SAS Travel Peru — Local services in Distrito de Cusco

My wife and I decided to visit Machu Picchu and Amazon and SAS travel agency was recommended by Trip Advisor and by other reviewers. Our travel agent Noemi Puma assisted us will planning and booking. She was prompt and responsive to numerous questions we had about the place. Occasionally there was time lag with response because of different time Zones. She arranged for the airline tickets, hotel transfers, guides, hotels and trip to Machu Picchu.It was somewhat a complicated itinerary. We flew from Lima to Cusco and stayed at CASA ANDINA Premium for 4 nights. We relaxed the first night and had to acclimatize for the altitude.

On our second day, we were met by Angel Lopez at our hotel. He was our guide for 2 days during our visit to Sacred Valley and Cusco sights. SV is at a lower elevation than Cusco. It is worth a visit to SV if you have an extra day. All our trips were private with driver and guide only.We visited Pisac, with its impressive ruins and bustling market, Ollantaytambo, a well-preserved Inca town and Chinchero known for its weaving traditions and also features Inca ruins and a colonial church. We visited a weaving center and bought baby Alpaca shawls. The lunch was at on Angel Inka Casona Restaurant. It is huge with very big buffet. They had some vegetarian options.

On our 3rd day we visited the highlight our trip to Machu Picchu.We again had to wake up very early the 30 minute drive to Poroy station. The Peru Rail Train was on time and our seats in First class was comfortable.The train ride fro Poroy to Aqua Calientes was about 3 1/2 hours and the Andes was breathtaking.we were met by a helper at train station who took us to the bus stop. After about another 30 minutes of bus ride we met our MP guide Roberto. He is a practicing attorney and works as a guide part-time. We had a tour of MP circuit #2 which is the most popular and complete visit to the Citadel. Roberto had a good command of English and explained the area in a simple and easy to remember way. We would recommend him for your trip to MP. We ha lunch with Roberto at Samis which has a nice view of the river. Our trip back on the train to Cusco was eventful.The models strutted with baby alpaca shawls sweaters etc.They also had dance and entertainment which we skipped.

On third day Angel Lopez was our guide again. In the morning we visited the sights in the city. Afternoon we visited the archeological sites on the mountains. We had to shop for clothes, jackets , chargers and toiletries because the airlines had lost our luggage. That was a harrowing experience with LATAM. The SAS travel agency were kind to allow us to use their van and driver everyday to go the Cusco airport to check on the luggage status.The agency did not charge us for this multiple trips. Angel took us to the shops for our purchases and stayed with us till late in the night.

On our 4th day we checked out and started our 7 day trip to Manu Reserve from Cusco to Puerto Maldonado arranged through a different agency. SAS arranged for our outbound travel from Puerto Maldonado to Lima.The hotel in Lima was in a nice neighborhood but was an hour from Lima airport. We would have preferred to stay near the airport as we had only an overnight stay. Overall we are satisfied with SAS, the guides, transportation and transfers.I would recommend SAS for my family...

We booked a 3 day / 2 night "Explorers" Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu tour. When we arrived at the office in Cusco the staff seemed disorganized and could not find records of our booking, flipping through binders of paper receipts - they don't seem to use any online bookkeeping. The staff hadn't recorded details of our booking even when they found the records, and aggressively pushed for us to purchase additional items. We also found out that some basic travelling logistics -- meals, bus down from Machu Picchu -- were not included and we had to purchase them independently.

The tour itself was disappointing. The bus arrived 20 or 30 minutes late so we were off to a late start. We rushed through archeological sites -- at two locations we literally had 15-20 minutes to explore a site one might spend all day exploring. One stop in Pisac was to a silver store where the goal of the stop was supposedly to teach us about silver making but was in effect just promotion for the store and ended with a pitch and time to buy jewelry. The tour guide was friendly but did not provide very much information about the sites. We arrived at sites during peak tourist hours so they were mobbed and it was hard to enjoy the sites -- when I returned to Ollantaytambo on a different day at a different time it was much less crowded.

