Peru - Lonely Planet Publications [3]
Note to adventurers on a tight budget: hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu is expensive. Unguided trips are now illegal (this is strictly enforced) and the cheapest four-day trips start at around US$300 per person, not including equipment rental, tips for the guides and porters, or any incidental expenses, such as bottled water. Plan on spending US$400 if you’re going with a reputable outfitter, Click here. A day trip to Machu Picchu isn’t always cheap either (Click here).
For exchange rates, see the inside front cover of this book. For more information on money issues, Click here.
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TRAVEL LITERATURE
Inca Land: Explorations in the Highlands of Peru, by Hiram Bingham, is the classic traveler’s tale. The book was first published in 1922, a little more than a decade after the American author ‘discovered’ the ancient Inca citadel of Machu Picchu.
The White Rock: An Exploration of the Inca Heartland, by Hugh Thomson, describes a filmmaker’s search for hidden archaeological sites throughout the Peruvian Andes and Bolivia. It includes a lot of background on earlier travelers and explorers.
THE BEST FIESTAS
Hallowed religious processions and resuscitated Inca ceremonies – Peru’s hallucinatory festivals go off year-round (Click here for the full list). Our favorites:
Virgen de la Candelaria (February 2) – Puno’s festive, multi-day tribute to the Virgin offers plenty of highland music and dance (Click here)
Carnaval (before the start of Lent) – elaborate costumes and crazy water fights are at their most boisterous in Cajamarca (see boxed text, Click here)
Semana Santa (Holy Week) – an important event around the country, but no town beats Ayacucho for its spectacular religious processions (Click here)
Q’oyoriti (May/June) – a Christian pilgrimage with animist overtones held on a chilly mountain in the Cuzco region (see boxed text, Click here)
Inti Raymi (June 24) – Cuzco’s ‘Festival of the Sun’ is a tradition with Inca roots (Click here)
Fiestas Patrias (July 28–29) – Peru’s National Independence Days can be enjoyed anywhere and everywhere (Click here)
Feast of Santa Rosa de Lima (August 30) – the continent’s first saint is heralded around the country, but colorful processions abound in Lima (Click here)
El Señor de los Milagros (October 18) – all the pomp and circumstance of a religious procession with everyone and everything decked out in purple (Click here)
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FOR A RAGING ADRENALINE RUSH
From Andean highlands to Amazon rainforests to arid coastal deserts, Peru is an all-seasons playground. You will find the complete guide to outdoor activities on and a directory of the top parks and wilderness areas in the boxed text, Click here. Try these for some of the most thrilling activities:
Scale Peru’s highest peak Huascarán, which stands at a gasping 6768m, outside Huaraz (Click here)
Sandboard the colossal, high-altitude sand dunes on the south coast at Huacachina (Click here)
Trek into the craggy Cordilleras – Blanca and Huayhuash – where you’ll travel through remote indigenous villages and alongside glistening Andean glaciers (Click here)
Run the rapids on the Río Tambopata on a 10- to 12-day trip, which plunges from the Andes straight into Amazon rainforest (Click here)
Surf legendary waves, including one of the world’s longest left-hand breaks, on Peru’s north coast (Click here)
Trek two of the world’s deepest canyons, the Cañóns del Colca and Cotahuasi, near Arequipa (Click here)
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PERU, THE SURREAL
Seen it? Done it? Been there? Not in Peru, you haven’t. A very necessary guide to the country’s most unusual experiences:
Eat dirt in Sillustani, literally (Click here)
Admire the skulls of revered saints at a storied colonial church in Lima (Click here)
Visit an art gallery…in the middle of the Amazon (Click here)
Dine on tasty felines in the mountain town of Huari (see boxed text, Click here)
Gaze upon an Inca maiden – in a freezer – at the Museo Santury in Arequipa (Click