CHAT PLUS

During our online chat (most Mondays at 2 p.m.), you ask and we answer your travel questions -- mostly. Here's one we couldn't get to last week.

We're visiting Machu Picchu on a nine-day trip. Where else should we go in that amount of time?

Wendy Trouwborst of Peru Expeditions (011-51-1-447-2057, http://www.peru-expeditions.com), a tour company based in that country, says, "The best way to plan a trip to Peru is to keep in mind that there is a great difference in altitude, so it is best to start low and end high." For that reason, she notes, consider putting Machu Picchu and Cuzco at the end of your trip. You should also have time for a side excursion to the Peruvian Amazon -- to visit the rain forests along the Madre de Dios River, say, or canoe on Lake Sandoval -- or to the urban vibrancy of Lima. With regard to the Peruvian earthquake in August, Trouwborst says that the coastal cities of Ica and Paracas were particularly hard hit but that "the roads are repaired and public transport is running as normal."

-- S.V.