Kimkim Trip Reviews

Trip was great, the country is beautiful. we saw many beautiful spots. we had a very good time based on the itinerary that we had customized. Sigiriya rock, Dambulla cave, Cutlural dance show. Yala National Park was amazing. The tracker and naturist were very good and made us see mostly all animals. We saw Leopards, Sloth bear, Tusk Elephant, Crocodile, lots of Birds, Peacock, Land monitor, Deer, Eagle, etc. Then we went to Mirissa and saw the Blue Whale, it was so beautiful. We took a ride on Madu Ganga river seeing the mangroves and we watched the best sunset when the birds were flying over water. Gangarama temple was very beautiful. On the way to these places we stopped at couple of hindu temples that we customized in the trip. Sri Baktha Hanuman Temple, Ashoka Vatika, Sita Amman Temple, etc. The Peradeniya botanical garden is not worth the visit.
our Driver/ Guide Pradeep was great, very honest, tried everything to keep us happy. The hospitality at all hotels were great. Food was good everywhere. the only thing we didn't like is that every hotel, the dinner is open buffet but not so great menu. and the hotels are not interested to take a la carte orders. however on our last day we ordered a la carte, it was more expensive than buffet but it was very nice food and we were happy with that. The car also was too low and not fit for countryside driving, too many slopes, each time the bottom would hit the road when driving. next time, they should provide an saloon car or an SUV.
All the hotels, the guide, the driver, the national park people helped us to have a wonderful trip. Every single place we went to was worth the drive, we wouldn't remove any place we went to based on our customized trip.

Kim Kim was amazing. Very prompt in responding to our request. The bookings and hotels were just what we wanted and perfect for our family vacation. The only challenge we encountered was several of the guides only spoke Spanish yet were very helpful to try and accommodate our needs. Costa Rica was beautiful! Great family place to vacation.

My wife and I used Kimkim for our honeymoon to Peru. Their services, prices, availability of their staff and willingness to accommodate our travel arrangements were beyond wonderful. Booking our trip and mapping each stop, the length of the stay for each city, the mode of transportation through Peru, and the tickets for attractions and local flights was very easy and comprehensive. Across Peru, their team was friendly, on time, extremely knowledgeable about every site we visited and so very flexible. We loved the hotels Kimkim selected for us and were happily surprised by the meals they arranged to welcome us in Cusco and on the way to Machu Picchu. We absolutely recommend this company to anyone planning a trip abroad and will use them again in the future.

Carlos

Cant say enough good things about this service or our interactions with Andrea. This was the first time we traveled with our adult children as a Christmas present. Lots of different personalities and interests. Andrea took time to interview me. Asked lots of questions and helped design a week with something for everyone.
We spent time in Cartagena and the Rosario Islands. Our accommodations were lovely and all our excursions well planned with terrific guides.
Thank you for all you did
Lea and Jon Austen. Charleston SC

Firstly planning our trip with Kim Kim was a delight. The team really asked the right questions and understood what we were looking for in an itinerary. Amanda answered all my detailed questions about safety and they were able to use their local knowledge to suggest the best way to customise our experience. The accommodation exceeded our expectations in terms of cleanliness and luxury. We were given full disclosure regarding the eco lodge not having hot running water but the warmth of the staff (a Nepalese family of three generations) more than made up for it. The highly educated, well informed and friendly guide Surbash gave us insights into Kathmandu that enriched our experience and made lifelong memories.
Himalayan trails provided us with reliable, safe drivers and vehicles that were always in the right place at the right time to smooth our journey, often keeping our luggage secure so we could explore unencumbered. Kim Kim and Surbash only recommended food outlets they had tried and enjoyed and they could vouch for the hygiene standards, so we were able to taste a range of modern and authentic Nepalese food and not risk an upset tummy.
We had no concerns regarding procuring clean drinking water although resources are scarce but I would advise any western woman to take a ‘she wee’ device to ensure comfort during days of visiting historical sights and transiting through local airports etc.
Finally, we were pleasantly surprised by how well the Kim Kim staff communicated with us throughout the trip. I was not expecting each different staff member that dealt with us to be so fully informed of our itinerary and requirements. Kripa remained in daily contact to help us navigate changes to our itinerary due to the weather and maximise the enjoyment of our visit.

