We spent the whole month of March traveling through the Andean mountains of Perú. It was often difficult, treacherous, stomach-churning, and exhausting. But it was also surprising, inspiring, joyful, and beautiful.
The month began with our departure from Huánuco. Our first stop was a brief stay in La Merced on our way to Oxapampa, a town settled by Germans and Austrians. While in Oxapampa, we made a day trip to another German/Austrian town, Pozuzo. From Oxapampa, we continued south through the Andes Mountains. We stopped in Huancayo, where we discovered some of the city’s beautiful parks. We made day trips to several towns close by, Concepción, Santa Rosa de Ocopa, where we visited a historical convent, San Jerónimo, San Agustín de Cajas, and Cochas Chico, where we walked through the fun Carved Gourd park. Next, we traveled to Ayacucho, an old city full of beautiful buildings and art. At our next stop, Andahuaylas, we visited a few neighboring towns, San Jeronimo and Pacucha. We had a quick stopover in Abancay, where we were dragged into a parade. We finished up the month in Aguas Calientes – base camp for the highlight of Perú, Machu Picchu.
It was a busy month!
(All pictures are click to enlarge)
Expenses
* A few notes about these expenses. Because Spanish classes are not a “normal” travel expense, I am presenting this expense separately from the total of everything else. I am also no longer reporting alcohol expenses. In the past, I reported exactly what came out of my bank account each month. But since we may book one or two months of accommodations, transportation, or Spanish classes ahead of time, I’m now reporting not when I spent the money but what month the money was spent on.
Learning Spanish: $0
Everything Else: $2,520.37
The Grand Total: $2,520.37
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Learning Spanish
$0
We continue to teach ourselves Spanish. We stopped paying for Duolingo because we felt we had run our course with it. Greg is attempting to read books in Spanish. We are both using programs to practice our speaking and hearing. And, of course, we had opportunities to use Spanish every day while we were still in South America. I was enjoying catching snatches of conversations from people around us. A little boy with his parents was climbing the steep steps of one of the many ruins sites we visited when I heard him say in exasperation, “Cómo subían Los Incas este?” “How did the Incas climb this?” Yes! I wondered the same thing while being quite proud of my eavesdropping!
Communication
– Phone, $45.35
We spent $26.23 on Greg’s Google Fi plan in March and $19.12 on my Peruvian plan with Claro.
Consumables
– Groceries, $346.44
Groceries came in at a reasonable number in March. We started buying more produce from the mercados, open-air markets. Because tax and service charges are not added at mercados, everything is cheaper. But they only accept cash (small bills or preferably exact change). With large bills, vendors often have to run around to all the other vendors to make change. So we tried to find vendors that had the majority of the things we wanted so there would be little change. Larger purchases also afforded us the added benefit of being gifted a small amount of fruit, an orange or two, a pear, or maybe some miniature bananas.
Cooking our own food could be a challenge in less well-equipped Airbnbs. We improvised a lot. It seems like no one in Perú sees the need for larger frying pans or pots. The places we stayed at rarely had can openers or cheese graters. I had to use a glass microwave turntable with a dish towel under it as a cutting board at one apartment.
We continued to be creative with our recipes when we couldn’t find the foods that we were used to. Plantain chips had to do when we were unable to find tortilla chips.
– Medicine Cabinet, $5.71
I don’t remember what this expense was for, aspirin, maybe?
Entertainment
– Drinks and Eating Out, $404.61
Despite having limited options because we are vegetarians, we managed to spend over $400 on dining out in March. Many of the small towns we visited had vegetarian restaurants that served a multi-course Menu del Día for anywhere from $2 to $4 (our cheapest lunch was $3.80 for the two of us). And, of course, we went out for pizza a few times for dinner. But honestly, how did we rack up $404? It couldn’t have been all the ice cream lunches we had. It must have been the drinking out. Good drinks (and beer) aren’t difficult to find anywhere in Perú. And although cheaper than they would be in the US, they are still a bit pricey. And as a cultural experience, I started making a point to try a new pisco (a liquor made from grapes, popular throughout the country) drink whenever we were out.
