Peru and Other Countries to Travel to...?

Question

I'm planning a trip to Peru this fall. I'll be traveling for two weeks. When I travel, I like to visit a couple countries if at all possible. I'm not familiar with travel in South America (I assume the train system is nothing like Europe), and I'm not sure where would be other practical places to travel. I'm on a student's budget. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

Peru is amazing. You can check out this video travel guide to Peru and start planning your trip!

http://www.sutree.com/Learn.aspx?q=peru

In addition this website has tons of other video travel guides, so you can search for any other country you might be interested!

Answer 2

If you're only going to be in Peru for two weeks, I strongly suggest that you stick to Peru.  Train travel is, for the most part, not practical or possible in Peru.  You will either have to fly or take a bus.

When you look at a map, Peru looks like a fairly small country.  But it's actually quite large.  And, damningly enough for trying to get around, the Andes Mountain range runs smack through the middle of the country making cross-country transport a royal pain.

All international flights arrive in and depart from Lima.  Heads up, you'll have to pay an airport tax when you arrive and when you leave the country. Domestic flights do not have a tax.  I strongly recommend flying in Peru when you can afford it.  Ordinarily I enjoy taking the scenic route, but roads in Peru are often under-developed and sometimes extremely dangerous.  Flying is fast and easy when you're constrained for time.

A suggested itinerary for two weeks:

Day 1: Arrive in Lima - you'll probably arrive quite late at night

Day 2: Fly to Iquitos

Days 3 & 4: Enjoy Iquitos

Day 5: Fly to Cuzco and acclimate to the high altitude

Day 6: Enjoy Cuzco and the Sacred Valley

Day 7: Machu Picchu, back to Cuzco - Overnight bus to Puno or:

Day 8, 9: Fly to Juliaca (Puno), hop a boat to the floating islands and have an overnighter with the natives on the Islands of Lake Titicaca

Day 10: Back to Puno, enjoy the town, overnight to Arequipa

Day 11-12: Enjoy Arequipa and the Colcha Canyons, overnight to Lima OR:

Day 13: Fly to Lima and explore the city

Day 14: Go home

If you're going to try to squeeze in another country, I would suggest Bolivia via Lake Titicaca into La Paz.  To do this, you would have to cut short your time in Cuzco or cut out Iquitos or Arequipa altogether.  I have heard that Madre de Dios is equally interesting as Iquitos; both are Amazonian regions.

Keeping up the pace listed above will exhaust you by the way.  You might have a better experience cutting down on some of the travel.  It all depends on your temperament.

A tip on airports in Peru: most of them aren't much, but Lima is quite nice for travelers.  As many flights are either early morning or quite late at night, the airport is quite tolerant of overnight visitors.  I chose to stay in the airport overnight rather than braving the streets of Lima when I was stressing about flights to Cuzco or home early in the morning.

On the second floor, there's a restaurant which features an enclosed section intended as a smoker's lounge.  If you don't mind the smoke, you can curl up on one of the many padded benches and even couches inside for a nap.  It wasn't the best night of sleep I ever got, but I actually slept quite well.  And I wasn't alone.  There were 10 backpackers in that lounge both nights I slept there and when I arose in the morning, I found several others sprawled out in tucked away corners.

Once again, sleeping in airports isn't for everybody.  But depending on your temperament, it can save you some cash and some stress.

Answer 3

The adjacent countries of Bolivia and Ecuador are the easiest to visit when in Peru, however it is not easy like it usually is in Europe. For starters, distances are substantial. Overland from Lima to the Ecuadorian border is 20 or so hours and it is another four to six hours to the larger cities in Ecuador. Roads are adequate at best and truly awful in many cases. There is no international train service, and border crossing is a hassle, and in a few places it can be outright dangerous.

Assuming that you are going to Cuzco, Bolivia is the easiest second country to visit, and it is well worth a visit,  but allow not less than 4 days even if you only go as far as Copacabana on Lake Titicaca. There is train service from Cuzco to Puno and you can take a bus from there, or there is through bus service from Cuzco to the border. If you should take the bus, be certain to get one going to Copacabana and crossing the border there rather than the bus through Desaguadero, a chaotic and on occasion dangerous border crossing.

Puno itself is worth a day or two, Copacabana on Titicaca is fascinating, a major religious shrine, and you can take boats to Isla de la Luna and Isla del Sol, major centers of Inca culture. The ride from Copacabana to La Paz is fascinating, especially the ferry crossing, but slow. La Paz is breathtaking both literally and figuratively. Bolivia, unlike Peru, is off the tourist map and in consequence has some real and positive surprises for the visitor. One is the lower crime rate--despite the poverty it is much safer than Peru.