Copacabana Travel Forum

My wife and I are going to Peru and Boliva for one moneth in September, starting from Boliva, La Paz. Does anyone have any recommendations on the best places to visit in both countries? We will be backpacking, like camping, want to see rivers and beautiful sceneries, relax and enjoy the holiday. Prefarably without pre booking. Is it possible to do something similar to the inca trail to machu picchu without prebooking?

any suggestions and tips are welcome.

thanks
Jesmar

Jesmar, one month is about the right amount of time to do Bolivia and Peru. My first trip was 18 days and it was too short. The itinerary is at http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/5fca8/886/1/ but it is hard to read. I filled in the things I missed with two later trips. My first trip was with Fremen Tours and the other two with Mario Nina's Zig-Zag Eco Tours and Treks. Both were excellent but Mario is about half the price (except for the Mamore River trip...Fremen owns the boat). Since one can only e-mail one attachment on VT, let me put my three itineraries in one file and e-mail it separately. You are going to love your trip. Actually I prefer Bolivia since it has fewer tourists, but don't miss the Sacred Valley and Manchu Picchu in Peru.

The Inca trail will probably be fully booked already.

Jesmar, I just tried to sent you a VT e-mail with a file with all three itineraries attached; however, it acted strangely. VT may have timed out while I was creating the file. Did you receive it?

Hi there.

I went to Peru in September. If you speak Spanish it is a lot more fun to go without tour agency. If you do not, it will be a little more difficult. I would advise you to pick one country, cause there is so much to see. We went for Peru and travelled around for three weeks and this was only in the South of Peru. This was already very exhausting, but very beautiful too. Unless you already have enough information collected, you can always drop me an email and I will send you then a list of cities we visited. One that many people miss out because they have little time is Huacachina. Admittedly a tourist place, but it was so great. It is a oasis with sand buggies that take you to the high dunes where you can sandboard!! It was my first time on a board, but it was amazing.
Have fun
Siska, Belgium

hello dear friend i am a person who give a lot of information about peru:

in peru there are many diferents places to visit; one of the most important and beautiful place to visit is cusco:
if you need more information about it.

did you know that World votes for seven new wonders
many people say how can i get a lot of information about cusco becouse it is becoming one of the new7 wonders in the world
if you want to know about cusco you only need to do click here:
http://www.allaboutcusco.com

Jungle: Los Yungas-Coroico (La Paz), Rurrenabaque (Beni), by plane from La Paz. National Park Amboro and Noel Kempf Mercado(BEAUTIFUL), Santa Cruz. Park Madidi (La Paz). Chapare (Cochabamba).

Altiplano (brrrr):Ulla Ulla Park (where Chaupi Orko is and the Kallawayas town; Kallawayas are naturist doctors, with ancient medical knowledge). Sajama Park (Oruro, where Sajama is). Copacabana-lake Titicaca, UYuni salt flat.

Cities: Potosi, Sucre, La Paz (the ones that contain more atractions). It does not mean that the others are not good but the main point in the others are ecotourism or events related to indian ceremonies and festivities, like carnival, new andean year, etc. Oruro is not a very attractive city but the Sajama Park definitely worths going there! Also there is a museum named San Miguel de la Rancheria, with paintings and sculptures from the colony times. Also the Patinyo museum (Patinyo was a mining tycoon).

Cochabamba: Chapare, towns of Tarata and Totora, Toro Toro natural caves (better contact an agency to organize a tour).

RUins: Incas`: Inkallajta, Inkarracay (Cochabamba), Samaipata (Santa Cruz). Tiawanacu (the Atlantis?)(La Paz).

Hi guys I have just read your replies. i have to go into them more. Ray I did not receive the email. If anyone prefers to email me you can use jesmar.bilocca@yahoo.co.uk. Ray I have read some of your traveling experience. they're great. thanks everyone for your replies.

Hi Jesmar,

I've been planning a Peru-Bolivia trek for this August with my girlfriend. From what I've read and seen on the web, if you like stunning scenery, the must sees are the Salar de Uyuni, Lake Titicaca, and Machu Picchu. We are planning to start in Sucre and end up at Machu Picchu. That way we avoid any backtracking - there are daily flights La Paz to Sucre.

As for the inca trail, that was booked solid months ago. But an even better alternative is the Salkantay hike which is 5 days and also ends up in Machu Picchu. There are no restrictions on that trail because so few people trek it. The scenery is even wilder than the Inca Trail scenery, with less tourists, but also no inca ruins along the trail. From what I've read, you can arrive in Cuzco, find a trekking guide, and start hiking in a day or two.

Good luck with your trip

Hi there...I've just read your sugggestion..thanks