Choquequirao 5-Day Trek to Lost City

We actually had 7 days with Choquequirao and Macchu Picchu, but I don't see that option in the drop-down. There were a few issues with registration and charging consistently among the people in our group, but it was more or less worked out and the value for what it cost was excellent. From the guides to the cooks to the horsemen to the drivers, everyone made a solid effort to make our experience smooth. The sights were unbelievable and the knowledge of our guides to educate us on the history and the archeology was superb.

This trek was an amazing experience. The mountains are so demanding, yet so rewarding at the same time. The views, the trails, and the Inca ruins are all amazing. Going beyond that, the guides, porters, and chefs were all amazing people, delivering an unforgettable experience, and in-depth knowledge and history. The chefs prepared amazing meals, especially considering how remote we were and the limited equipment they had to work with. The whole team works very hard all day everyday! We had Tony Montana as our primary guide, and really enjoyed his energy and excitement to share his culture with us. He knows the mountains and kept us on track while making realtime decisions to help a member of our group that was struggling. I never questioned Tony's abilities or decisions while on the trails. He's the best guide on Peru! Also a shout out the Yovan, who was our secondary guide. He was excellent, and could be a lead guide himself. If you have the option to choose your guide, you can't go wrong with Tony or Yovan!

We traveled as a nine person group that knew each other from the US to trek to Choquequirao. We then drove with a van from Yanama to Lucmabamba to continue our hike to Aguas Calientes and finally Machu Picchu. We spent six nights in tents and the last night in a nice hotel in Aguas Calientes. In addition to us nine tourists there were three cooks/support staff, two guides, two horsemen and twelve mules. To summarize, this was to me an unforgettable trip! Incredible views, strenuous hikes, excellent food and tent camping. All things I love to do. To put my review into perspective I thru-hiked the John Muir Trail last year and I don't mind some of the less hygienic conditions one encounters during these trips, such as no or cold showers, less than ideal toilet situations and no running water. Our two guides (Thony and Giovanni) were very knowledgeable to educate us on the Incas and anything else related to fauna & flora and to lead the group as a whole. TreXperience did generally a good job of the logistics during this trip. Food, tickets, van and hotel arrangements. This was all done behind the scenes leaving us to enjoy the hike, Inca ruins, eat and sleep. The company was also able to provide an ad-hoc mule for one of our less fit hikers to allow completion of the trip. I do have some criticism towards TreXperience related to their accounting and planning. When we first arrived at their office to pay the remaining balance, they did not want to honor the agreed upon pricing at first. Apparently, mistakes were made in totalizing the overall costs with selected opinions. Right or wrong, it took us a while to convince the company to honor the initial price and two of us are still waiting for a partial refund. Also, our two guides had to wait three hours at our hotel for us to arrive from the Sacred Valley Tour also organized by TreXperience. It seems some simple communication could have avoided this. One of us paid last minute for a single tent, but this wasn’t communicated to the trek planners and only a double tent was available. Lastly, one group member and myself had initially booked a single room in Aguas Calientes, but this information was also lost somewhere and we had to share a double room. I suggest anyone booking with TreXperience to follow up on WhatsApp to get clear confirmation on what was booked including any opinions and confirm pricing before making a down payment. To end things on a high note, I want to compliment our chef (Mickey Mouse) and helpers for the excellent local food they provided for breakfast, lunch and dinner, also accommodating the four vegetarians in the group. Every meal included various local dishes to choose from and it was impossible to not overeat and happily fall asleep beneath the Milky Way.

I was sorely disappointed with this trip. It started out poorly when the time for our initial meeting was changed by one hour with an additional request to show up 10 minutes early. Then the group leaders came late and had us fill out a form that could have been left for us upon arrival, wasting another half hour of my time. Joelle was offensive from the start. I should have cancelled right there and then. I found Joelle offensive, inconsiderate and unaccommodating. He did not know who his clients were. He was more concerned with his accompanying staff and the vendors we visited than with us. My daughter was sick, and yet no accommodations were made. We never had dinner as it was far too late in the evening and then we had to wake up at 5 am every morning. The second night “hut” place was ugly, dirty, noisy and depressing. I almost killed myself on the staircase going to the bathroom in the middle of the night. The toilets were gross. After that night we decided to leave the trek. We told Joelle first thing in the morning. Still, the leaders dilly dallied so we missed the train, they didn’t give us any information about improving our Machu Picchu tickets, and the restaurant they chose for our final meal together was poorly rated, loud, ugly and clearly just a spot they picked to give someone they knew the business. BAD CHOICES!!!!! Our drop off at Cuzco at the end of the trip was a fiasco. My luggage was damaged, no one had our bags ready, people were nasty and everyone was rushed. Really? This is how they run their business? Ridiculous. They have a lot to learn about customer service!! If this were an American business, I’d insist on a complete reimbursement of my money. I’m so disappointed and consider this one of the worst travel experiences of my life (I’ve been to over 57 countries). They should not be in business.

Great trip. Amazing to experience Choquequirao alone with the Condors. The trek there is demanding but beautiful. Luxury to end the trip in MachPicchu. David was an excellent guide.