Nepal is a stunning location with fascinating history. We had an exciting and memorable trip and would definitely book with Kim Kim again and come back to Nepal in future.

We loved our Moroccan trip with KimKim.
Organising the itinerary was easy with Sharon as she was flexible and responsive to our timelines and special interests. We were pleased to see Hicham at the arrivals gate because I had read in reviews that he was a great guide and driver and that turned out to be spot on correct. We may have driven him mad with all our questions (sorry Hicham) but he was at all time super professional and such a great calm driver in the sometimes not so calm traffic. We are usually independent travellers and don't use organised travel like this, but for a variety of reasons this way suited us better this trip. We're not big tour group people so we loved the personal insight into Morocco that travelling this way provided. The guides at the attractions were all great, different and really interesting. Their high level of English helped us understand the history and pride in their family, culture, history and country.
Trekking into the desert on camels and 'freezing our bits off' in the Sahara was an invigorating highlight and we loved it so much. We gained so much respect, knowledge and understanding for the Berber people and their history and culture ( thanks again Hicham and guides). It would have been possible for us to travel through Morocco with a guide book and just read stuff but we are so glad we travelled with KimKim instead. Our trip was rich and rewarding and we have developed a deep affection for Morocco and its gentle people. Thanks everyone who made it happen so seamlessly ( especially the last minute travel/accommodation change so we could meet our flight with more ease).
Best wishes Sharon, Hicham and the KimKim Moroccan team.

The help we had planning our winter trip to Norway was amazing. Right from the beginning our thoughts were heard and ideas were given to make it all work. Fridur was super helpful and responsive. Our bookings all worked seamlessly and were in great locations.

Fortunately the rain stopped for our walk with an expert in Bergen - which was so interesting and informative - Fartein from Ethical Travel Portal was a great guide and easy to be with. We really loved our time in Bergen and the Bergen Børs Hotel was exceptional. Due to such short daylight we felt we had too long in Svolvær (and not enough time in Tromsø) but this was not helped by a cancellation to our ship due to bad weather. We had several cancellations and changes made during our trip due to bad weather and Fridur was super quick to respond and help us get sorted so the rest of our itinerary could be completed as best as possible. The communication we received was exceptional!

In Tromsø we had 2 different accommodations (with a break in between) and we preferred the location of Scandic Ishavshotel over the Thon Hotel Tromsø.

Our highlight was a night in Lyngen North in a glass igloo - so so beautiful (and getting there by bus was so easy with Fridur's clear instructions). We didn't see the lights (due to unsettled weather for almost our whole time) which was disappointing however we still thoroughly enjoyed Norway! Is it such a beautiful and rugged country.

Randall did a fantastic job setting up this trip for 2 couples. The hotels were top notch-Hotel Arenal resort- a very nice property with spacious rooms. Belmar Hotel-Monteverde great views, good food- an ecocentric property, very pleasant staff. La Mansion- Manuel Antonio- a nice property with great views. Staff are nice people but need significant training. The first room they wanted to give one of us had broken AC and a broken sliding door. It took some convincing to change rooms. Bar service made mixed drinks with little alcohol. Hotel Grano de Oro -San Jose nice hotel, fantastic food.

Private and semi private rides between locations were fine. Some Costa Rican roads are better than others. Kim Kim arranged four events. Christian of Pur Vida led us on a hike through Hanging Bridges and La Fortuna waterfall. He was a little rushed at Hanging Bridges. Overall a B+. Oscar of Monteverde night tours led us on a night hike.Nice job- we actually saw wildlife - A. Carlos of Monteverde Experts led us on a tour of the cloud forrest was exactly that a well spoken expert- A+. Our last experience was a boat ride in a mangrove swamp led by a man from Tuscane tours. He was young and let one patron orchestrate the 2 hour tour. It was very frustrating- grade of C.

