Planning a 7-day trip to Peru

These days I am planning a trip to Peru during the coming spring break. Why Peru? I have never visited South America. So this we be my first visit to the fourth largest continent by size and the 3rd least populated continent on earth. Of the 12 countries that are part of SA, Peru is the most intriquing. I am a history buff, and Peru offers great choices for somebody like me who has just 7 days of travel time. Peru is the home of the famous Inca ruins that offer a glimpse into the glorious past of Native South America. I plan to visit Cusco, the capital of the ancient empire. If I get time, I plan to hike in the Amazon jungles in the northern part of Peru. Also, Lima with its picturesque beaches will be another attraction.

Tickets:
I bought the tickets from expedia.com. After searching for the best tickets on different travel websites - the usual suspects such as hotwire et. al- including travel agents, Expedia offered the best price. I am taking a Delta flight from Atlanta to Lima. I paid around $600 per ticket including taxes. I think it is a good deal considering I will be travelling in less than 3 weeks from the day I booked the tickets.

Travel strategy:
I connected with few of my friends from Purdue who had visited Peru - Sandeep Jain and Dhananjay Adhikari. Also connected with a fellow Kellogg Admit to the class of 2008, Alejandro, who hails from Lima, Peru. These will be point persons to sanitize my travel plans going forward. I also bought Lonely Planet for Peru - this book was suggested by Dhananjay - he mentioned that it has ton of useful information. Alejandro suggested that I learn some basic Spanish. According to him, I should be fine at most of the touristy places by speaking just English but I might have problems when I travel to other places. So, the next couple of weeks will be spent in going through the books and picking up as much Spanish as possible.

Best time to Travel:
It appears that the best time to travel to Peru is during June to August - The winter season there. This time - Dec to April is the rainy season there characterized by hot weather. Since I dont have much choice now, only time will tell if this time will work for us or not.

Btw, the next continents on my list are : Australia/Oceania, Africa and Antartica in that order. So keep reading this space!