Peru Trip Planning Advice
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Peru Trip Planning Advice
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Elementary Issues in Planning a Trip to Peru
You have to imagine how Peru is before travelling there.
This is a country where health-related risks are high, while safety
issues are moderately high. You will have to focus on your health and
safety primarily. Though, there are other issues that you must check as
well (difficulties in transportation etc.).
A trip to Peru can be a wonderful fulfilling experience for those
well-prepared or can be a dreadful experience for the naive and
unprepared!
Never Forget Before Travelling to Peru...
The main issues that you must understand...
Peru is a Spanish-speaking country: you might want to
exercise words and phrases or attend a Spanish course before travelling to
Peru; you will scarcely meet any Peruvians who speak English!
Traditional environment, mostly Roman-Catholic
society: you are not going to feel in Peru like in Western
Europe or North America - Peruvians are mostly Roman-Catholic and most of
them live in a traditional way, family and respect for women and the
elderly, religion and friendliness are very important to them; please make
an extra effort to understand local customs, show respect to Peruvian
value systems and avoid showing any negative signs to the locals (anything
that might be considered disrespectful or offensive)
Exotic country, exotic diseases: check
out
Peru health risks-related advice section in order to understand
and take the necessary precautions; Peru is has quite high health-related
risks, many of the diseases that can be contracted there are potentially
deadly!
Theft, pick pocketing: this is a
problem, especially in the big cities and in areas with many tourists; it
is advised to take good care of your belongings, but in case you are
implicated in a theft, don't try fighting back, because some thieves carry
weapons and might harm you
Swindles, frauds: try looking "less
rich", wear cheaper, simpler clothes and take that "naive foreigner" look
off your face; you will most probably be approached several times by
"friendly" locals who will offer you various services and products (some
will offer to be your guide, others will want to sell you products or will
want to take you with a "taxi" to a "cheap hotel") - excuse yourself
politely, but categorically: "No, gracias" - be polite, but categorical
whenever you meet suspect people potentially trying to "draw you into
something"...
Kidnapping: this is a problem that is
very frequent in Latin America, not so much in Peru, but rather in
Venezuela, Mexico, Colombia and Brazil; avoid travelling alone, especially
if you are a woman or youngster
Travelling around:
by airplane you can reach the distant corners of Peru
(even many small cities have own airports), on land, usually by bus or car
(4x4 vehicles are recommended in most areas), as there are very few
Packing Smart and Making a "What to Take Checklist"
Pack as light as possible and try reducing the volume as much as you
can!
You might need to carry your luggage more in Peru than in other
countries, especially in a rural area!
Documents: passport, i.d., driver's
license... rarely, you will require medical documents, such as those
proving that you have received vaccine against various local diseases
(rare case, rather required for those working or studying in Peru)
Travel insurance: never travel to Peru
without it!
Money, credit cards - well hidden:
take enough money with you to be able to buy a new plane ticket to fly
home, in case you loose your plane ticket, miss your flight or anything
else similar happens; split your money and credit cards into different
small bags, wallets and hide them... in case one of them gets lost,
stolen, then you will have the other one; try not to show a whole wallet
whenever you pay for anything (this can be done by keeping a smaller
amount of money in your pockets: for drinks, for entry ticket payments
etc.)
Smart clothes: don't take the most
expensive clothes, as this will make you look an ideal target for thieves;
take rather more thin clothes than several thick ones that take up space
Maps, schemes: you must take paper
maps with you, but if you have a small netbook with you and digital map
software installed, it will be great!
Backpack or hand carry luggage: you
will have to decide yourself what is comfortable for you; both a backpack
and a hand-carried luggage with wheels can be practical, but for hiking
take exclusively a backpack; in either cases, you must have a small
backpack for city trips and short hikes
List of important places, others than
attractions: not down a list of hotels (in case for some reason
you cannot get to your hotel), note down airlines and travel agents, also
the address of your embassy, consulate
List of attractions: you can best plan
your itinerary with Google Earth, which is a handy software... set
yourself the most important attractions that you want to see and
secondary, possibly 3rd category attractions that are not as important
Medicine: take medicine with you,
always (especially pain relief, anything for treating cold, stomach and
digestive problems etc.)
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