We got back from Peru late on Saturday night (12/24). Our itinerary ended up as follows:

• Dec. 1: a flight from Rio to Santa Cruz de la Sierra
• Dec. 2 – 5: several days in Santa Cruz including a side trip to Samaipata
• Dec. 6: a flight to Sucre
• Dec. 7: a day in Sucre
• Dec. 8: a 3 hour taxi ride to Potosi and an afternoon there
• Dec. 9: a 7 hour bus ride to Uyuni
• Dec. 10: a trip to Salar de Uyuni and an overnight bus to La Paz (12 hours)
• Dec. 11 and 12: two days in La Paz including a trip to Tiwanaku
  
  
• Dec. 13: a 4 hour bus ride to Copacabana and a boat ride to Isla del Sol
• Dec. 14: a day on Isla del Sol, back to Copacabana
• Dec. 15: morning in Copacabana, a 4 hour bus ride to Puno (Peru), evening in Puno
• Dec. 16: morning in Puno, a trip to the Islas Flotantes of the Uros, an afternoon bus to Cusco (9 hours)
• Dec. 17: a day in Cusco
• Dec. 18: 50 minute bus ride to Pisac (market, ruins), then a bus to Ollantaytambo, failing to get tickets for an evening train to Machu Picchu, staying overnight in Ollantaytambo and getting a morning train.
• Dec. 19: a day in Machu Picchu and an evening in Aguas Calientes
• Dec. 20: Ollantaytambo and Chinchero on the way back to Cusco
• Dec. 21: Another day in Cusco, including a tour of nearby ruins (Sacsayhuamán, Qenqo, etc.)
• Dec. 22 and 23: Early morning flight to Lima and two days there
• Dec. 24: A flight back to Rio

So, we ended up “cheating” and taking one flight that took us about 2/3 way up to the Altiplano (saving us about 25 hours on the bus), and another flight that took us down (saving another 30 hours on the bus). We did end up spending about 40 hours in buses and maybe another 20 in cars (long distance “taxis,” e.g. from Sucre to Potosi), which felt like just about enough.

I brought around 1500 pictures from the trip. Some of them got deleted, but most are being uploaded and plenty will be features in posts that will follow.