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Peru - Travel guide

A little of history

Peru – Its official name is the Republic of Peru, and it is a South American country bordered by Ecuador and Colombia to the north, Brazil and Bolivia to the east, and Chile to the south.

Its coastline is to the west (Pacific Ocean).

The Inca civilization is the best known, mainly because it was in Peru when the Spanish arrived and also because of the construction of Machu Picchu (from 1200 to 1500 AD).

However, new discoveries show the existence of a civilization in Caral more than 5,000 years ago.

If you want to know more details see in Peru-Tarvel.

Culture

Language

Peru has as its official language Spanish. There are 43 native languages such as Quechua and Aymara.

Religion

The official religion is Catholic, but religious freedom is a rule. The Catholic lives with ancient pre-Hispanic beliefs and cults. The cult of Pachamama (Mother Earth) is still very strong.

Gastronomy

It is well diversified due to the mixture of various cultures and microclimates, from the arid high mountains, sea, river and forest. The base of the food is potato, corn (Choclo) and pepper (Aji).

Curiosity

The corn is native of the America to approximately 7000 years. Its most common name is choclo and maíz. The name corn, comes from the Latin milium, probably related to the numeral “thousand”, by the amount of grains.

Best known food

Ceviche: The basic dish are slices of raw fish, with lemon, pepper and onion sauce. Today it has become a whopper of the chefs and has several versions. Because it is raw fish, be careful where you eat.
Rocoto Relleno: It is a kind of peppery (well spiced) stuffed with ground meat, onion, egg, cheese etc. I ate once in Lima and almost died of it so spicy, but it is very good. I recommend asking before how much it is spicy.
Anticuchos: That is basically a spicy steak served with a sugar cane “palito”.
Cuy: This I could not eat. Cuy is a roasted guinea pig. The accompaniment can be anything but usually corn (maíz), potato and some salad. For me its look like a mouse.
Pisco sour:-The most famous Peruvian drink. It is pisco, which is a grape distillate . It prepares a drink with lemon, sugar, egg white, ice and a pinch of pepper.

Hands made craft

The Peruvian crafts are very colorful pieces, with wood carvings, Huamanga stone, Chulicanas ceramics. It has the famous clothes made with llama wool and alpaca. The traditions are the same, of the Andean peoples, since the ancient civilizations, like the Inca, dominated the whole region.
They are found all over Peru, having as one of the its most important centers in the village of Pisac, in the sacred valley.

Some peruvian hands made.

What to do?

The most well-known attraction is Machu Picchu, but Peru has much to be explored from this Amazon region (rain forest) to the north, passing the Cordillera Blanca and Huayhuash.
Lima in the central region, to the south with Cusco and Machu Picchu, dont forget Nazca lines, Arequipa and Lake Titicaca.

The best itineraries are the cultural and adventure routes, mainly in the mountains.

Main destinations

Lima:

Lima is the gateway of Peru, its capital, is a mix of modern and traditional.

Surquil market: I always believe that the best place to see how local people live is to go in the central market. The Suquilo market is where the Peruvians go to buy their food, clothes etc.
Reservation Park: It is the central park of Lima. A pleasant place to walk and the night has a special attraction with shows of water and lights, which is called Circuito Mágico del Agua. It is very worth a pass.
Plaza de las Armas: In any good Andean city must have a Plaza of weapons (plaza de las Armas), also called the Plaza Mayor, is the center for getting to know the main sights of Lima, such as the Cathedral, The Church of San Francisco, the Government
Larcomar: It is a mall by the sea, built in the walls of Miraflores , overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
Miraflores: The city of Lima is not so pretty, except for some neighborhoods like San Isidro and Miraflores which is my favorite place. Mainly for being, on the edge of the sea and the formation of the walls, with the whole upper part being formed by several linear parks.
It is possible to rent a bike and walk all of it from the park of the Faro de la Marina, passing by Parque del amor, shopping Lacomar to Parque Diez Canseco.

Huaraz

This is my favorite place in Peru. It is a city encrusted in the Andes mountain range. The amount of treking that has here is incredible. We have the Cordillera Blanca (nevada) the Huayhuash mountain range (without snow).
It is also the place of one of the most beautiful trails in the world the Santacruz a Langonanco.

My trip to Huaraz with climbing in the Nevado Pisco (5752 m) and Vallunaraju (5686 m).

Cusco

The party of the Sun (Inti Raymi) is celebrated every June 24.