– Museums/Attractions/Music, $33.95
We visited a variety of museums. The least expensive cost us $2.17 for the two of us, and the most expensive was $5.42. Also included in our Attractions total are bathroom costs. Occasionally, we could find free bathrooms, but mostly we had to pay around .27¢ a visit. And we had one expense for an impromptu tour guide. Greg accidentally engaged a guy to give us a tour of a museum. At the end of this surprise tour, the guy asked for a tip. Greg likes to call these added and unexpected expenses, “getting Perúed.”
Personal
– Gifts/Charity, $52.71
A friend of ours created a Kickstarter campaign to publish a book he wrote. We donated $50. The other $2.71 went for a gift for Greg’s mom.
– Gear, $11.15
We bought a few gifts for ourselves, too. A little carved owl to join our turtle we bought in Mexico, a new hat band for Greg, and a magnet. The most useful thing we bought, though, was a small foldable cooler bag ($4.10) to tote our leftover food from one town to the next.
– Subscriptions, $44.06
Our subscriptions for March were Adobe Photoshop, Netflix, and Michael Fox’s (A freelance filmmaker, journalist, podcaster, and musician reporting from the road in Latin America) Patreon account.
Traveling Life
– Storage
We pay $88 for a storage locker back in the US every month.
– Accommodations, $1,039.91
La Merced, Perú
March 1-3, $31.25 per night (2 nights) in a three-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment. (Booked through Airbnb)
This was just a stopover to break up the journey from Huánuco to Oxapampa. The accommodations were fine, convenient to a big supermarket and a street market for fruit and vegetables. The host was friendly. She informed us that the apartment was very safe because only her family lived in the building.
Oxapampa, Perú
March 3-8, $29.37 per night (5 nights) in a hostel with a private bathroom. (Booked through Airbnb)
In Oxapampa, we had the choice of staying in big houses in the country, over-our-budget apartments in the city, or hostels. We chose this hostel mostly just because it looked cozy to me. It was just a short walk to the downtown area. The room was a tad bit cramped, but it came with a small private balcony where we ate breakfast every morning. There was a decently equipped kitchen for cooking our own meals and a nice outdoor dining area. We were visited by a cute but demanding resident cat almost every day when we were outside. There was also a tortoise that we occasionally saw in the yard and a dog that was allowed to mingle with the guests every once in a while. The owners were Peruvian and German. They were super nice.
Hauncayo, Perú
March 8-15, $37.50 per night (7 nights) in a three-bedroom (two bedrooms were closed off), two-bathroom apartment. (Booked through Airbnb)
This apartment was in a great location, close to the plaza, public transportation, and a major grocery store. We had a great view of the city. The kitchen was decently equipped, although the lighting could be improved.
Ayacucho, Perú
March 15-20, $24.81 per night (5 nights) in a four-bedroom (two bedrooms were closed off), two-and-a-half-bathroom apartment. (Booked through Airbnb)
We had lots of options in Ayacucho, but this one seemed the most cozy and unique. It was a 3-story house that could house 10 people. You entered the house by passing through a common courtyard. The kitchen was ill-equipped. It didn’t have a cutting board and only a miniature cheese grater. The view from the roof was very nice, though! And it was just a short walk to El Centro.
Our host was very accommodating. She let us arrive very early (around 7 am) since we were taking an overnight bus from Huancayo.
Andahuaylas, Perú
March 20-27, $43.31 per night (7 nights) in a two-bedroom, one-bathroom cottage. (Booked through Airbnb)
This was not our original choice. The morning we were packing to leave Ayacucho, I received a message from our host in Andahuaylas saying that she and her mother would be in town and wanted to share the house with us! I said that we weren’t comfortable with that, and if she wanted to cancel, to do so right away, so I could rebook. She told me that I could cancel if I wanted. Of course, if I had cancelled, I would have lost money. And she would rather not cancel because she would be penalized by Airbnb. We went back and forth; she offered to refund me everything Airbnb had put in her bank account in cash once I arrived. Obviously, that wouldn’t be the same amount I paid. After trying to communicate with Airbnb as we were packing and leaving our apartment, I finally got someone on the phone who spoke English as we were waiting in the small rustic office where we were catching our combi. I told them that I needed to cancel as soon as possible, as I was about to get into a small van and head through the mountains, where I would most likely not have a cell signal. We had already found a place to rebook, but the booking window was going to close in three hours. Our guy at Airbnb was very responsive. And as he promised, by the time our combi was pulling out, he had called me back to tell me the stay was cancelled. I quickly made another reservation as we were leaving town.
