emmahall03

16 things we didn’t know about Peru

Having left Peru and moved on to Chile, we realised that there is so much more to the country than just Machu Picchu, and that you could easily spend a huge amount of time there. However, there were some things that really surprised us – if you’re thinking about visiting, bear some of this in mind.

1. The country is so varied! Not just in landscape, but also food, accent, lifestyle and – very importantly – in climate. We were in shorts and T-shirts in Lima, jeans and raincoats in Cusco and full hiking mountain gear with lots of layers in the evening on the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. Bring layers – lots of them!

Top left: shorts, t-shirts and sunnies; top right: leggings, a jumper and sunnies; bottom left: all the clothes I own, including my waterproof coat and a new pair of alpaca gloves; bottom right: walking gear in the rain but still fairly warm

2. The toilet situation is different. Do not flush toilet paper down the loo, just bin it. Also, in public toilets, there may or may not be toilet paper. It may well be on the wall in the bathroom and you have to take it with you into the cubicle. To be on the safe side, just carry your own.

3. Portion sizes in restaurants are HUGE. We mostly bought one meal and shared it between two, and Tom can eat a lot of food. It was still more than enough, and a great way to save some money.

Not a restaurant meal, but our buffet lunch while camping. We had pizza, lasagna and chips, amongst lots of other stuff. While camping. In the mountains.

4. On a similar note, if you want a filling, cheap meal, look for a chifa or a menu del día. We went to some restaurantes turísticos and they had a menu económico which was great.

5. Still on food: empanadas are great for snacks or lunches to take with you. These pasties are usually filled with chicken, beef, cheese or ham and are great. We found the cheapest option was to go to supermarkets and find the bakery section then buy them from there.

6. There is so much more to do and see in Peru than just Machu Picchu and llamas! We loved Arequipa, and going to Colca Canyon was incredibly impressive. We didn’t do the north, but apparently that’s also amazing.

Condor at Colca Canyon. We were all so mesmerised that we didn’t leave until the birds did.

7. The price of food in the supermarkets is an awful lot closer to UK prices than we realised it would be. Markets are a better option, or just stock up on snacks and eat out most of the time.

8. Wine and beer was also relatively expensive 😔

9. The overnight buses are way better than we thought they would be! The service was similar to a long haul flight, and better in a lot of cases. As someone who doesn’t particularly like the bus or road travel, I was surprisingly okay on these.

10. You can only withdraw notes in multiples of 100 soles from cash points, but NOBODY has any change, EVER! This is particularly disastrous when you have to pay to use the loo. If you can break those big notes, make sure you do! Keep as much change on you as possible.

11. Use Uber for getting around. It’s cheap, and considered to be the safest taxi company to use.

12. Coca leaves are a good thing in this country, especially at altitude! Yes, they are used to make cocaine but they’re not the same thing. Having them in a tea definitely helped with sickness from the altitude but chewing them is a whole different ball game! 🤢

You chew these leaves and then add a teeny tiny piece of the black thing, which is some kind of sweet mixture made from a root (maybe?). It makes the bad taste go away. Apparently.

13. Lima has 43 different districts but it’s recommended that tourists stick to just five of them: Miraflores, Barranco, the centre, San Isidro and Pueblo Libre. We did the first three and much preferred Barranco – Miraflores was beautiful but felt very touristy, whereas Barranco felt a lot more authentic. We did a free walking tour through the centre which was nice, but was casually interspersed with, “Don’t go past this point!”

14. The biggest threat in Peru is the sheer, overwhelming number of people on the street who try and offer you food from their restaurants (or massages if you’re in Cusco). We had zero problems in Peru, but a friend did have a phone stolen while in a Cusco club. Much like any other city, it seems to be mostly opportunists rather than crazy levels of crime. A little bit of common sense and an awareness of your belongings at all times should be enough to keep you safe.

15. There are SO MANY DOGS!! We thought they were strays, but apparently a lot of locals let their dogs wander the streets while they’re at work and then they return home once their owners are back. Some of them are unbelievably adorable.

Tom wouldn’t let me bring this little bundle of fluff home 😭 I fed him my portion of guinea pig as an apology (the dog, not Tom)

16. All of the locals use factor 100 sunscreen. Join them!

We arrived in Chile about three days ago, but as of yet, have achieved very little. Our next post will fill you in!

Leave a comment