On a recent trip to Easter Island and northern Chile, my dad and I finished our time in San Pedro de Atacama with a three-day guided tour across the border to Salar de Uyuni, the world’s largest salt flat, in Bolivia. The trip featured truly surreal scenery, but it also came with some challenges worth …
San Pedro de Atacama is the main hub for exploring the visually stunning Atacama Desert in northern Chile. On a recent bucket-list trip with my dad, we spent three nights (two full days) here, using the town as our base, before heading on a 3-day return tour to Uyuni in Bolivia. For our two full …
Easter Island (Rapa Nui), with its hundreds of mysterious Moai statues, is one of the world’s most remote, evocative, and bucket-list worthy destinations. My father had wanted to go to Easter Island for over five decades, even since he first read about the Moai in Reader’s Digest as a teenager. So after he retired, we …
In the past, visitors to Machu Picchu were allowed to freely explore the site. However, if you visit Machu Picchu today, whether visiting on your own (yes, it’s allowed!), on a tour like this one, or as part of the Inca Trail hike, you’ll have to walk along one of its circuits, or set routes. …
The Inca Bridge (Puente Inka) at Machu Picchu is a one-of-a-kind attraction. It is one of the few remaining Inca-built bridges in existence. The bridge spans a gap in a narrow stone trail, a secret entrance to Machu Picchu, that runs along a towering cliff. Comparatively few tourists hike the short (30-minute return) trail to …
The Pisac ruins are some of the most important Incan ruins in Peru’s Cusco region and the Sacred Valley, along with the ruins at Ollantaytambo and more remote Huchuy Qosqo. They are a great addition to any Machu Picchu visit. I especially recommend visiting these and other Sacred Valley attractions BEFORE Machu Picchu so you …
The Ollantaytambo Ruins (Ollantaytambo Archaeological Site) in Peru’s Sacred Valley is second in importance only to Machu Picchu itself. These prominent ruins overlooking Ollantaytambo townsite were the site of the only major Inca defeat of Spanish forces. Today, they are also one of the most accessible ruins around Cusco because you can walk to them …
Ollantaytambo is my favorite town in the Sacred Valley of Peru, and I’m not alone. So many visitors rush through Ollantaytambo on their way to Machu Picchu, or as a part of a Sacred Valley day tour like this one, and wish they had budgeted more time for it. Personally, I fell in love with …
Pisac (also spelled Písac or Písaq) is one of the largest towns in the Sacred Valley of Peru. The Urubamba River flows through this valley towards the famed Machu Picchu. As the furthest east town in the valley (or furthest away from Machu Picchu), most visitors bypass Pisac altogether in their rush to get from …
The Sacred Valley (el Valle Sagrada) is my favorite place in Peru. It is home to fantastic ruins, the starting point of the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, traditional Quechua villages and markets, incredible restaurants, and adventure activities galore. The Sacred Valley is formed by the Urubamba River north of Cusco, which wraps around Machu …