Everything that Kim Kim set up went off as planned. They deserve an A+.

I've worked with Chio from the agency and she has been really awesome.

My husband and I went to Colombia from 12/28 to 1/5/20. This was our very first time to South America and very first to Colombia. I was looking for tour guide and Kimkim.com came up in google search and I thought I'd like to try the agency. It was a such a good decision. After I contacted Kimkim, Chio got back to me within a day and she helped to plan our trip. I had very specific requirements for the types of the trips I'd like to take and Chio was very patient working with me to come up with different versions of the trip, unless the 3rd version, we've decided to go to: Medellin and Cartagena. I couldn't be happier with our trip.

In Medellin we had a very active itinerary: Comuna 13 graffiti tour, waterfall repelling, paragliding, Medellin city bike tour, and finally a trip to Gautape on the New Year's Day. Everything was awesome. The highlight of the trip for us would be the waterfall.

For Cartagena, it was more relaxed. We visited Bazurto market with our local guide Carolina and had the BEST breakfast at her restaurant Ohlala. Then we went to the The Rosario Islands, which was just soso as the resort we went to only had a very limited beach area. But the lunch was awesome! :)

Overall, we had a wonderful trip! I am already planning to work with KimKim for our next trip to Argentina and Peru to hike the Inca Trail!

Stephanie was great, really helpful, knowlegable and able to work within our modest budget. Thoroughly recomend Stephanie and kim kim

Tamara and the team at Why Jordan Tours were fabulous to deal with. Any questions I had were answered very quickly. The trip went off without a hitch. Zied our driver was great and took care of any needs we may have had along the way. Jordan is so beautiful and Petra is amazing. The arrangements at the airport were so simple it was by far the easiest entry into any of the countries visited. Tamara had all of our Visas prepared and she had a person meet us in the airport to move us quickly through the process in Amman.
I would definitely recommend kimkim and Tamara for any future travel needs in Jordan.

From the first inception of the trip consulting with Anne to conversing with the great tour guides, especially Julio, the whole Peru experience was a wonderful experience for me and my family. Everything went off as planned: Lima, the Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu, Cusco, and back to Lima. I highly recommend KimKim and Peruvian Soul if you are considering a trip for the great culinary scene in Lima or the wonder of Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley.

This was my first experience with KimKim and it resulted in one of the best trips I have ever taken. Our guide on the ground Nathantha was fantastic. He was very responsive and made sure that we were comfortable and safe at all times. All of the places he took us to were great. He understood what we wanted and did his best to make sure we got it. For example, we told him we were really interested in elephants and he hired an extraordinary man with a jeep that took us into the jungle and made sure we saw lots of elephants up close in their natural habitats. He took us to wonderful temples that weren't even on the program and explained the history and local custom. I would rate him 10 out of 10.

The planning and booking process was good, but could have been better. Natasha provided a good basic itinerary and always responded to my questions. I would have liked more details and perhaps better information. For example, when we said we wanted to go snorkeling we were told we had to go to Hikkadua, but what we had read about Hikkadua indicated that it was not our kind of place, Natasha told us that snorkeling was not possible any place else. In fact, we booked our own snorkeling trip in Mirissa that was wonderful. It seemed that changes to the itinerary were not welcomed by the local specialist and it was only grudgingly that the price reduced when we took items out. I am sure that Natasha knows a lot about travel in Sri Lanka, but too many of our interactions were canned responses rather than detailed knowledge.

Adrianna was amazing throughout planning our trip.
Our drivers always arrived on time and ready to pick us up -- even for our delayed flight at the start of our trip!