Plaza de las Armas:(Aucaypata ou Huacaypata) One of the most famous places and historical center, originally called the “warrior’s square” by the Incas. The vast majority of tourists are here nearby. Everything you need is right around the corner, such as ATMs, equipment stores, restaurants, Starbucks and McDonald’s.
Templo do Sol: (Sun temple) (Qorikancha) Built by the Inca emperor Pachacuti, it is the site of offerings and rituals for the sun god. The temple was destroyed by the Spanish and a church was built on its debris.
Catedral de Cusco: (Cusco cathedral) (Basílica Catedral da Assunção da Virgem) It took 100 years to be built and was built on top of an Inca temple, Kiswarkancha.
Hatunrumiyoc street: An example of Inca techniques is the stone of the Twelve Angles, found in the middle of Hatunrumiyoc strret, a narrow cobbled street that is one of the best preserved Inca roads in Cusco.
A wall that was once part of an Inca palace. The 12-sided stone structure has 12 perfect corners. The stones come together so hard that nothing can be inserted between them, though no mortar is used.
Inca Museum: Located a few meters from the Plaza de las Armas, where you can find many replicas and scenarios of what the Incas before the arrival of the Spanish.

Machu Picchu

It is certainly the best known attraction in Peru. Machu Picchu is known with the Lost City of the Incas, located 2,430 meters above sea level, in the Andes Mountains, above the Urubamba river valley. It is believed to have been built in the 15th century and then abandoned. Its exact use remains a mystery.Considered World Heritage and was elected one of the new 7 wonders of the world.

Travel to Machu Picchu.

Nazca Lines

The Nazca lines are figures of great proportions (drawings) engraved on the ground. It was created by the Nazca people. The drawings are representations of plants, animals with over 2,000 years old. Because of its size can only be totally seen from the air.

Puno and Lake Titicaca

Puno city is in the southern shores of Titicaca lake which is considered the highest navigable lake in the world. One of its attractions is the Uros floating insland . The islands are made of reed, called Totora. Another atractions is a tour to Taquile island.

The city does not have much to offer beyond the lake and its islands. Most people go here to or from Bolivia.

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When to go?

The best time to visit a Peru is always difficult to answer as it is a large and diverse country.

In general the climate in Peru can be divided into dry (from April to October – winter) and rainy (from November to March – summer) . The months from June to the beginning of August are the busiest. I can be to annoying the amount of people going to Machu Picchu. Note, these months are the coldest, being close to zero, mainly in Cusco and in the high parts near Huaraz.

I prefer to go soon after the end of season , which is from the beginning of August until the end of September, because the weather is still good, with few tourists and prices are 30 to 40% lower.

You can find what to do all year around, just need to be aware of the rains, which in the part of the forest can be very voluminous and rain for days.

We can divide Peru into 3 regions:

Peruvian coast

It is a desert strip bathed by the Pacific Ocean, with valleys rivers from the Cordillera, where climate is temperate, high humidity, dense fog.
The cold sensation is winter, can be intense and in the summer can reach 30 degrees celsius.

Andes

The Andes Mountains extend all over Peru, as below

The North are lower and humid due to the proximity to the Amazon. They have the highest mountains, here is the Cordillera Blanca and Huayhuash and the highest mountains, as Huascarán with 6,768 meters.
To the South we have the plateaus.

Floresta

Located in the East, after the mountain ranges is very flat, in the basin of the Amazon River, which is born from the union of the Marañón and Ucayali rivers.

Here you have to be careful with the rainy months from November to March are rains with great volume.

How to get there?

The easiest way is in the air, unless it is very close, because the distances are very big so it is better to go by air.

Airway

The gateway is Lima, its capital, by Jorge Chávez International Airport which has connection with the main airports in the world.

Land

The points of entry via land are from:

Ecuador: Águas Verdes (Tumbes) by the Panamericana highway.
Bolivia: Kasani border, for those who come from Copacabana, from Lake Titicaca and to Lapaz.
Chile: Frontier post of Santa Rosa (Tacna) by Panamericana highway. Used for those who go to San Pedro de Atacama (Chile) or Arequipa (Peru)

Costs

What are the costs to visit the country?

To stay well updated I like the site Numbeo which shows the cost of living relative to your city and where you want to go.

So you will have an approximate cost of how much you will spend.

Costs can vary greatly depending on your travel style.

As a reference let’s define 3 styles and their costs:

First of all define that alcoholic beverages can greatly raise the cost of travel.

In any style here, we are talking about a low consumption, ie just a few local beers and mainly outside of the restaurants.

These costs are on average, that is, some days will be much lower and others higher.

3 styles and their costs

Backpacker: Staying in hostels using a shared dormitory, making your food and / or local and inexpensive restaurants, using local transportation, explore the city on foot and make the rides for free or cheaper.
Daily expenses: from $ 35.00 to 45.00 per day
Intermediate: Hosted in hostel / budget hotels in private rooms, dine in medium restaurant, go in major paid attractions, use some taxis, uber and bus of better quality.
Daily expenditure of: US $ 120.00 to 140.00 per day,
Luxurious: Hosted in the best hotels, go in all the attractions, hire more sophisticated packages like use of helicopter etc.
Daily expenses of: $ 200.00 and above per day

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How to get around

Transportation in the country

Bus between cities.

