Hi Jim!
Check on weather re: February to make sure you're out of the wet season. We had friends who went over new year's and had the road to MP wash out halfway up to the lodge. They had to walk up with luggage. It's like walking up the side of a cliff. We went for the June solstice period and it was the dry season.
We stayed at both the Libertore (on the way out to MP) and the Monasterio (on the way back from MP) in Cuzco. The Monasterio was about twice the $$ of the Libertore. More convenient location to the main Plaza des Armas in Cuzco. Public areas beautiful; we needed to change rooms twice before we found an OK one at the Monasterio (smoking when we asked for nonsmoking and it reeked; mattress WAY too soft). Libertore was fine as I was expecting a 3 to 4 star hotel. Cheap internet cafe nearby and about a 6 block walk to the Plaza des Armas. I think you have to stay at the Monasterio if you stay at the Sanctuary Lodge.
We also did Pisac and Ollaytambo in the Sacred Valley and loved them. We tried the chi-cha (corn beer), fresh boiled corn at the Pisac Sunday market and saw the tribal chiefs arrive in full gear for Sunday mass. The church has beautiful murals ala Diego (?) from Mexico. The Sunday market was great. We caught the Vista Dome from Ollaytambo's stop. They take you up to the railroad tracks & the locals set up their own handicraft markets.
In Cuzco, we enjoyed the knitted finger puppets of animals (about 3 for $1). Several children will come around in full dress with animals; pictures are around $1 each. It's worth it. We got one with three children; one holding a llama and a little boy with a parrot on his head. It was great.
On the opposite end, the seminaria ceramics factory is near the Sacred Valley; we had a tour and shipped some stuff home with no problem. It's beautiful. Carlos Chaquiras has two stores with his silver works in Cuzco; how I wish I had purchased one of his icons. I'm actually going to go back if, for no other reason, that to get one of those works of art. I purchased several pairs of earrings and wear them all the time. He has a website (you can find it on google) if you want an idea of what to expect. I think the earrings were around $60 to $80 per pair and the icons were in the range of $500. We visited 3 years ago.
The other place in Peru that blew our socks off was Ica and the flyover of the Nacza Lines. We haven't yet made it to Ecuador outside of Manta on the Mariner but intend to add that one to our not-too-far-off travels.
Machu Picchu is among the most remarkable and best places we've visited in our lives. Have a wonderful time! If you have other questions, I'll try to answer. Cheers, Anne
