re: 9 days in Peru - highlights, pics, etc.

Looks like a hell of a trip.

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I was planning on going balls deep and climbing both HP and Montana. the Peruvian chick we hired said I wouldn't be able to, im taking that as a challenge. 

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It's definitely doable if you're in good shape. It'll be a workout though. The only question will be if you want to commit almost your whole day at Machu Picchu to those hikes since you'll only be there one day.

That's up for you to decide, but if it were me I'd pick one and explore the rest of Machu Picchu. There's so much to see and being rushed just takes away some of the awe IMO.

We took advice from previous travelers and did 2 days in Machu Picchu (really a day and a half), and I'm very glad we did so.

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4th day return to cusco and kayak/zipline 
5th day is a day trip to rainbow mountains. 
6th day we will fly back to lima early and spend the day and night there 
7th day check out some sea lion island then soccer game at night(all in lima) 

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All of this is out of my wheelhouse. It sounds fun though.

This was our itinerary - with prices:

**Sun - 5/08**: Arrive in Lima 9:50 pm (overnight Lima)

* Staying at Wasi Aeropuerto B&B ($75)
* Hotel providing transportation to and from airport ($20 total)

**Mon - 5/09**: Early flight to Cusco, spend day/night in Cusco (overnight Cusco)

* Staying AirBNB Maya's Apt ($55)
* Yanina providing transportation from airport ($10 total)

**Tues - 5/10**: Spend day/night in Cusco (overnight Cusco)

* Staying AirBNB Maya's Apt ($55)

**Wed - 5/11**: Early train to Aguas Calientes, day at Machu Pichu (sleep Aguas Calientes)

* Staying at Panorama B&B ($85)

**Thurs - 5/12**: Sunrise at Machu Pichu, evening train back to Cusco (overnight Cusco)

* Staying at Mirador de Santa Ana ($40)

**Fri - 5/13**: Early flight to Lima, spend day/night in Lima (overnight Lima)

* Staying AirBnB Barranco Apt ($50)
* Pam providing transportation from airport ($20 total)

**Sat - 5/14**: Spend day/night in Lima (overnight Lima)

* Staying AirBnB Barranco Apt ($50)

**Sun - 5/15**: Early bus to Ica/Huacachina, dune boarding and bugging (overnight Huacachina)

* Staying AirBnB in Ica, Family Home ($44)

**Mon - 5/16**: Early bus back to Lima, spend day in Lima til 10 pm flight (overnight flight)

I think our bus was like 8 am. We got there around noon I guess. (P.s. the busses are so comfortable the ride went by in no time. You can watch movies and shite).

The dune boarding and buggying isnt very long. I think the trips are like an hour. The buggying is WAY more fun than the boarding. The boarding you get maybe 2 rides down.

The rest of the time we just hung out and drank in Huacachina. There are alot of young travelers hanging around too.

The sunset is cool over the desert.

Looks fun. If I had even more time I'd like to see the Nasca Lines and Tititaca, but some other day I suppose.

Another thing about Ica, it's a very poor city. Like vastly different than Lima or Cusco. The whole bus ride to Ica from Lima feels like you're driving through a Mad Max setting.

Surreal and humbling.

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The whole bus ride to Ica from Lima feels like you're driving through a Mad Max setting.

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Welcome to 80% of the planet.

BTW, breaking up with your girl after taking her to Peru? Cold blooded.

Just kidding, its a tough call man. Good luck

Booked my Machu Picchu plus Huayna tickets for July

That website is a god damn travesty but I made it work.

This Blog Post helped with the step by step instructions. My first go something happened and I couldn't get to the credit card page. My reservation wouldn't work and it wouldn't let me generate a new one saying I already had a reservation for that day. Good thing to know is if you don't pay for your reservation in 6 hours, it times out and you can start over again. I was freaking out until I found that out. 2nd attempt later in the day worked.

My new house is on a steep arse hill so hopefully that helps for the training.

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I still haven't even looked at rooms yet

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Ya all I have to book is the train. Had some points to burn so I booked Tambo Del Inka in Urubamba and Palacio Del Inka in Cusco. Maybe I'll regret not staying in Ollantaytambo but we'll see.

Worst thing really was I'm skipping right through Lima and should arrive in Urubamba 6 or so hours before check-in. Since it's high season I paid for a room for the night before. I've ran into this problem before and it's miserable when they can't accommodate you, but sucks paying a good sum for a few hours.

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Nice! You're going the Huayna route I see. Probably smarter with your time frame. 

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Ya, also I figure if time becomes an issue or for some other reason we can't make it up, better to have it booked and not do it than not having the ticket and wanting to do it.

Thankfully it appears the train website is much better on the English and website stability front

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When buying MP and HP tickets from that website do I need passport numbers and stuff?

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Yup. You also need your passport to enter the park with your ticket.

You also need a Visa card. Only use the Spanish language version of the site.

Everything should be in that link I posted a few posts up. Follow it closely.

Got my train tickets. Even though we're staying at Tambo and they have their own train station, the times are limited and slower. We're going to have the hotel transfer our bags to Palacio the day we do MP, so this saves us from losing time going back to the hotel and just relaxing after a very long day. Therefore, train will be Olly to MP, MP to Poroy. We'll have a possible 8 hours up there, so no rush getting up or down. Not sure we'll use the whole time but nice considering we may be dead after Hyuana.

I'm essentially done planning the logistics except for a Austin to IAH roundtrip on either end of our award flight Now I just have to wait 6 months to actually go.