going over xmas/ new year

any hints, tips, experiences etc

cheers

mrsmw has been

take LOTS of toilet paper and immodium 🙂

who's been

He has:

Take it easy at altitude till you are used to it. Keep your wits about you in Lima, learn a bit of Spanish.

Military and Police are a bit special, well they were going from Chile to Peru.

Enjoy.

Yeah, me. Learn some basic Spanish before you go, if you don't speak any already. Watch yourself in Lima, petty crime is an art form there. Make sure you try cebiche while you're out there. South American Handbook from Footprint rather than Lonely Planet if you want a guidebook.

Whereabouts are you going and what sort of thing do you want to know?

My mum was over doing some missionary work a month or so back.

She found the altitude quite difficult to cope with but she is 75.

It's a fantastic country btw. Cuzco is atonishing and quite sad when you read the history of the place and the Spanish conquistadors. Huaraz is the best place on earth. And the mountains are just amazing. Great memories. Alpamayo is beautiful, if you're a climber, but it'll be out of season then anyway.

simon ralli went over there, think he might be a naturist though 😕

Yes. Loved it, my favourite country after NZ. Cuzco is brilliant, just get in one of their tiny taxis and assume the crash position – mine crashed 3 times in ten minutes! But no-one seems to care as it's all low speed stuff like bumper cars. Food is great if you are a bit careful where you eat. Take dollars – worth much more black market than official exchange. Take alcohol hand gel and use it whenever you eat – I had no trouble with stomach problems and neither did anyone else I was with. People are so friendly outside of Lima and even the poorest wil offer you hospitality. They also tend to have a great sense of humour!

The coca tea is good for the altitude but doing bring any tea bags home

we spent a month there in 2006 (part of a year out travelling) – the first week we were in lima and going down the coast and hated it, but as soon as we got into the mountains it was amazing.

arequipa is great – overlooked by a huge volcano (el misto?) and near some of the biggest canyons in the world (we did a 3 day hike into the colca canyon).

cusco is the best known – the only downside to that being that you're constantly pestered, but you get used to that. we thought the inca trail would be over-hyped but it lived up to it (you need to book ahead if you're going to do it)

lake titicaca is impressive (and you can hop over to bolivia) but puno isn't the best town to spend time (and the altitude is very high there!)

the jungle is a very intense experience and well worth doing (we flew from cusco – but do your research if you fancy it). i didn't react well with the malaria tablets, but still really enjoyed it…

we didn't go any further north so can't comment on any of that. you need to have your wits about you safety-wise (most of it is common sense), but it's a well travelled place, so mostly easy.

our blogs are here (there's 4 updates from peru) incl pics:
http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Rod_M/page-3.html

Lived there for a while. Nazca is pretty cool, second only Machu Picchu. Gotta love the "owl" man.

Never had a problem with things being stolen, maybe were weren't too touristy looking.

Dollars are the way to go

Is the "bye, bye…" boy still at Machu Picchu ?

I've been three times and will be going back for a couple of months next year too.

Where are you going in peru and what do you want out of your trip. Peru has everything from high Sierras to rainforest as well as all the obvious places such as Macchu Pichu, Cusco, Nazcar Lines and Lake Titicaca.

Peru 2004
http://www.flickr.com/photos/simonralli/sets/72157619520284559/

Best of Peru 2009
http://www.flickr.com/photos/simonralli/sets/72157622184696630/

Photos from Peru 2008
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGYMw0qzfDE

take LOTS of toilet paper and immodium

Why ? I've been there three times and never had a stomach problem. Peruvian food is really good from the desert coast, up into the mountains and in the Amazon rainforest.

Whereas I ate at some Peruvian diner on the coast and was sh*tting through the eye of a needle for 5 days until I got hold of some antibiotics. Not pleasant I tell ye!

Fantastic country. spent a month there around the north of the country, make sure you get out of lima quickly- the rest of what i saw was amazing, especially the cordilliera blanca. Just watch your stuff as it may go walkabout, and dont forget your jabs/ malaria tablets if you are hitting the rainforests.
and if you are a fan of irn bru, you are gonna love it's sister, inca cola- same taste, but bright yellow!

I went a few years ago for 3 weeks.

The Amazon was amazing, a real experience I would really recommend it.

Andes are great mountains if you fancy a week trekking

Nazca was great and the planes are quite cheap, also look at the desert tombs.

Really watch out in the city. Lots of people trying to nick your stuff, we almost had loads of bags stolen. A little Spanish helps. They don't stand in queues it’s a fight to the front. The public transport is very fun especially in the mountains.