All our guides were fun, exciting, and very knowledgeable.
Thank you Alfredo for showing us La Fortuna Waterfall and guiding us through the orchid path and bird-sightings.
Thank you Ignacio for a witty, wonderful tour through the Hanging Bridges and for spotting countless interesting animals.
Thank you Daniel for exploring Manuel Antonio Park with us and teaching us about the various flora and fauna.

We really loved the views of the Arenal Volcano and of course the warm beach waters that hug you as you step in. Best of all, the locals of Costa Rica are so friendly and helpful.

KimKim was great to work with to organize this tour. Priya, our local specialist was very helpful. Because of the time difference, it usually took 1 day to respond. My planning of this trip was revised (by me) many times, and Priya managed all of the changes easily. All of our transportation, accommodations, and tours was seamless. The guides were knowledgable and helpful. I most appreciated our driver, Puran. He was with us from the moment we arrived in Delhi, until we departed Delhi. I felt that he was always looking out for us - our experience and our safety. I also learned a lot about India from him. I will definitely be looking to KimKim again whenever I need help planning another trip. They have local specialists in many countries.
Thank you KimKim, Priya, and Puran for a great 4 day, whirlwind tour of the Golden Triangle.

Megan put together a jam-packed 4-day itinerary for me as I wanted to fit in as much as possible in the short time I had available. Ismail collected me on day one in Tangier, and I initially had no idea how fortunate I was to have him as my driver and guide. Every day, multiple times a day, I was grateful for his company, his generosity, his knowledge and advice, and his driving. There is no way that I would have seen and experienced all that I did without Ismail at the wheel and by my side. I can’t express my gratitude enough, thank you to Megan for booking Ismail, and thank you to my new friend Ismail for a truly amazing holiday.

As for Morocco itself, I am in love! A trip to Morocco has been on my wish list forever and four days has only left me craving more. Akchour falls and the drive through the mountains to Chefchaouen was a spectacular start to my first day. Ismail and I shared Moroccan tea by the falls and lunch in Chefchaouen, and later in the afternoon he accompanied me to the Spanish mosque to watch the sunset - as a solo female traveller Ismail’s company was very much appreciated. I spent a very comfortable night at the homely and welcoming Dar Laman, with a delicious breakfast in the morning.

The following day we travelled to Volubilis, where I spent an hour with a fantastic locally born guide touring the Roman ruins, however I could have easily spent the whole day exploring here. Ismail navigated the traffic and many police cameras onwards to Meknes, where I visited Bab el-Mansour gate and explored the Médina, finishing with lunch on the roof terrace at Restaurant Salma overlooking Prison de Kara. We finished the day with a short drive to Fes to check into the surprisingly luxurious Dar Tresor, my riad for two nights.

Fes...oh what a surprise, no one warned me that Fes would steal my heart! I cry every time I think of my life changing day in Fes with the inspiring city guide Kammal, and Ismail driving us between sights. Fes is an ancient melting pot of spiritual and cultural traditions that I can’t begin to describe, I just know that I will be going back, hopefully one day soon. Kammal also arranged for me to visit the restored Royal Médina Spa for a Hammam and massage, where the service and ambience was impeccable, including a guide to collect and return me to my riad.

On the final day we traveled first to Rabat to see the Hassan Tower and Royal Mausoleum, before heading north again to Tangier. I slept while Ismail drove, and he made a special detour for me to visit the Caves of Hercules and Cap Spartel, before carrying my bag up the hill to my final riad.

Thank you to everyone, especially Ismail - a true gentleman, who helped to make this trip the best experience of my life, I am already planning my next trip to Morroco to visit the south and the deserts.

Overall the trip was fantastic. There were a few things we probably would have done differently if we had more knowledge about the area. Here is our detailed review of the itinerary:

Day 1: Everything went well with the transportation from the airport to the hotel. The hotel was great. The only critique we have for the hotel is the lack of breakfast options. But the hotel was in a great location and we would stay there again.

