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I'm backpacking in South America for a month this year. We're starting in Rio but spending most of the time in Peru and basically doing all the gringo stuff: Lima, Nazca, Arequipa, Puno, Cusco and then Iquitos (via Lima). At least, that's the plan anyway. We've booked the Inca trail and our flights in and out, but that's about it. Any advice on Arequipa and Colca canyon? I've heard there a lot of cool stuff to do there (river running, trekking etc.) but I'm not sure what the best way to spend my time would be.
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May 3, 2008 22:44
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| # ¿ Apr 16, 2024 18:13 |
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JohnnyGuadalupe posted:Es ese el presidente Fox en tu avatar? Cool. Uh, it's supposed to be Nietzsche. I'm not sure if that's who you're talking about. JohnnyGuadalupe posted:Arequipa is a really fun university town that has a lot to do and is surrounded by natural beauty. You can go on a day trip to do extreme sports (White water rafting, rappelling and the such) and then go out in the night. In Arequipa pay a little bit more for a place from where you can walk home, its worth it. Awesome, thanks. Have you been to Iquitos? We're trying to work out the best way to see the rainforest from there. I guess we'll try and get some accomodation in a lodge via some sort of 3-4 day tour.
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May 5, 2008 19:55
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JohnnyGuadalupe posted:If you wanna do it go ahead. Just beware that you might be stuck in a shantytown in the Amazon basin waiting for someone to figure out whats wrong with the boat for a couple days. I heard a couple stories of people having the times of their life but missing flights. Make sure you plan accordingly. Yeah, we'd heard that as well. That's why we were thinking of booking a specific tour to take us into the rainforest rather than simply doing it ourselves. Not as fun, but we don't have the flexibility with time unfortunately. SexyBlindfold posted:You've probably heard this a thousand times already, but if you're going to Iquitos (or anywhere in northeastern Peru for that matter) you'd better be carrying A LOT of bug repellent - specially if you're very white. Also if your schedule includes Ecuador, do NOT cross the border at Tumbes. Not going to Ecuador but thanks for the bug spray tip. I've been to a few rainforest areas before so I'm used to that sort of thing. Fortunately I seem not to get bitten so much, but my sister (who I'm travelling with) is a magnet for bugs. We'll definitely have plenty of bug spray with us.
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May 6, 2008 10:25
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I need to get vaccinations for Peru and I'm not sure whether to get one for Rabies. It's pretty expensive and I don't know if I need it. It says you should get it if you're going to be more than 24 hours away from medical attention at any time or if you're going to be handling animals. I'm not planning on the latter, but I don't know about the former. I'm probably going to stay a rainforest lodge somewhere near Iquitos, but I don't know if I'm likely to be a long way from medical attention there. But I'm guessing a lot of tourists do that stuff and don't have rabies jabs?
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May 25, 2008 22:23
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DustingDuvet posted:I am not a doctor so i suppose you should not take this advice to seriously. But many travelers i meet, myself included, do not have the rabies vaccincation. If you will be staying in a lodge i would not worry nearly as much then if you were planning a boat trip through the amazon for a week. Yeah, that was what I was thinking. I'm pretty sure we're not going to be doing anything like that (would love to, but not enough time). I'll think about it some more.
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May 31, 2008 07:55
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Question about power sockets in Brazil and Peru. Are they just like US plug sockets or do they have different voltages? Do you need a special adaptor for them?
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Jul 22, 2008 10:57
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Papercut posted:Peru uses the British 220V/50Hz standard (and I assume most other countries there do as well). Most battery chargers for laptops and such will list a voltage range on the charger, and most can handle this voltage. I would not plug something like an electric razor into the socket unless the AC adapter lists this voltage. So can you buy Peruvian plug adaptors out there or are they hard to come by?
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Jul 23, 2008 23:10
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Two questions about transport in Peru: 1. We´re planning on taking the Andean Explorer train from Puno to Cuzco if possible. It says on the terms and conditions that there´s a 5kg baggage allowance in the carriage. Will we be able to check luggage though (we have two 15kg bags each)? We couldn´t find any mention of it on the website. Also, is it safe to do so? 2. After doing the Inca Trail we want to get back towards Lima. Ideally we want to go to Nazca. It looks like Cuzco-Lima busses all go via Abancay and Nazca, and also that Cuzco to Lima will take about 11 hours. Do you think it will be possible to buy a Lima-Nazca bus ticket? Also, is that route safe? We´ve heard bad things about night busses, but it looks like we´d need to take one on that route. Also, we´ve heard that the roads coming out of Cuzco are horrible and a lot of people get sick on them. So does taking this bus trip sound like an insane plan? Otherwise we´ll have to fly back to Lima and then bus down the coast to Ica/Nazca which will be less convenient and more expensive.
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Aug 5, 2008 00:39
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Thanks for the advice on the busses but I´m going to ignore it. From what I´ve heard from fellow travellers here, there are a lot of crashes and robberies on busses, but these tend to be restricted to the cheaper bus lines. The top quality buslines (those tending to be used by tourists) very rarely have problems and are generally considered to be the best way to travel around the country. I´ve met uncountably many people here who have used decent busses and haven´t had any problems, and my guidebook also recommends using them.
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Aug 14, 2008 21:56
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billy cuts posted:Even the high-class bus lines have problems. They are very, very bad about upkeep on their vehicles -- i.e. brake replacement and there is little to no governmental oversight. But yeah, you're right, they do crash less often, although I'm pretty sure they are robbed at about the same rate, at least in the upper Amazon. I imagine busses are worse in the amazon and the roads less travelled. The gringo trail in the south seems well established and the better companies (e.g. Cruz Del Sur) rarely have problems from what I can ascertain. Our journey from Cusco to Nasca felt safe because the bus went extremely slowly around every bend (we were overtaken by all of the local busses which were going significantly faster). I admit I was concerned about robbery on the night journey but I´ve been told that Cruz Del Sur is rarely targeted anyway.
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Aug 22, 2008 17:22
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| # ¿ Apr 16, 2024 18:13 |
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Can't really help with the Brazil stuff, but I did a similar Peru trip this summer.ja raul posted:Im in the very early stages of planning a rough itenerary of 2 month trip of Peru & Brasil starting June 2009. Im looking for recommendations of small towns to visit either in Peru or Brazil. My rough itenerary sort of takes me around the 2 countries in an n/upside down J shape: Arrive in Lima - Ica - Ayacucho - Cusco - back to Lima - then up to Iquitos (this will take appx 3 weeks, looking for more smaller towns to visit in between). From Iquitos I plan to take a boat to Manaus as this would be the path of least resistance. Ica was pretty boring. Very little there. Huacachina (15 minutes away) is fun for a couple of days of relaxing (dune buggy rides are awesome), but unless you're really looking to chill out and do nothing, don't plan to spend a long time there. It would be better at the end of a trip than the start. Any chance you can get down to Arequipa or is that too far out of your way? I arrived in Lima and flew to Arequipa, then Puno, Cusco, Nazca, Ica and then back to Lima. Arequipa is beautiful and loads of fun, and a decent length (3 or 4 days minimum) trip to Colca canyon from there is definitely worth it. Puno doesn't have a huge amount to do other than Titicaca exploration, but that's pretty fun. I wouldn't say it's absolutely essential though. Cusco is obviously amazing. If you're booking so far in advance you could try and get on the Inca trail (or one of the alternative Inca trails). I guess none of this is too helpful. It was my first time in South America so we were just doing the big tourist things this time out.
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Dec 3, 2008 22:24
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