When a host cancels, Airbnb gives you a $25 rebooking credit. And because I was pretty upset about this whole ordeal, they also gave me a $100 coupon that we used on another stay.
The place we ended up in was a free-standing house with a rustic cabin-like feel to the interior. There was an upstairs loft bedroom that we didn’t use. The kitchen was super tiny, but well-equipped. We were within walking distance of El Centro and many transportation options. We didn’t have to even walk a block when it was time to board our next combi to our next destination.
Abancay, Perú
March 27-30, $27.97 per night (3 nights) in a three-bedroom (two bedrooms were closed off), two-bathroom apartment. (Booked through Airbnb)
Abancay was another place we got cancelled on. Luckily, this cancellation happened well in advance. Besides getting a $25 rebooking credit, we were also able to rent our first-choice apartment, which didn’t respond to us when we were initially booking our stay. It was nice to be in a modern-looking place full of light. We were just a short walk from El Centro, and the bus station we would leave from in just a few days.
Aguas Calientes, Perú
March 30 & 31, $28.47 per night (2 nights) in a hostel with a private bathroom. (Booked through Airbnb)
We booked this hostel in Aguas Calientes because we wanted to stay somewhere with a kitchen. The kitchen was small, dark, and cramped. We ended up not using it and ate out instead. The first room they put us in had no windows to the outside and was right next to the noisy kitchen. After our first night, they asked us to change rooms, saying that they cleaned every day due to the humidity. I think they just asked us to change because it was a crappy room. Our next room had windows and less hallway noise. They didn’t ask us to change rooms again.
– Transportation, $448.48
In March, we traveled in 1 private taxi, 2 colectivo taxis, 13 tuk-tuks/mototaxis, 19 combis/minivans, 3 taxis, 1 night bus, and 1 train, traversing over 1128 miles. Based on an average gas price of $4.20 per gallon in March in Perú, if we had been driving our van (which got approximately 15 miles to the gallon), we would have spent about $316 in gas. Our transportation costs were high this month due to a couple of different factors.
The train to Machu Picchu
One, we booked a train to Machu Picchu ($150 one way). Base camp to Machu Picchu, Aguas Calientes, is pretty remote. There are two major choices to get there. Take the train from Ollantaytambo or take buses/combis around the mountains to the Hidroeléctrica. From there, you can (maybe catch a train) walk 2 to 3 hours to Aguas Calientes (here is a good post about how to do it). Although I found a bus that would take us from Cusco to the Hidroeléctrica for around $15, saving us tons of money, we were not interested in the long walk to Aguas Calientes with our heavy backpacks.
This big expense getting to Machu Picchu was an expected and worth it for this grand adventure. But our other high-cost transportation item was not expected at all.
Our ride from Huanúco to La Merced
Back when we were planning this trip through the mountains, I did a quick check to make sure there was a bus from Huanúco to La Merced. Yes, there was. What I didn’t realize until we arrived in Huanúco was that that bus was a night bus. We didn’t want to travel overnight. Besides lost sleep, we would arrive very early in La Merced and have nowhere to go until we could check into our Airbnb. So I started looking for other options. Lonely Planet said that we could take a combi to Tarma and that this combi could be found at the Ovalo de Huanuco Cayhuayna. In Tarma, we could find transportation at the bus terminal to La Merced.
We walked to the Ovalo and started asking around. We found a guy with a private car who said that he would take us for 300 soles (around $81). This was a lot more than the bus, but we decided that the convenience was worth it. He would pick us up at our apartment the morning we were leaving. Meanwhile, I started wondering, since we were taking private transportation, that maybe it wouldn’t cost too much more for him to take us all the way to La Merced. It was about 5 hours to Tarma and another couple of hours to La Merced – so we were thinking maybe it’d be another 100 to 150 soles ($27 to $41).
