Peru Travel Guide – Travel to Peru

Peru Tour Package to Arequipa, Cusco, Machu Picchu, and Puerto Maldonado.
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Discover what makes Peru a exclusive destination on the planet through this ultimate Peru vacation package. This South America travel opportunity contains everything from flat arid deserts where it has by no means rained, to a few of the highest mountain peaks on the planet, to tropical rain forests- and every thing in between!
This tour of Peru will start with the discovery of the ?¡ãThe White City?¡À of Arequipa before venture into the depths of Colca Canyon. Following bearing witness to condors gliding via the blue skies, you are going to explore the tiny villages, markets and hot springs of the canyon. Following a single final evening in Arequipa you will head towards the heart of the Inca Empire, Cusco. The lushness of Cusco along with the Sacred Valley and the impressive remains of the Pre-Columbian cultures will leave you in awe of this Andean city. But the tour only gets greater as you leave Cusco for a single of the seven contemporary wonders of the globe, Machu Picchu. Your Peru vacation will guide you by way of the ruins of this mystical and spiritual center situated in cloud forests of exactly where the Amazon meets the Andes.
The last segment of the trip shall be your descent into Peru?¡¥s Amazon. You will invest three nights within the gorgeous rainforest discovering the intricate balance of life of this lush ecosystem and encountering a number of the thousands of species of flora and fauna that reside here.
This tour package will leave you having a full appreciation for the diversity of culture, history and ecology Peru has to provide.

Getting Around By Air
LAN (www.lan.com), Star Peru (www.starperu.com), Taca (www.taca.com) and LC Busre

(www.lcbusre.com.pe) handle virtually all domestic air traffic linking Lima to Andahuaylas,

Arequipa, Ayacucho, Cajamarca, Chiclayo, Cusco, Hu¡§¡énuco, Iquitos, Juliaca-Puno, Piura,

Pucallpa, Puerto Maldonado, Tacna, Tarapoto, Trujillo, Tumbes and other cities. Flights to

Huaraz are occasionally offered. For information on internal flights, contact the Peruvian

Corporation of Airports (Corpac) (www.corpac.gob.pe).

Getting Around by Water
Transportation is available between Pucallpa and Iquitos (journey time – 4 to 7 days),

Yurimaguas and Iquitos (journey time – 2 to 3 days) and from Iquitos to the border with

Brazil and Colombia (journey time – 2 to 3 days). However, river travel can be long and

uncomfortable and apart from main routes, service is sporadic.

Getting Around by Rail
Peru Rail (tel: (01) 444 5020/5; website: www.perurail.com) runs comfortable tourist trains

between Puno and Cusco and between Cusco and Machu Picchu.

Ferrocarril Central Andino (tel: (01) 226 6363; website: www.ferrocarrilcentral.com.pe or

www.rrdc.com/op_peru_fcca.html) runs a twice-monthly tourist service on renovated trains

between Lima and Hu¡§¡éncayo. This spectacular route is the second highest railway in the

world (the highest being in Tibet).

Getting Around by Road
Traffic drives on the right. The well-maintained Pan-American Highway runs down the length

of Peru’s coast, with intersecting highways running east into the mountains. Many mountain

roads are unpaved, and almost all are badly potholed. Landslides are frequent in the

mountains during the rainy season (December to March), making for slow travel. The Touring y

Autom¡§?vil Club del Per¡§2 and the Instituto Geogr¡§¡éfico Nacional sell maps. Travel

guides like Gu¡§aa Toyota include good road maps. The minimum driving age is 18. There is

no countrywide emergency breakdown number.
Bus: Operated extensively, providing a cheap means of travel. Greyhound-type buses are

operated by numerous companies, the biggest of which are Cruz del Sur (tel: (01) 311 5050;

www.cruzdelsur.com.pe) and Orme?o (tel: (01) 472 5000; www.grupo-ormeno.com.pe). Quality of

service varies according to prices.

Taxi: Many unlicensed taxi companies are in operation and visitors are advised to avoid

these. They usually have a red and white taxi sign on the windscreen. Licensed yellow taxis

are the only cabs allowed in downtown Lima. Taxis do not have meters and fares should be

agreed before departure (they are relatively inexpensive). Extensive and safe taxi services

are available by telephone in main cities. Taxi fares increase by 35 to 50% after midnight

and on holidays. Drivers do not expect tips.

Car hire: International firms have offices in all the major cities and bigger airports.

Documentation: Foreign driving permits are valid for 30 days from the date of arrival. An

International Driving Permit is required for longer stays. Permits in Peru can be obtained

through the Touring y Autom¡§?vil Club del Per¡§2. All foreign vehicles must have

documentation from their own national automobile association or obtain it on the Peruvian

border before entering the country. Always carry your driver’s license, a copy of your

passport and, if the vehicle is hired, a copy of the rental contract.

Getting Around Towns and Cities
Public transport in Lima is provided by conventional buses and by minibuses (combis), though

they are overcrowded, sometimes dangerous and not particularly useful for tourists. These

operate from 0600 to 0000 on established routes; wherever possible, try to avoid using bus

travel late at night.

Journey Times
The following chart gives approximate journey times (in hours and minutes) from Lima to

other major cities/towns in Peru.

Shaking hands is the customary form of greeting. Kissing on one cheek between women and

between women and men is common in coastal cities. Visitors should follow normal social

courtesies and the atmosphere is generally informal. A small gift from a company or home

country is sufficient. Dress is usually informal, although for some business meetings and

social occasions men wear a jacket and tie.

The social organization of communities within the Andes differs significantly from that of Europeanized creole culture. Work, marriage and land-ownership are centered around a complex extended family organization called the ayllu in Quechua which dates back to at least Inca occasions. One of the key functions of ayllus is to organize reciprocal work exchange.

Over the past 400 years, there has been a long process of inter-cultural mixing, developing the mestizo of part-American Indian, part-European heritage. Today the majority of Peruvians would fall into this category. In Peru, you are able to grow to be mestizo not only by birth but by option. Peruvian social divisions can thus be said to be not so considerably racially as culturally defined.

Internal demographic changes because the middle of the twentieth century have shaped contemporary Peru. For instance, the total population grew practically threefold from over 7 million in 1950 to nearly 20 million in 1985, despite slowing down within the 1970s. In 1980, over 60 % of its work force was located in towns and cities, principally the capital, Lima. In 1985 half of Lima’s nearly 7 million inhabitants lived in informal housing, and a minimum of half of the country’s population was employed or underemployed inside the informal sector.

Along with the demographic changes, Peru experienced an growing leadership crisis. This occurred when the longstanding power of the government (oligarchy) came to an abrupt end in the 1968 military “revolution.” The reform of 1969 destroyed the economic base of both the export elite and the gamonales (rural bosses) in the Sierra. Right after a lot more than a decade, the military, in public disfavor, returned to the barracks, opening the way, as soon as once more, to the democratic procedure.