Day 2: Awesome bike tour. We really liked our guide and all the stops he took us to. It was one of our favorite activities of the whole trip.

Day 3: Travel day went smoothly. The Hacienda was okay. Really nice service and accommodations. But the hotel was in the middle of nowhere which made it difficult to figure out what to do. Would have appreciated a hotel in a more central location (i.e. downtown Pereira). Would have also appreciated an activity planned for this day given that we got to the Hacienda so early in the day and organizing transportation ourselves for an activity that day was a process.

Day 4: The tour this day was amazing. We loved our tour guide Christian. He was very friendly and informative. The hike was amazing,. However, the hike was different than what we had thought we were doing. The initial itinerary said we would go through 6 suspension bridges and see a waterfall. The hike was changed we assume because we had to change the location of our hotel from the one in Salento to the Hacienda. We wished we would have gotten to do the longer hike and then the coffee farm the next day.

Day 5: We had no planned activities for this day. Oliver told us that there were no tours running on New Years Day. However, our tour guide Christian informed us that there were indeed lots of tours running and that most Colombians, especially in tourism, do not take the day off. We were disappointed that Oliver did not plan anything for us this day. We had to figure out what to do ourselves, including transportation which proved to be difficult for us. We ended up going to Los Termales, and it was wonderful. We don't know why Oliver did not suggest an activity like this for us, given that so many things were actually open.

Day 6: Our flight to Medellin was scheduled midday, which made it difficult for us to fully take advantage of this day in either Pereira or Medellin. We wish we would have either had an early morning flight or a later flight. We made the best of it by going to Pereira early in the morning and walking around downtown, but we wish that we would have had an activity planned for this day. Given that the original activity Oliver had planned for this day (the tour of the coffee farm) was cancelled due to our hotel location, Oliver should have also changed the time of the flight because there was nothing to do near our hotel.

The hotel in Medellin was incredible. Perfect location. We could not have loved it more.

Day 7: We had a walking tour. The tour guide Carlos was not the best. He was nice, but was not effective at communicating the history of Medellin. We probably could have done without paying for this walking tour and instead gone on the free walking tour which we heard great things about. We ended up paying Carlos extra money to take us to Parque Arvi, but he unintentionally mislead us because when we got up there it turned out what we could not do anything without paying even more money (and Carlos failed to inform us of this). And Carlos also didn't let us know that if we went up to Parque Arvi, we wouldn't then have time to do any of the trails. So basically we had to spend 60,000 additional pesos for nothing.

Day 8: We loved our tour this day with Jessica. She was by far the most knowledge tour guide we had and told us so many interesting stories about the history of Colombia. Jessica also was very flexible because apparently the tour she was going to take us on overlapped with the tour we had the day before, so she changed the tour a bit to take us to places we hadn't seen yet. In hindsight, we should have just done this tour with Jessica instead of the tour with Carlos on Day 7 and then had another activity planned for Day 8. For instance, on Day 8, we could have had a specific tour of Parque Arvi or something like that. But Jessica was fantastic.

Day 9: This was our day trip to Guatape with Jessica. Again Jessica was great, but the traffic and lines were horrendous. Because of the large crowds, we probably should have gone to Guatape in the morning and then the flower farm in the afternoon.

Day 10: We arrived to Tayrona Park. Our flight was in the late morning. We wish Oliver would have booked us an early flight so that we could have done an activity in Tayrona Park that first day. We felt like the day was wasted because there was nothing to do once we got to our hotel. The hotel was fine. Lucile was very friendly. We would have preferred to stay in a nicer hotel, but did not want to spend the extra money so we got what we paid for.

Day 11: Very fun day in Tayrona Park. However, we did not need a guide for this hike (although Jose was very nice and gave us space). It was a very manageable hike and we could have done it ourselves. What we did appreciate was the transportation to the start of the hike and that our driver picked up our passes early in the morning so that we didn't have to wait in line. We also wished we had known that there were 2 hike options, each one starting from a different entrance. If we had known, we would have picked the longer/more adventurous hike option.

