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| Machu Picchu |
My Experience
I won’t pretend to say I know everything about Peru, but after spending a month there here is what I learned from my experience and things I wish I had known before and things I know my friends, who were there with me, wish they had known.
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| Peruvian fast food |
Day to Day Peru Stuff
I think there are a few crucial things to know when visiting any country. Things like crime, traffic, violence, people, food, etc. Here are a few important ones for Peru.
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First off Peru is relatively safe for South America. State lists it as high for various reasons dealing with a terrorist group that is mainly confined to the jungle now. We dealt with a few thefts while I was there. I had a $10 bill stolen from leaving my stuff at one of the Pan Am Venues, but all-in-all, Peru isn’t bad if you’re not making yourself a target. Along those same lines, this is just a simple travel tip I’ve learned over the years from people who want to steal things from me. Don’t let them know you’re American. Learn some words in another language and they’ll usually lose interest or get scared.
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Getting around Peru is relatively cheap. Don’t be fooled into thinking you have to pay $1000 for a tour. You can easily find cheap tours and transport throughout the country. That being said, take that with a grain of salt. For my tour of the Millpu Ponds I took a tour that was $30 for an 8 hour bus ride and 2 hours at the site. Pretty cool, right? The guides themselves were great! But our brakes locked up at one point and you could tell the bus was getting ready to break down. Fortunately it didn’t on my tour, but keep in mind that that is a possibility on those long cheap tours. We also got stopped at a police checkpoint and my guides were fined for not having done some paperwork needed for guiding. Once again, this wasn’t my problem, but we spent a half hour waiting for the police and a lot of people ended up missing their transport home.
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Uber is your friend. Uber is soooo cheap in Peru. I took an uber back from Ollataytambo to Cusco and for a 2 hour journey, it was $30. That being said, Peruvians are crazy aggressive drivers, and I definitely wouldn’t classify it as a organized chaos on the roads. It’s just chaos, and mark yourself lucky if you don’t get into an accident while driving around Peru.
Ceviche -
Food is pretty good out in Peru. Get ready to have lots of Ceviche for lunch and don’t expect every meal to be filled with quinoa. During my time here, I actually ate a lot of meat, so be prepared for that. Also be prepared for very friendly people when it comes to Peruvians.
Places to Go
There are so many awesome places to go, but from my experience not all of them are worth it. Peru is a relatively small country, but it is vast in terms of times it takes to get from one destination to another Air travel has definitely improved the times, but we're talking about a country that goes from Sea level to the over 14,000' tall Andes.
- Machu Picchu - This is easily the most traveled and most wanted destination in all of Peru. One of the new 7 Wonders of the World. This destination is sure to impress. Getting here is not easy, however, and many tour companies up charge a lot for the travel. You can do it yourself though, and you can do it on the fly if you didn't book your tickets beforehand.
Machu Picchu & Cusco
This is truly the gem of your trip if you plan to see things in Peru. Sadly, it will also be the most expensive and you are likely to pay pretty high costs regardless of whether you decide to try to plan it yourself or if choose a tour company. For many people, this kills the experience. When I used to have almost no money and still wanted to travel the world, I probably would have just left Machu Picchu off for this very reason. In order to enjoy it, you need to be able to pay the money without being mad about it. If that’s a problem, there are a lot of other really good options around Peru. But I give you that warning. It’s worth it if paying the money is worth it to you. If not, you may be severely disappointed.All that being said, I’m going to explain the best ways to get there and how to avoid paying astronomical costs (like what I did). But if you’re like me, and you end up only having a day off for a work trip...sometimes you get what you get.
This was me and my guide, who was so great The traditional route to get to Machu Picchu is broken up into four legs of a long journey. The first leg is the flight from Lima to Cusco (You can take a bus, but unless you have a million years to travel, I wouldn’t recommend it). The second leg is a bus from Cusco to Ollataytambo (You can book these directly with the train companies, but don’t be fooled, it is not a train. It is a bus. No train goes in between these two). The third leg is a train from Ollataytambo to Aguas Calientes. The fourth and final leg is a bus from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu.
Most people will say you need a few days to do all of these legs and to enjoy Machu Picchu. I did it all in a day, and I can honestly say that the only thing I wish I had had more time for was to explore Cusco. That being said, you can book far in advance and get pretty cheap tickets, or if you need to do it the day of, it is possible! Tickets are almost always available on the buses and trains, and you need a certified guide to enter Machu Picchu, but you can also get these at the entrance.