Our driver picked us up on our departure morning, and we hit the road. A little way out of town, we asked him about taking us to La Merced. He told us it would be another 400 soles ($109)! What?! Turns out the quote of 300 soles was per person (600 total – $163)! He pulled over so we could discuss the situation. He wasn’t budging, so we told him that we were getting out and asked him what we owed him for the trip so far. Then he started negotiating. Although we were ready to get out right then and there, we didn’t really want to. We agreed on 400 soles (About $109) for the trip to Tarma.
On our way to Tarma, our driver told us that he had friends in Tarma who could take us to La Merced. “No,” we said, “we just want to go to the Terminal.”
After we arrived in Tarma, just around the corner from the Terminal, our driver pulled into a gas station. We got out and paid him 400 soles. He then indicated that he wanted a tip. Really???
At the gas station, the driver’s friends were waiting to offer us a ride to La Merced. I asked how much. One guy said, “100 soles.” “No, too much,” I told him. He came down to 80 soles to take us to our hotel or 70 soles to go to the Terminal in La Merced. I was aggravated that we were now dealing with this new driver which I had said we didn’t want, but at the same time, I wanted a quick option to end a frustrating day. I told the new driver that we weren’t going as far as the Terminal, and we settled on a price of 70 soles ($19).
FREE transportation!
Besides all the wheeled transportation, one of our main forms of transportation was our feet. We walked 271,310 steps and 101.16 miles!
Right Now
It’s July, and I am very behind on the blog. I was poised to have this post out the second week of April. But I started getting homesick. After 3 months of difficult travel in Perú, I was missing the United States. I was tired of trying to find transportation. I was tired of outdated Airbnbs with ill-equipped kitchens. Putting a blog post together became a burden. I decided to give it a rest for a while and concentrate on the experiences we were having right then.
We are back in the US now. And I hope to resume documenting our journey. There is so much to tell, it can get a little overwhelming! And as I endeavor to record our adventures of the last year, we will be starting a new chapter soon. In a week’s time we will be the owners of a new empty cargo van! We have a series of house sits booked in the Southeast where we will take care of pets and build out our new van for travel!
To see all of our expense reports, click here.
If you are interested in reading other expense reports from nomads who really know how to live cheaply while still having a good time, check out the blog from our friends Mark, Liesbet, and Maya who are traveling in their truck camper in South America at Roaming About.
If you are interested in becoming a Trusted Housesitter or having a Trusted Housesitter take care of your pet, use our link for 25% off!
Absolutely loved traveling with you and Greg thru the Andes! I can’t wait to see Machu Pichu, but I know you need a break from blogging and will be excited to outfit your new van.
All calm in Essex; escaping Tucson brutal heat.
Best to you both,
Meredith
Always great to hear from you, Meredith. Essex sounds really nice this time of year. But, of course, we miss Tucson when it isn’t boiling hot outside.
I am going to make a big effort to catch up on the blog. There will be at least one picture of Machu Picchu in the April Expense Report – hopefully posting soon.
I love that mini cheese grater! I guess it was better than nothing, haha.
Accommodation and transportation are the highest categories for you both. I guess that’s where we have our savings, having our home on wheels. And we walked along the train tracks from Hidroelectrica to Aguas Calientes, a four-hour journey each way.
Yet, we do spend heaps of money each month on fuel and car maintenance. Every month, we seem to spend more on fuel. It has gotten out of hand. June will be another record.
I love the smiley face in one of the eating out photos. And, I didn’t know Greg invented the expression “being Perued”. 🙂
Still such a frustrating experience about the taxi drivers in Peru. I’m glad it all worked out in the end.
I’m not sure if the mini cheese grater was supposed to be really used. I think it was a refrigerator magnet. But it worked!
We probably could have chosen cheaper accommodations and spent less money on transportation, but being old we enjoy being comfortable.
Whenever we get into situations like we did with the driver from Huanúco to La Merced, I think about you guys and how you would have reacted. There is a lot of nickel and diming, which is to be expected, but it is frustrating when we are overcharged so much.
I think the expression “being Perued” just comes naturally to eveyone after they’ve been Perued enough times!
I wanted to click ‘like’ but the button wouldn’t load so here’s my verbal one!
Thank you, Jacqui! I’m glad you enjoyed the post. It’s a bit frustrating when something as simple as a “like” button doesn’t work!