Quick and dirty summary of everything you might need

http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/pe.html

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_998.html

---

Slowguy

(insert pithy phrase here...)

Don't let this opportunity go to waste! Get a guide and go trekking (and climbing). Machu Picchu will be okay, but very touristy. Go trek along the Andes south of there. Go climb Mount Huascaran - avalanche season should be well over by June.

Here's a site, but you can probably find many others. http://www.andes-adventures.com/huascaran.html

---

_________
kangaroo -- please do not read or respond to any of my posts

Don't smoke their cigars. Nothing beats a cuban.

---

--------
Canadian resident again 10/31/2009

Paddington Bear was born in Peru. He wears wellington boots, a duffle coat, and likes to eat marmalade sandwiches.

Thats all I know about Peru....oh yeah, they beat Scotland in the 1978 World Cup too.

---

----------------------------------------------------------
"A society is defined not only by what it creates, but by what it refuses to destroy."
John Sawhill

Advice bit #1 - get the Hell out of Lima ASAP. Dirty, smoky, crowded, and expensive compared to the rest of the country.

Advice bit #2 - Machu picu is great but crowded also. Do yourself a favour and climb Waynapicu (sp?) if heights don't bother you (access is through Mac. Pic.) and you want a spectacular view. Also stay the nt in aguas calientes instead of heading right back to Cusco then hike up putopusi (sp? again) the next morning. While in Cusco try and do a day tour of the sacred valley.

Advice bit #3 - if you can spend some more time head south and take in some of the more out-of-the-way spots.

The Peruvians are great and they get better the father away from Lima (and Cusco) you go. I spent a month there last spring doing a volunteer eye care project and some travelling. Loved every minute of it. Have fun.

robert

RAinBC and GJS have it exactly right. I enjoyed the Lake Titicaca area on the Bolivian border as well.

---

__________________________________________________
What a drag it is getting old. -- Stones

My mother is from Lima, Peru, Mira Flores for those familiar with the city.

Several have hit the nail on the head. Lima itself is not unlike many developing country cities, though there are many renovation efforts being conducted with beautiful parks throughout the whole of Lima. Peruvians by nature are extremely friendly and extremely talkative, makes for a great combination with regards to tourism.

Machu Picchu is definitely a must-see/must-do tourist stop, and unfortunately you will be bombarded with souvenir sales. No hablo or no quiero works well for items of non-interest. Wyna Picchu is beautiful as well, however extremely dangerous in many areas with sheer drop offs. You actually must sign a waiver in order to be able to climb it. Machu Picchu is the larger peak of the formation though Wyna Picchu is the more photographed as a prominent solo peak.

I would recommend using a tour guide or company for the tour of the Ururbamba River and the various points of Incan interest along the way from Cuzco to MP. The Incan Trail I am told is a great hike and adventure, though again as recommended with guides. The Amazon is a very unforgiving place to anyone who enters, moreso to those completely unfamiliar. Americans are still potential abduction targets, so as with any foreign country, exercise caution and stay aware of your surroundings.

While I don't wholly agree with Cimit, I happen to enjoy some of the Peruvian Ligero tobacco cigars, there are many opportunities for ''Puros'' or Cubans, the former is how they will refer to them. There are some great indigenous foods that are pretty good. For the sweet tooth ask for Turon, it is a dessert that is comprised of a cookie like layer with molasses like centers. There is Lomo Saltado which is a beef entree usually served over papas (fries), Aji de Guellina (not correctly spelled though, sorry) which is a chicken dish served over halved boiled potatoes. The foods tend to be rich and fatty, but awfully tasty so be sure to try a lot.

PM me if you have any additional questions and if you tell me when you will be in Cuzco I can let mi tia (my aunt) know and point you to her gift shop. I will ask her to take care of you and your wife and recommend some places to eat and stay. I can also get the going prices on the most common souvenirs to arm you with that knowledge so that you do not get taken for a ride. Easy to do in any country.

One last thing, if you don't speak any spanish, learning a few quick lines will go a long way. They will realize that you do not speak fluently, but appreciate the effort to speak their language. Have fun on your trip, and let me know if I can help at all.

Steve

---

----------------------------------------------------

Formally azclydesdale, back in Northeast Ohio.

My wife and I just spent our fourth anniversary there. It was great. We spent a few hours in Lima before flying to Cuzco. We both had altitude sickness the first 24 hours. Then off to Puno and Lago Titicaca for a few days. A mild headache for the first day due to altitude. Then back to Cuzco and hiking the Inka Trail to Machu Picchu for four days. We were both acclimated by then but climbing Dead Womans Pass at 13,700 feet with a thirty pound backpack on was very challenging. Get a copy of Frommer's Peru. Cuzco and Puno are loud and dirty. Aquas Calientes, 10K from Machu Picchu is a very nice little town. Spend a day or two there.

---

Once, I was fast. But I got over it.

If you take hostages there, you will die.

---

Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

My mother is also from Peru & I'm very familiar with Mira Flores.

A few additions:

1. If you are into jewlery, the silver craftsmen in Lima are unbelieveably good & very affordable. Bring down pics of whatever you want made & usually within 2-3 days it will be ready. Don't pay for it until you pick it up & cash is king. Bring a couple Tiffany cataloges with you as well as they love those for ideas.

2. Best beer down there is (used to be) Cristal. Just amazingly good, though it was tough to find outside Lima on Ancon or Arequipa (both had good local beers). Pilsen is also really good.

3. If you want to go to the middle of nowhere, Iquitos is the place to go. Don't know how safe it is now--it used to be the wild-west. My uncle owned a hotel there for a while & had lots of crazy stories during the go-go 80s.

4. Driving--makes Italy look sane. You are almost always better off hiring a driver + car from a reputable firm rather than renting. Whatever happens, you don't want to be involved with the Peruvian police or judicial system. Literally the dark ages.

I'm sure it has changed since I was down there during the Sindero-Luminoso days----then we had to be super careful in Lima & always had bodyguards with us on the highways. Enjoy yourself--beautiful & wild country, but be careful as it certainly isn't the US, and help usually isn't a phone call away.

---

____________
"There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs." John Rogers