I just returned from my trip to Peru. When I booked, I was given photocopies of the itinerary. All it said was "meet at 2pm on sep 14". I also paid for transfers to the hotel. I read online how sometimes they forgot to pick you up so I called intrepid. A very hostile female on other end said "didn't you read the notes". It's not a very good impression of this tour company Our tour guide William was a nice friendly young fella. He met all of the group's request. Even if it's a third world country, I was still annoyed with the constant badgering for tips. If that rude intrepid girl can say "read your notes", the notes on tipping are in there. No need to hand a piece of paper to one of the group members and tell her to read aloud what to tip. And the tour leaders all work together making sure they get maximally tipped. We were told what we should give to the local guides We stayed in hostels mostly, and not hotels. The hostels were changed last minute sometimes so the documents we got prior to the trip was not necessarily accurate. I knew that these things can happen and it is why I called intrepid. Obviously that inteepid girl really hated her job and should look for a lab position where she doesn't need to deal with the public. There are no elevators. Be prepared to go up stairs and take it slow with the altitude. I almost fainted carrying my luggage and going up 3 flights of stairs. One of the hostels we stayed at turned off the water at 10 pm. It had no tv. It was the worst place I have ever stayed. I would have paid more to be able to brush my teeth or use the toilet. I could have also do without the home stay. The home stay was like camping. A drop toilet with no running water. The tour should consider a gradual accent up as I got altitude sickness. I was lucky I didn't end up in the hospital. Diamox did not help in my case. William was nice enough to ask how I was doing those few days Be aware that other than breakfast, meals are not covered. I didn't like that william usually brought us to intrepid associated restaurants. I am all for donating 10 percent of our food bill to be a worthy cause, but please don't bring us to a crappy frestaurant just to get the donation. The highlights were the floating island and Machu picchu. The rest of the tour was really just fillers for your trip. If you are young and on a tight budget, but love to travel, then this is a tour for you. if you have the extra money, consider paying more for hotel accommodations that have the oxygen enriched environments and possible elevators. Intrepid is equivalent to gap adventures. We were on a 2 for 1 trip. Perhaps if we paid full price, our accommodations would have been better....

With the compassionate group leader it would be much more pleasant experience! My specific food requirements ( health/life-death issue), not provided. Good I did take with me some my own. Our ‘leader’ – labeled me as (selfish, difficult, egoistic- just because I am not like ‘everybody else’), during all journey she simply ignore me and when it was necessary she would talk to me from her‘ mighty high ego’ with irritation, anger, make unprofessional sarcastic remarks in my address, threaten me with taking me back to Broome and not allowing me to take a hikes with the rest of the group ( don’t like my walking shoes), and on many occasions she is simply rude to me. She also use very often in he lectures about cattle industry words ‘Rubbish Country’ –referring to Kimberly wilderness, and by this showing no respect for the environment or Aboriginal people. Good that not many like her, in my life I am usually presented with caring and compassionate peoples who not expect me to be something else. This encounter just remind me how prejudges, intolerance and division is created but on other hand I hope that one day she will see her action as unacceptable. Karma - is what you give from your heart and what will be coming back to you one day when you may not expected.

"Knowledgeable local guide" had never been to North Island before. Very much got the impression from bus drivers etc that the regular guide (who was unavailable) would hugely have improved the trip - for example one of the bus drivers pointed out the pie shop that the trip would normally stop at, otherwise we would have been left with no lunch. Guide was more used to guiding in South-East Asia, and the whole group found his "fly by the seat of our pants" attitude irritating, as it wasn't really suited to travel in New Zealand (e.g. being vague about the times of buses etc.)