Peru - Lonely Planet Publications [422]
Orientation
Downtown Iquitos is 7km from its airport – most visitors arrive by air. If you choose to arrive by river, you’ll end up at one of two ports, which are between 2km and 3km north of the city center.
Information
Because everything must be ‘imported,’ costs are higher than in other cities.
EMERGENCY
National police (23-3330; Morona 126)
Tourism police (24-2081, 965-93-5932; Lores 834)
IMMIGRATION
Brazil has a consul in Leticia, Colombia. If arriving/leaving from Brazil or Colombia, get your entry/exit stamp at the border.
Colombian Consulate (23-6246; Araujo 431; 9am-12:30pm & 2-4:30pm Mon-Fri)
Oficina de migraciónes (23-5371; Cáceres, cuadra 18)
Spanish Consulate (23-1608; Putumayo 567)
INTERNET ACCESS
Places charge about S3 per hour.
CQC Cyber Coffee (Raimondi 143) Quite fancy.
Sured Internet (Morona 213; ) Lots of machines.
LAUNDRY
Other laundries can be found in town.
Lavandería Imperial (23-1768; Putumayo 150; 8am-8pm Mon-Sat) Coin-operated.
MEDICAL SERVICES
Clínica Ana Stahl (25-2535; Av La Marina 285; 24 hr) Good private clinic.
Dr Rafael Urrunaga (23-5016, Fitzcarrald 201) Dentist.
Dr Carlos Vidal Ore (975-3346; Fitzcarrald 156) Central.
MONEY
Several banks change traveler’s checks, give advances on credit cards or provide an ATM, including BCP (cnr Prospero & Putumayo), which has a secure ATM. All have competitive rates. For changing US cash quickly, street money changers are located on Próspero between Lores and Brasil. Most are OK, but a few run scams where they replace a S100 note with a S20 note. Exercise caution when changing money on the street. Also Click here for further information on counterfeit money. Changing Brazilian or Colombian currency is best done at the border. Transfer money at Western Union (23-5182; Napo 359).
POST
Post office (23-1915; Arica 402; 8am-6pm Mon-Fri, to 4:30pm Sat) Near the town center.
TOURIST INFORMATION
Apart from the places listed here, various jungle guides and jungle lodges give tourist information, obviously promoting their services, which is fine if you are looking for them but otherwise rarely helpful.
iPerú Airport (26-0251; Main Hall, Francisco Secada Vignetta Airport; 8am-1pm & 4-8pm); City Center (23-6144; Loreto 201; 8:30am-7:30pm) English spoken at the airport branch.
Iquitos Times (www.iquitostimes.com) A free monthly newspaper in English, aimed at tourists, is delivered to all hotels and restaurants. For the latest on what’s going down, ask editor ‘Mad’ Mick Collis at his office at Putumayo 163.
Reserva Nacional Pacaya-Samiria Office (22-3460, Pevas 339; 8am-4pm Mon-Fri) Entry to the reserve for three days costs S60, payable at Banco de la Nación around the corner.
Dangers & Annoyances
Street touts and self-styled jungle guides tend to be aggressive, and many are both irritatingly insistent and dishonest. They are working for commissions, and often for bog-standard establishments. There have been reports of these guides robbing tourists. It is best to make your own decisions by contacting hotels, lodges and tour companies directly. Petty thieving is common by opportunist young children who roam the streets looking for easy prey. Exercise particular caution around Belén, which is very poor. That said, violent crime is almost unknown in Iquitos.
Sights
CASA DE FIERRO
Every guidebook tells of the ‘majestic’ Casa de Fierro (Iron House), designed by Gustave Eiffel (of Eiffel Tower fame). It was made in Paris in 1860 and imported piece by piece into Iquitos around 1890, during the opulent rubber-boom days, to beautify the city. Although three different iron houses were imported, only one, at the southeast corner of the Plaza de Armas, survives. It looks like a bunch of scrap-metal sheets bolted together and was once a store and the Iquitos Club. There is now a store on the ground floor and a decent restaurant up top.
AZULEJOS
Other remnants of those rubber-boom days include azulejos, handmade tiles imported from Portugal to