At one point on the tour we were told we would have to find our own way to the train station, after we had been told earlier that our guide would take us there directly. After complaining, the bus driver did take us there, but this caused some annoyance and confusion.

Hostel Viajeros in Aguas Calientes was pretty awful. The staff was friendly, and they clearly were doing their best to be helpful, but our room was tiny, had no windows, and smelled moldy and on top of that had a very intense cleaner detergent smell. The shower didn't have a window but instead there was just a small hole in the wall that went directly into the hallway. There was no way to ventilate the room. Dinner the first night was very basic and had little flavor. The boxed breakfast that we were given to take up to Machu Picchu was not great -- a roll with jelly and a roll with a bit of cheese. The breakfast at the hostel on our last day was also disappointing -- limited coffee, fake butter that tasted like plastic. We also specifically asked to eat breakfast at 7am and it was not ready until after 7:30. The wifi did not work in our room.

Our Machu Picchu tour guide was friendly and arrived on time, and also gave us helpful tips about how to spend our day at the site, but his focus on Inca religion and architecture was fairly repetitive, and he did not budget time on our initial tour very well while on the mountain.

Overall the SAS tour was a waste of money. We easily could have purchased the tickets independently for much less money, and had a more enjoyable Sacred Valley tour on our own time, stayed in a better hotel in Aguas Calientes, and found a better tour guide independently for Machu Picchu. We originally chose the tour because of the convenience, but with a bit more research and planning, we would have had much more enjoyable and less...

There are a lot of options for hiking the Classic Inca Trail, a typically 4-day, 3-night excursion beginning in the town of Ollantaytambo and ending at the spectacular ancient city of Machu Picchu.

We (my wife and I) chose SAS Travel, first because their website was rich with truly useful information and especially because their pre-trip communication was excellent. Their prices are pretty standard and so did not affect our decision.

The entire trekking experience significantly exceeded our expectations, in part because the mountains and sky and waterways are over-the-top magnificent, but also because the experience with SAS travel made it possible to focus on the incredible, dramatic hike all day, only to arrive at both lunch and later at supper/camp, with every tedious chore already completed by the local porters and chef.

Our trip was with a total of only four guests, us and two younger adults who, along with Danny, our guide, will likely remain lifelong friends.

Danny has made the trek hundreds of times and is as informed about every known aspect of the area, the ruins, the history, the plant and animal life, as he is enthusiastic to be sharing this hard-earned expertise.

He was our go-between with the chef and the 9 porters who carried EVERYTHING, including a dining tent with tables, chairs, light and an entire kitchen needed to prepare more and better food than I ever imagined, with variety to suit everyone. (I actually had my first Peruvian trout ceviche in that kitchen tent!)

Every evening we arrived to find our tents already pitched, clean and dry (there was s fair amount of light rain this trip) with hot water and soap available separately for each of us to wash off the grime and sunscreen.

There were other companies alongside SAS and we all shared the well-established camping sites, and their guests also praised their food and hiking experience. What separated SAS from the rest for me was the wisdom and experience of Danny, our guide, who quickly sized up our group and adapted things to optimize our experience.

For example, he quickly learned our hiking styles and as a result, we adjusted our wake-up time (in this case, later than most other groups) and resting places so that we got as much sleep as possible without missing anything or having to deal with crowds.

Every interaction we had with SAS was professional, courteous and efficient. The van was big and comfortable, the bus and train tickets to get home were all taken care of and the final van ride dropped us off, tired and happy on our hotel doorstep.

SAS Travel-Peru and Danny J Ramirez Falcón: Highly Recommended!!!

John

PS: Since first writing this review, our guide, Danny, made it his job to return a favorite hat we left in the van on the way home -we were tired and sleepy. It was on a Sunday with an early morning flight out, which made his kindness even more above and beyond! ...