If I did that I would talk about in the Best Ass and Rack thread. Anyway didnt make it to Lake Titicaca or Arequipa and only transitted through Lima. Besides the Inca Trail mostly stayed in Cusco but did do an all day hike in Pisac not too far from Cusco. I am in Miami for a couple of days and then back home Sunday night so should be able to post pics early next week.
Actually they probably weren't mosquito bites. When I was there I took a hike down from the top of Huayna Picchu (that mountain you always see just behind the Machu Picchu) to the Temple of the Moon which is pretty non-traveled (compared to the main site). While there I got bit by a ton of small insects which irritated me just a little when they actually bit (not unlike a mosquito), however, after about a week the bites developed into very, very itchy welts. Nothing dangerous but they were itchy enough that I had to use cortisone to help control the itching and some left small scars. So if you go to Machu Picchu wear long pants/long sleeves or, at least, bring insect repellent. If you are on the main site you are probably okay but if you go off the beaten track it will help. Also some people were asking how to visit the site. You could take a tour and that would be easy but here is what I did: I flew into Lima and then flew right out as soon as I could to Cusco where I planned to spend a week and use as my base camp. I spent the first day and a half in Cusco getting used to the altitude (Cusco is awesome BTW with good museums, churches, etc... - plenty to see and do). I made my arrangements to visit the site with my hotel. Basically I got them to book my train tickets and get me a room in Aqua Caliente. I really recommend staying overnight at some cheap place in that little town to spend more time at the site. Also, if you can make your train arrangements in advance it's recommended. Sometimes it can be dicey getting tickets at the last minute. The first time I went it was no problem but the second time the girl at the hotel had to go down to the train office and essentially beg for my tickets. She was really cute and I'm sure that helped. The train left at 7AM and arrived at around 10AM. I took the shuttle up to the site and then enjoyed my day. The advantage of going for two days allows you to do more things. For example, on the first day I hiked up to the Sun Gate which is where hikers on the Inca Trail first get a glimpse of Machu Picchu. It's a nice walk, you are generally alone and you get great views of the site. The second day, I got up very early and tried to get to the site right when it opened. Then I made my way straight to the back to get in line to hike Huayna Picchu which is that mountain you see right behind the site in all the pictures. They only let 500 people up per day and it's totally worth it. If you only go for a day you can't do these things because of time. I spent the rest of my week touring the ruins around Cusco, I took a day trip into the Urubamba river valley and saw more ruins and visited small towns (this was a tour), I hired a taxi to take me to more distant ruins (just me and the taxi driver and I think it cost me $50 plus I tipped the guy $25). Here is a link to some of my photos if anyone is interested: http://www.rawsophistication.com/Travel/Peru-November-2007/4491675_GS9tgc#!i=264365359&k=qsf58vB
I can second a lot if what 111chase111 wrote and I got several of the bites he was talking about on my legs. Even wearing long pants. Chase did you pay $100 US or 100 Peru Soles for your cab and did you hire the driver the whole day? (Have him wait for you) Between 4 of us we got a can to take us fromCuzco to Pisac for 40 Soles and then even drive us to the top of the mountain for another 15 Soles. We hiked down and then took a minibus back to Cuzco for 4 Soles. Regarding Huaynapichu we got screwed on that. We had booked the permit to climb that online through the Peruvian government website two months in advance but when we got there they said our permit was no good. I am going to try to figure out what happened and get out money back when I ge home but my advice is don't try to book things yourself. Luckily our Macchu Pichu ticket was part of our Inca trail package so we still got in to there.
We hiked to it from Cuzco on our second full day to check it out and test some of our gear. It is only about a mile out of central Cuzco but is probably about 300 ft higher. Very cool Site and really easy to access. Great views of h Cuzco valley. Also the locals call it "Sexy woman"
Sexy Woman? Yes, I went there the second time I visited Peru. There is a lot to see just around Cusco.
I don't think I paid much for the cab. The hotel had arranged a cab to pick me up from the Cusco airport and, on the way to the hotel, the cab driver showed me some picture and said he did tours. Initially I wasn't interested but there were some thing I wanted to see that weren't on the Urabamba River Valley tour so Iasked the hotel if the cab driver was a good guy or not. They said he was very nice and arranged for him to give me a private tour for, I think, $50. I ended up extending it significantly and he only charged me something like $25 more. Honestly I don't remember exactly what I paid but I remember it was not expensive and that I tipped him well. He wasn't much of a tour guide, though! He just drove me to the salt mines (Moras?) and to those circles (Moray?). He would drop me off, let me explore at my leisure and then we'd get started again. He was also happy to stop just along the highway for photos. When we went to Moras I was the only person there aside from a couple of workers. And there were only two other people at Moray (am American mom and kid). There is something very cool and transcendent about being in places like that by yourself.