Day 12: Our driver made good time driving to Cartagena. We liked our hotel. Shortly after we arrived we had a walking tour. This was the worst walking tour either of us have ever been on. Our tour guide was awful. It was hard to understand her and she did not seem knowledgeable about the things she was showing us. She could not answer our questions and in many instances even ignored our questions and just moved on. She was more concerned with showing us where her friends had shops than educating us about Cartagena. The tour was also supposed to be 4 hours, but was just short of 2 hours. However, we were happy it was over sooner so that we could walk around ourselves without her. We are upset we had to pay money for this tour (especially because there were free walking tours that had great reviews--we passed some on our tour and listened to what those tour guides were saying about Cartagena, which sounded so much more informative and interesting than what our tour guide was saying). We would not recommend Oliver ever booking this tour again for other customers.

Day 13: The cooking class was great.

Day 14: We really loved the day trip to the island. The only thing about this trip was that we had to pay for all the activities we did on the island separately. We would have liked to have known beforehand that the activities (i.e. snorkeling, cannoeing, biking) were each separate charges.

Day 15: Smooth transportation to the airport.

We appreciate how smoothly everything went. No real issues came up for us. Everything (all the tour guides and transportation) was on time. One thing we would have liked to have known before the trip was how much to tip each driver and tour guide. If we had known how much we were paying for each activity, it would have been easier for us to figure out how much to tip. But we did not not have a breakdown of how much everything cost. A detailed breakdown of costs would have been helpful overall in the planning process.

The Mexican Eco company, Totonal, that Kim Kim uses in México is excellent. As a solo female traveller, I was very pleased with the custom itinerary planned for me by Sibila. All of my requests were fulfilled, from urban tours and decent, clean hotels in CDMX to horseback riding, hikes and cooking lessons in beautiful Guanajuato. All drivers and guides were professional , knowledgable and arrived on time. I was very reassured by Melina from Totonal, a warm and and very diligent person who checked in with me every step of the way both before my trip and during my days in Colonial Mexico. I heartily recommend this company as a reliable source for trip planning in Mexico.

Both Axel (who handled planning before we left) and Jesus (who helped with logistics and last minute changes once we arrived) from On The Go were fantastic - always super responsive, flexible and keen to make our trip absolutely perfect for us. Despite our regular flip-flopping in terms of requests!

Our trip to Argentina was absolutely fantastic - hotels, day-trips and logistics were all wonderful. Using Kimkim and On The Tour made everything very straightforward and we benefitted from excellent local knowledge. The overall price was also very reasonable.

I wouldn’t hesitate in recommending to others.

Let me start by explaining that I made this as difficult as I possibly could. Not intentionally, of course, it just happened that way. I started planning this trip in January of 2018, with intention of paying it off (they offer simple payment plans) by the end of the year, with departure the first week of January 2019. I set up an itinerary and began the payment process. Half way through the year, however, life happened, throwing a giant roadblock in my way. I had already been working with James, who I guess left the company and transferred me to Hayley. When I told her that I needed to postpone my trip for at least a year, she jumped right on it. Despite the fact that we had already reserved travel and admissions tickets, she was able to get all but $77 refunded to me, with everything else I had paid for to roll over to the next year when I could continue payments. Simple, right? It doesn’t end there.

