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If you like to have some trouble and to be cheated, peru-planet.net, the Belgian Peruvian travel agency from Cusco is your first choice! Pay more and get less !! That's magic. Do you want to wait in front of Machu Picchu because your tickets are misteriously missing? Can you afford the double price for the same hotel? You think it's thrilling to carry hundreds of dollars in cash through the third world? Perfect: Here is your solution.
Our experience with PERU-PLANET in march 2009: Happy we arrived in Cusco at the office of PERU-PLANET and expected our tour-package for the Inka-Trail and Machu Picchu. We were suprised that the girl attending the office didn't have any idea about us and our trip. After explaining that we booked directly negotiating with her boss "Dirk", she found our documents in the last corner of the office. After she handed us out the documents, we realized that the train ticket was booked for a wrong day and time. As recomended by the agency we planed to stay two nights in Aguas Calientes, but the train ticket was booked for a single night stay. Good that we checked this before leaving Cusco, as train tickets can't be changed later. She tried to get in contact with her boss "Dirk", what she did by instant messenger. The boss is not present in Cusco, he is located in Belgium, what makes things of course more easy to organize. In our documents received via eMail as PDF before was described very detailled what to do and what "You should bring" to the Inka-Trail. For example: "Big water bottle" and "Snack" or important things like "money for the tip" for the guide. So, we felt well prepared and wanted to start our adventure by leaving this helpful agency. Finally they said everything would be ready now and we could leave. We wondered, because we had paid 40% in advance via Western Union, but not the total amount. We asked the agent if they wouldn't like to have the rest of the payment, over 700 USD? Yes, they wanted, in cash, in Dollars! Now, we were astonished. We expected to pay with our Spanish credit card. Or with a Brazilian debit card. Or with a German maestro card. But the agent insisted: "Please 716.68 USD in cash right now". We were a little upset: All the documents we received by the agency in advance didn't explain that the payment had to be cash. But such "helpful" information as bring a "big water bottle", bring a "snack" and "some money for the tip" for the guide. They expect people to carry hundreds of dollars in cash, but not a big water bottle? We mailed personaly more than 10 times with the boss "Dirk" and he never mentioned the cash payment. Cash in Peru is a problem, specially U$D: First we tried to get the amount at the next cash dispenser, but the amount exceeded the limits. Second: We needed to pay by credit card to validate the travel insurance. The insurance is effective from day of payment. Without card payment no travel insurance. This is a penalty.  But, the agent didn't offer any solution. She repeated like a robot: "You have to pay in cash" Or like an answering machine; "You have to pay in cash" What could we do? With the vouchers in our hands we could have left and run. But, we are honorable people. At last we took a taxi to the central bank of Cusco, where it was possible to get Dollars with the passport and our credit card. We hurried, because it was almost six o'clock and the central bank was closing. Successfully we got the dollars and returned with taxi after 20 minutes to the agency. But, the friendly professional agent had finished her work after attending those complicated clients the whole afternoon, although she had promised to stay at the agency until our return to get the cash. The lost tickets of the Inka: On our trekking day we met our guide at KM 104, one gateway of the Inka-Trail. As the agency gave him the wrong arriving time of his clients, he was already waiting for us two hours. He friendly asked us for our vouchers, but, there were no vouchers for us to enter the trail. The guide said: "I'm so sorry for you. But without tickets, registered on your names, there is no possibility for us to start the trail." At this checkpoint is no telephone and no cell coverage. We still don't know how the guide managed, but after 40 minutes we could enter the Inka-Trail. Good guy. Good guide. The miracle of the missing vouchers: 2000 tourists entering the ruins of Machu Picchu every day. To enjoy Machu Picchu you have to get up early. We did so. Starting 4.00 o'clock in the morning, we walked the three thousand stairs uphill to Machu Picchu. After more than one hour we arrived full of adrenaline to the final portal of the ruins. Only 17 people stand in line in front of us. We wanted to be one of the first exploring the wonder of Machu Picchu this day. But, than another miracle of PERU-PLANET as a gift for us: There were no tickets to visit Machu Picchu. What a complete surprise again. To be honest, the good guide tried his best again and after all we could enter one hour later with the crowded tourists arriving by bus. Thanks Marco, you did a GREAT JOB!Surprisingly to us, for the authorities to allow us to enter we had to suffer the humilliation of being marked in hour hands like cattle before going to the slaughter and our passports were illegaly marked as if Machu Picchu was a republic on its own!  The misterious prices:PERU-PLANET offers the service of booking your hotels. They promise the same price you would pay by booking the hotels on your own. We needed an extra night in Agua Calientes and the hotel offered us the room for 40 USD. PERU-PLANET charged us 110 USD for the same room. The train to Machu Picchi is expensive. But, you can easily book the tickets in advance at the company running the train (www.perurail.com). PERU-PLANET offers to book the train tickets for you without price difference. Of course they get some comission, that's travel agents legal business. PERU-PLANET charged the tickets twice from Cusco, although we made our trip from Ollantaytambo. The price is nearly the double: 60 USD instead of 38 USD. That's a non-legal business for a travel agency. The Package of PERU-PLANET included the transfer from Cusco to Ollantaytambo. We organized this on our own. And we didn't use part of the bus tickets to Machu Picchu, because we walked uphill. PERU-PLANET didn't re-credit any item to us. Maybe that's legal, but of course not fair. PERU-PLANET, the lost agency of Cusco: Alltogether PERU-PLANET charged us 236 US Dollars extra. But, what is more substantially: They didn´t arranged things to make it easy for the clients. That should be the main purpose of a travel agent. We hardly recommend you not to book through PERU-PLANET. Much better, you organize the trip on your own. It's cheaper and you know what you get. All URLs you need to do this are listed below.Overview Hotels and Agencies: Train Tickets booking: Hotels we can recommend: http://www.kbtambo.com (Ollantaytambo) http://www.rumipunku.com (Cusco) http://www.gringobills.com (Agua Calientes / Machu Picchu Town) Free seats for the Inka-Trail (booking only through agents or each official travel guide) Belgian Peruvian travelagency in Peru - Cusco, Vicky, Dirk, Belgium, Problem, trouble, expensive, unfair, cheated, cusco, machu picchu, suecia 318,
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