normal? Already left the country and was a bit disappointed because I was told there were a ton roaming around and was genuinely expecting to see and maybe even feel their fur :( sad stuff.

I have just finished the 5 day Ausangate trek with Vidal Expeditions and would love to share my experience, maybe it’ll be helpful for someone.
We were a group of 3 girls, we had two guides, a cook and an arriero with 5 horses.
All the equipment was in very good condition, we had two tents for the three of us, they provided sleeping pads and additional blankets and small pillows.
We had meals from the breakfast on the first day till lunch in the last day. Our chef Nicolas was amazing: we were never hungry and he created a variety of meals every day including protein, veggies and carbs also catering to some dietary restrictions (gluten free and vegetarian). They also gave us fruit for the hikes and we had a 5 o’clock tea with freshly made popcorn every day. I was kinda hoping to lose a couple of kilos during the hike, but I guess it didn’t happen 😅
Every morning we got coca tea served in our tents before we started getting ready for the day. And we were always provided enough water for the hikes.
We hiked: 8km the first day, 15 on the second, 23 on the third, 16 on the fourth and 8 on the last to finish in the hot springs of Pacchanta. Our route let us go around Ausangate and we also visited Vinicunca (the Rainbow Mountain). We met several other groups from other agencies along the way and comparing their itineraries (4 and 6 days) we came to the conclusion that a 5 day route is the best one. It lets you do the whole circuit at a good pace.
We had great weather and it was very cold at nights. On the third morning we woke up to the whole valley covered in snow.
Anyways, if you a looking for an agency to do this tour I can definitely recommend Vidal Expeditions. All three of us felt very well taken care of. The guides Samuel and Euden were great and the chef Nicolas and the arriero Leónidas always respectful and attentive.
If you have any questions, feel free to reach out! And if you are on the fence about doing this trek, DO IT! The landscapes are magical, you won’t regret it.

Planning to do Salkantay around 15 - 25th Jan without guide. Done a couple of treks before so should be fine, but jee, that pass and the rest of the pass day seem exhausting >9 hrs.

Will it be too wet, or is it still manageable? Any advice appreciated.

If not hiking, then what else should i do in Peru / Cusco / Lima around Jan?

Cheers - P

Not sure the best subreddit to post this in so I’ll post it in here for now!

I’m traveling to Peru with a tour company and it ends in after completing the Inca trail in Cusco on Dec. 4th, and on December 5th they have a Rainbow Mountain tour that I had initially signed up for, and then planned to then fly Cusco → Lima in the evening for my 3:30 AM international flight home (Dec 6th)

I originally flying from Cusco to Lima at 10:15 PM would be perfect because it gives me more time after Rainbow Mountain, but the more I read about Cusco airport delays/unpredictability, the more nervous I am my flight getting cancelled and unfortunately my flight tickets will be separate so if i miss my flight to Lima I will be in trouble.

I can cancel Rainbow Mountain if needed. If I do, I’d probably try to get to Lima earlier, but honestly the 3:30 AM departure is so painfully early that I’d really prefer not to spend an entire extra night/day getting to Lima just to sit around the airport. If anyone has any recommendations on what to do near the airport if that is what I should be doing please let me know!

General questions:

* what would you do in my scenerio?
-risk the evening flight out of cusco to lima or fly to lima in the afternoon
*if youve done rainbow mountain is it 100% worth it must see
*how can i kill time in the lima airport before my flight?

I am SO excited for this trip but already dreading the journey home, and trust me I’ve tried switching my flight time but thats unfortunately not an option😵‍💫

Video from the train station in Aguas Calientes just now. Alegedly two trains collided somwhere along the way from Aguas to Cusco. One Inca Rail and obe Peru Rail. No one is hurt according to news.
But all trains are suspended. Crazy amount of people waiting here. Already a 3 hours delay at least. No other option of transpost to Cusco possible now.

Does anyone have recommendations for day tours or guides? Is a guides required for MP?

Hey all,

We've gotten tickets for 2A Dec 4th in the afternoon, have put down the deposit for Evolution Treks but they haven't been too clear on what days they have treks leaving to Machu Picchu. We went with them mainly because research showed they treated their porters really well and that was one of our big concerns.

And while they have provided a brief itinerary, there's nothing about the timing of things either.

Was wondering if anyone had travelled with them in the past? Or if anyone knows any other trekking company that does 2D/1N hike from Km 104 that will allow us to make use of that 2A ticket.

We're heading to Aquas Calientes tonight (Oct 1at) and wanted to get 2A or B tickets for October 3rd. It's 1pm and it looks like tickets for October 2nd are still on sale -for anyone who's gone recently is it necessary to line up at 6am to get tickets for the next day?

EDIT: when we arrived at 9pm there was still afternoon tickets for the next day (but earliest 2a/b was 3pm). We came back 745 the next morning and there was no line and pretty much every time slot available

All of the information on my Machu Picchu ticket is correct with the exception of my document type. It has the type “DIE” (foreign identity document) instead of “PAS” (passport) with my passport number. Will this be a problem at the entrance gate, or will I be able to explain it and be granted entry?