Over the next year, I had more time to explore online what Peru had to offer, and of which KimKim was connected to about everything. The more I learned, the more I wanted to do. As I began to think about extending my trip from 10 days to 14, Hayley got transferred and yet a third travel specialist was assigned to my planned journey, Carla, who was up to date on all that I had been going through as soon as we were introduced. I proposed my new ideas of itinerary to Carla, and within a few days she had amended it and adjusted the cost, explaining why certain attractions and activities cost different amounts than others. When another financial burden in life fell upon me and I had to change the itinerary again (what a pain the @$$ I am, yah?) Carla finally helped me settle in on an impressive experience for even the biggest adventurers. Sacsayhuaman led it off in Cusco the day after I was retrieved at the airport by my guide for the two weeks, Rolfi, who came highly recommended by a former Peru visitor whom I met through one of these reviews! Then we embarked into the Sacred Valley, where the majority of the adventuring would take place. Rolfi really was incredible, and on our first day hike to Huchuy Quosco I quickly recognized why he had been so well reviewed. Not only was he knowledgeable of all the sites we visited over the next two weeks, but he was from Calca, just about the center of the Valley, and knew so many of the locals. His English is college level (fortunately for a Spanglish speaking gringo like myself), and even speaks Quechua, so no matter where we were he had a kind word for everyone we encountered. Then we were off to Chinchero for some paddleboarding. The guide for this water trip was a Cusco local named Barrac, and was not only very informed of the area but super friendly and easy to talk to. I had one day off to do my own thing and when I asked Rolfi what I should do, he suggested a local half day hike that would bring me past a very seldom seen by tourists archeological site in town and offered to walk with me. We had a great time buddying up and talking about all types of subjects from personal to international. Next was the Via Ferrata day, with a stay overnight in the Skylodge, and the zip line tour back down the following morning. For this, Rolfi kept his feet on the ground. Also, the whole experience comes with a bit of a price tag, but I can assure you, it is worth every last bit. The folks at Natura Vive were not just incredible guides and safety instructors, but considering what they had to work with in a plexiglass and aluminum (aerospace grade) dome hanging off of the edge of a rock face, these guys were great cooks as well! And so darned hospitable that I felt as though I was staying at the Ritz Carlton. The next morning, as the last zip line end had been reached and the harnesses were coming off, there were Rolfi and our driver ready to whisk us off to the next experience. Up towards the high countryside we went again for a day of mountain biking that started with an easy peddle to the Moray archeological site where we had lunch and walked around the area as Rolfi explained the site’s significance and development. Then, since the light rain had ended and our awesome driver had scraped all the red mud from our bike tires and brakes, we shed our rain jackets and headed for the downhill single tracks to the village of Maras, where we stopped momentarily at the town square. Then we continued on to the salt pool mines in the canyon where Rolfi again had much information on the matter, and finally down to the lower level of the valley floor again. That was the point where I recognized the awesomeness of this trip and gave myself the first appreciation of putting together so much happiness for myself. Another day hike was positioned in this time period somewhere, just around Calca and really enjoyable with all the evening rains bringing such a beautiful green out across the valley and mountains, with flowers blooming everywhere, of which Rolfi of course knew all the names. Then came the apex of the trip, the Lares Trek. I don’t want to spoil any of it for everyone, but fricken WOW! The hike was manageable for someone like me who is in pretty darned good physical shape, but I feel that Rolfi sensed my desire for a leg burn workout on this journey and rather than insist on too many breaks allowed me to romp onward at my own pace. The first night of camp I felt came too soon, as I still had energy to burn. But Rolfi assures me that I would want plenty of stored fuel for the next day, set to begin at 5:30am. He wasn’t joking. The elevation change of the next day had my heart and lungs trying to figure out a pattern together, but by about the time we were an hour from the summit I was stepping with a good rhythm that wouldn’t drop me but get me there steadily. Recognizing this, Rolfi let me take point for the final 300m of the climb. You can see in the expression on my face in the photo he took right when we reached the acme of around 4300m that my mind was