Huacachina - The oasis in the desert - Huacachina & Paracas National Preserve - This was one of my favorite spots in Peru. A small desert oasis awaits you just a bus ride from Lima. Peruhop is a great bus system for traveling around Peru, and this was one of my favorite stops in Peru. You can get a ride to Paracas on the way. It is a pretty cool spot to stop and see one of the oddest scenes in Peru - an island with penguins! Bear in mind, however, that they guarantee wildlife sightings, but not penguin sightings. I went and got extremely lucky to just see one penguin on the rocks in front of our boat before it jumped into the water. Most of them hang out high up on the rocky mountain, so you may see them, and you may not.
- Rainbow Mountain - A lot of people might be tempted to go to Rainbow Mountain. I will admit that I've never been, but a lot of my friends have gone, and I've read many many bad reviews of the place. The mountain is not nearly as colorful as people make it seem. It is also often confused with a similar colorful mountain range in China. Probably the worst of this, however, is the hike to the mountain. The view of the mountain is above 14,000 ft and many people need oxygen to get to the top. The trail is also not very well maintained, and many don't make it or do but absolutely hate their life. Add the fact that its elevation means the trail is often wet and muddy and under clouds and you can see why I advise you to stay away from Rainbow mountain. If you have time to do everything else, by all means, but don't put it at the top of your list.
Millpu Ponds - Millpu Pools - Another spot that I thought would be amazing in Peru. These gorgeous turquoise pools are amazingly impressive. That being said, I don't think it is worth the effort to get there. In order to reach the pools you need to get to a far off city from Lima (I took a 9-10 hour overnight bus ride). Then you have to hop on another 6 hour bus ride from there. And then I read that you could swim in the pools. That is no longer a thing!! You cannot swim! Which to me made the entire trip pointless if I couldn't even go out in the ponds. They cited too many people making the water muddy. So in essence, I would say, skip the ponds.
Lagoon 69 - Huarez - This is the cute little mountain village with access to many of the huge blue lakes high in the mountains nearby like Lagoon # . This is also an access point to the Inca trail, and everyone I've talked to who has done this trip or the Inca trail loved it. Keep in mind that it is also around 14,000 ft so oxygen is scarce. That being said, the trail seems to be much better and less crowded than that of Rainbow Mountain.
Salt Ponds - Salt Ponds - This is a nearby attraction to Cusco and Machu Picchu and can be done relatively easily. I am sad I missed this place as it is easily one of the most beautiful places in Peru. the problem, however, is that you can no longer walk along the ponds. You can only photograph from the top, which once again...like the millpu ponds, you can do from the comfort of home browsing photos of the sites, so this is definitely another downer.
Lake Titicaca - Lake Titicaca - Probably the prize of Peru outside of Machu Picchu. The highest lake in the world is home to a vibrant native population that you can visit and see their amazing floating, reed villages. This is another difficult to reach destination, but is worth it for the interaction.
Nazca Lines like these are all over Peru - Nazca Lines - Some of my friends did this and thought it was pretty fun. The flight itself is probably the most fun part, but honestly, unless you're an archeologist, this isn't exactly the best thing to see in Peru.
- Chicama May & Surfing - One thing I'm guessing you didn't know about Peru is it is one of the biggest surfing hot spots on the globe. Sharks are very rare here. In fact, around Lima there has only ever been one recorded attack and that was over 30 years ago. The surf is usually good year round and the prices of learning to surf rival Bali and other very good places to learn. If you're a big surfer though, you will want to check out Chicama May in northern Peru. Known as one of the biggest surfs in the world. You can surf a wave for almost 2km here! Yeah that's right, for over a mile! Get there on the big southern swells and you'll be in business.
Trekking
One of the biggest draws of Peru is the opportunity to trek through some
of the highest mountains of the world in a relatively peaceful and safe setting. I have had multiple friends do this, and they all loved it. If you have the time to take a month out of your life to do one of these treks, I would definitely recommend doing it. The top treks include the Inca Trail, the Salkantay Trek, Choquequirao Trek, and the Santa Cruz Trail. All cover high mountain passes and are well worth the hike. The only thing to keep in mind is trekking in Peru is becoming more and more popular. The Inca Trail requires a permit and maybe soon the others will as well.