It is the best and cheapest way to get around. It is necessary to be attentive to the company, because there are many buses very old and in poor conservation.

I really like Cruz del sur.

See map bellow with the destinations of the company. Remember that although cities may seem close, there are mountain ranges which make the road long and tiring. But the costs are worth it. Great option is to travel at night.

Buses within cities

Traffic in big cities is chaos. Many places do not have a lighthouse, but it is only you to have a little patience and a bit of adventurous spirit that everything will work out.

They have a mix of buses, vans, private and illegal cars etc. Check

I have alredy used public transportation in Lima, Cuzco, Arequipa and Huaraz. Everything went well, even if some buses were even afraid to enter, however in the end I arrived at the destination without problem and spending very little.

The cost varies a lot, but on average it is around 2.00 soles per trip

Uber

It works basically the same as Brazil, cheaper than the taxi. It is good to have a local line, but it works only with data.

Taxi

The taxis in Lima are a case in point, as there is a lot of deceit and illegal people doing everything.

First rule:It is to have soles in small values, to not suffer cheating.
The second rule: is to always hit the value of the race before getting into the car. They understand the Portuguese very well, they make a mistake to deceive you.

IMPORTANT: Make sure the cars are able to run, if you feel safe, go ahead if you do not call another one.

Get an idea of the price

The races inside Lima on average is no more than 20 to 30 soles. From the airport, about 60 soles.

Train:

There are few options, I only used the train to Machu Picchu. I also know about the Cuzco / Puno train, I do not know anything else about that.

Subway

The Lima subway works well, but it does not have a very wide range and it does not pass close to the main sights. See here the map and more details of the subway Line.

Security

Recommendation for all

Always keep your personal belongings under your supervision and care.
Do not take taxis that run without signs or identification at night.
Do not exchange money on the street or carry large amounts of money.
Choose currency exchange offices.
Go around with the necessary money for the day, avoiding large amount.

To get an idea of security, we need to compare with the ones we’re used to.

SafeAround compiled and analyzed data from various public sources to create a security index that allows us to rank the countries of the world for security (100 = perfectly safe; 0 = very dangerous ).

These sources take into account all types of threats, such as robberies, crimes, deaths from traffic accidents, of terrorist attacks and wars.

Notes:

An index of 100 means that the country is perfectly safe while 0 means that it is extremely dangerous. See the full study on the website.

The complete study is on Safearound site.

Peru is of moderate security. You can compare it with your country and so get an idea. I feel safe, nothing has ever happened in my travels, what we have to stay most is attentive to the blows against tourists, but this is not Peru’s exclusivity.

Documentation and Vaccine

Passport

In any international travel the passport is the most important documents and as a general rule it must have a minimum of 6 months of validity of the date you are going to enter the country.

In more extreme cases they can bar your entry if the validity of the passport is lower then 6 month.

The Brazilians, Paraguayans, Ecuadorians, Colombians, Bolivians, Venezuelans and Chileans may use their identity documents from their countries to enter Peru.

Visa

Brazilians do not need a visa and can enter with their identity documents maximum of stay 180 days, without extension. For more time, need to request visas.

The other nationality is indispensable the passport with at least 6 months of validity. If you need more information check Peru government site.

Currency and payment methods

The official currency is El Nuevo Sol (The New Sun). In the most tourist places accept US dollars, it is possible exchange dollars by Nuevo Sol and vise versa. Very careful with the exchange in the streets, it has many strokes.

ATM

Existent in the main cities and tourist places of the main flags like Visa, Cirrus and others.

If you leave the tourist centers the availability is impaired.

Time

Peru is in the time zone -5h, GMTV

Time convertor to check your time zone.

Vaccinations

There are no vaccines required to enter Peru. If you wish to visit the Amazon region of the country, the Ministry of Health recommends the vaccine against yellow fever.

If you take the vaccine do not forget to ask for the international vaccination card. Brazilians can see here in Portal Anvisa how to obtain it.

Planing your Travel? Tips and Tricks

Here are tips and tools to make the journey more enjoyable.

If you still have doubt.

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Book your flight.

Finding cheap air tickets can be difficult and stressful, but with my blog’s tips and using Skyscanner or Momondo the task can be even fun. Today are the most complete tools on the market . In my experience I have seen that even using others these two end up having the best prices.

Book your accommodation.

If you prefer Hostel a great tool is Hostelwold, If you want besides hostels, other options use the Booking.com. I have used both very often and always find the best prices.

Travel insurance.

Insurance is what we never want to use, but it is traumatic if we need and not have it.
It will cover the costs of any eventuality of illness, injury, theft and / or ticket cancellations, etc. It is extremely important to have as you never know what can happen.
I have used the WorldNomads, which always have the insurance coverage that travelers need, in addition to having coverage worldwide.