lessielacey

Hi, So my friend and I are heading for Peru and I was wondering if anyone who had been has any advice on general day to day things.

- Should I bring an adapter and converter? I brought one to Thailand and then didn't use it once, just lugged it around for 25 days

- What is the best way to get around within cities?

- How touristy is Iquitos? Will I feel like I actually get to experience the Amazon or am I better off spending a little more money and going to Tambopata instead?

- As far as street vendors go, am I likely to find many vegetables in my meals? In Thailand, practically everything was meat on a stick. I was dying for a heaping plate of vegetables.

- Any recommended tours?

Any advice would be helpful!
Thanks...

Faedus

Getting around cities: Generally, taxis or mini-buses, and sometimes "mototaxis" (the latter being what tourists seem to love calling "tuk-tuks") . Taxis tend to be abundant and, by European standards, inexpensive. They usually do not have meters; you’ll have to establish the fare before getting into the taxi. Check with your hotel staff on what the reasonable fares should be. (It’s legitimate to bargain-down the driver if he states a fare that seems too high.)

Lima has a metro system which, though not comprehensive, connects the places that most tourists spend time in (the Historic Center, and the Miraflores and Barranco neighborhoods). The vehicles are actually buses, but they come and go frequently, they run mostly along a dedicated bus-route, and it all has the “feel” of a proper metro system.

Vegetables: You should easily be able to find vegetables in markets and on many restaurant menus. Generally, Peru isn’t quite a vegetarian’s paradise, though in the larger cities it's making inroads; but I’m sure you’ll manage.

I haven’t been to Iquitos, so I can’t comment on that. And all I can say about adapters and converters is that among several trips to Peru, I’ve never taken anything other than a small, light, three-dollar two-pronged adapter, and travelling from the US, I’m not sure that I’ve ever even had to use it in Peru (I only take just “in case”). Then again, I’ve never quite accommodated to this brave new communications era, and I never take any device other than an iPhone, which I use only to make hotel reservations while on the road. So I can’t say what sorts of converters you may need if you travel with any of those other devices that still baffle me.

crellston

We have spent maybe a year, year and a half in Peru over several trips. It is one of the easiest South American countries in which to travel and has well developed tourist infrastructure along the "gringo trail". Outside of that it, it is still reasonably easy to travel in more remote areas as long as you can speak Spanish to a reasonable level.

When in cities we have generally walked as mulch as possible and taken buses for longer journeys. taxi crime is rife in certain parts of Peru so always get your hotel or restaurant to call one for you. For airport runs pre book taxis online. www.taxidatum.com are very good in Lima and Cusco and are also great for tours of the Sacred Valley.The Metropolitano system in Lima will get you to most places you want to go relatively quickly and cheaply. Taxis are a PITA due to the stunningly bad traffic in the city. Avoid unless there is no other choice e.g. airport transfers.

Iquitos is a big city in the Amazon. To get a rainforest experience you would need to book a tour involving a cruise of a lodge in the jungle. Puerto Maldonado is smaller but again you need to book a stay in a lodge. unsurprisingly, the further away from the cities you go the better and more expensive the experience becomes. If you have teh time Bolivia could be a better option.

as for tours and where to go , I suggest you buy a guidebook and see what interests you. Difficult to be specific without knowing what interests you. Here is a link to our blog which covers some of teh places we have been over the years which may provide some ideas https://accidentalnomads.com/category/peru/

If all you could find was meat on sticks in Thailand then clearly you were looking in the wrong places! Peru has arguably the best cuisine of any country in South America. Markets are full of fruits and vegetables some of which you will likely have never encountered before. Seafood is second to none and ceviche is almost a religion! Plenty of vegetarian restaurants around in the big cities.

Lots of vegetarian dishes around , the soups are amazing. Any decent restaurant will adapt a dish for you. Replace meat with veg etc. there are street vendors around , some are justifiably famous and attract long queues but a good bet is also to eat in the markets. If you like fruit just walk into any market and look for the ladies on the fruit stalls with racks of blenders in front of them . They will whizz up and fruit or mix of fruits into a giant fruit juice. Forget five a day, this is more like ten a day !

SantacruzGuy

One thing I could recommend is always checking the weather, Peru contains an incredible variety of climates and two destinations can seem very close to one another on a map, but in reality, have drastically different climates so when traveling to different areas of Peru always check beforehand in order to avoid torrential rain, mudslides, snow, and other potential hazards.