the clearest it had ever been and I’ve never been higher on happiness (pun so very intended). After a snack and a pleasant sun soak session we continued further downward to our camp for the evening surrounded by majestic peaks and the sound of waterfalls, creeks and rivers flowing all around us. Oh, and the porters cooking our food, setting up our sites, providing tea, coffee, and even hot water bottles for our sleeping bags at night? Top notch, first rate, unbeatable...there just aren’t enough words to explain them. The hike down the valley to our waiting driver the next day was pleasant after such a thigh burning push the day prior, and I welcomed the open doors of the pickup truck when we reached our driver. In Calca, KimKim had arranged for me lodging at Casa de Aida, a wonderful zen style retreat of a hostel run by the sweetest, kindest, most wonderful mama in the whole valley. Breakfast was fresh from her garden and hens each morning, with freshly roasted and ground coffee to fill my belly to the point of tastebud happiness. No, that doesn’t sound like it makes any sense, but that’s how it felt. Stay there. You’ll see. My time with Rolfi culminated with two days of hiking Machu Picchu. Despite the departure time from Calca at 4:30am, Mama Aida had a thermos of coffee and some breakfast sandwiches prepared fresh for us and hand delivered on our way out the door. When I say that she is the best, I absolutely mean it. There is no one better, I promise. Machu Picchu, I think, is what you make of it, so take the time to spend two days. Get off the train like we did at KM 104 and hike the Inca Trail to again pass through a separate site not many see close up, and then pop out over a ridge through the Sun Gate, the true entrance to Machu Picchu and a stunningly awesome view of the site and the looming Huayna Picchu looking over it all. We took a break there and absorbed the energy before slowly making our way down through the site to the buses which brought us to Aguas Calientes, a town only accessible by train or hiking. Seriously, there are no cars, cabs, rickshaws or even scooters on these streets. The buses that run up to Machu Picchu and back to town? Yup, brought in by train. We spent the night in town after a pleasant dinner at one of the many fine restaurants and awoke bright and early the next morning to catch the bus up. The stairway is also an option if you are feeling courageous, but we had reserved tickets to hike that protector peak, Huayna Picchu, which must be reserved months ahead of time since they only allow two groups of 200 guests per day access to the famed “Stairs Of Death”. They weren’t that bad, considering the view from the top of this wonder of the world, but if you charge them without stopping the way I did, you’ll definitely feel it. I was beyond happy to have my trekking poles for this, especially on the decent. Also, if you opt for this exclusive opportunity, do yourself a favor and attack it in the first group, earlier in the morning before the sun is high. Trust me, you’ll thank yourself when the sun starts beating down on you on the way back down. Being the most famous of the country’s attractions, Rolfi of course knew much about the site and not once did he bore me with facts. Tourist trap or not, a truly impressive experience. After this I was sad to part ways with Rolfi, as I returned to Cusco for another night at the hostel El Balcon, of course set up by KimKim. This place was about as comfortable as can be with a fantastic breakfast in the morning. For the final part of my itinerary, I was greeted the next day by none other than Barrac, the paddleboarding guide who was now going to be my rafting guide. We drove back down from the upper elevations of Cusco for a three hour rafting experience which culminated with a hot shower, sauna, excellent hot meal with tea and coffee, and a review of the photos and videos captured by the onboard GoPro camera. I was returned to Cusco for one last night at the hostel, then picked up the next day by the driver once more. At the behest of a friend back home, I decided to extend my trip an extra few days to just kick back and relax, decompress before heading back to the states. This idea came before my first itinerary change, and Hayley was kind enough to connect me with a couple in the Sacred Valley who have an apartment that they rent out through Airbnb. KimKim was even gracious enough to have the driver cart me all the way back out to the valley (90mins)! I’m telling you, KimKim went above and beyond to make my dream escape come true, and I am already scouting their website for my next adventure...and I’m still sitting at the Airbnb right now! I really can’t say enough, porqué no hay palabras! Peru és paradíso, and KimKim and Quechua Treks know how to show it to you! Feel free to check out all my pics from this incredible adventure on Instagram @rain_downfire and shoot me a message if you have any questions or want any advice. If you journey with KimKim, you’ll never be lost. Safe travels, and happy trails!