When you get to Peru,  you’ll  notice that  things are considerably more  expensive  for the   unprepared.

I love  Peru, more the country  than the city  but  I thought  of   few minor  things that  I   learned  might help those of you  going through to  see some of the  must see  sites like the sacred valley, Machu Picchu, Wyna  Perna, Cuzco and  some of the  outer  lying villages: Puira, Aguascalientes …. and  so  on and so on.

1. First  things first   if your going to peru  your plane will land in lima , you can’t get around it believe me  I tried, it’s the capital  city and  the country  relies heavily on tourism,  so they take their  cut,   so  because of this I would  suggest  if you have any delays  and you think you would just rather  leave  and stay the night  at  a hotel  DONT,  save your money sleep at the airport   LIA is  safe the coffee rocks and  you ont have to  pay  the  32.00 [usd] airport tax not to mention  cab fare 25-30 dlr [usd] and  of course  one nights stay at the hotel 100-125 usd  of your drivers  choosing, (trust me even  if you think  your  ”shopping around “  it’s from a pre selected  list  honey, everyone gets a cut) so  yeah  unless your planning on seeing the sights in Lima, stay at the airport. However if lima is part of your  itinerary I recommend having a travel agency  book a Place for you ahead  of time , or if you like  check  out  this  B&B  I liked  called   “La porta  Hotel” ,  it’s on  the  street porta in a safe neighborhood , about a block  away  from the  malecon (harbor /coast)  the  prices are decent  and the rooms are clean  with lots of character , of my various  trysts with Lima, everything  fared much better when  the travel agency*  took  care  of the details, than when I tried to  wing it

[slideshow] 2. So  once get out of lima  you’ll probably fly into Cuzco , as the road  is  often labeled hazardous ( as much for the terrain as for the lack  of security ) and is often closed , so you’ll want to fly, try  to have your reservations made  in country  or at least with a  peruvian IP address , in theory  this can shave up to 50%  of your  cost , in any  case  again having a travel agency shop ahead  for you  is a great way  to cut cost because  prices  vary  a great deal depending on who  makes the  reservations  for  you: for  example   I stayed at Mr. INKAS  great  accommodating staff free internet  security, matte de coca upon  arrival : intermittent hot water until ten pm, then no hot water ,or  water  pressure, twenty  bucks per person kinda steep for the area but  you will  find  no better  remedy  for altitude sickness, or just general  well-being than a nice  traditional matte de coca, and for you tee totalers out there {hyuck hyuck} it takes like 12,000 lbs of  coca leaves to make like one gram of cocaine not to mention a whole chemical  processing …. thing, this  is  based off  of  AndreS’ (our Qichewa guide) brief  history of  what he called the mutation of his culture, wich started with cocaine and ended with  the introduction  and over use of red meat in what was once a  mainly vegetarian diet   [diners club might be worth looking into if  the idea  of uncertain rooming makes you  queezy] any ways, later on  my peeps in the business found some  rooms  in a cool little stone building  that ran like 12.00 usd per person and  included breakfast and [they said] hot water 24-7,

In any  case   for a relatively  small city  Cuzco  has a wealth of  texture and history, from the  Incan foundations,to the colonial  cathedrals, and the  artisan  markets , its one of my favorite  places .

row after row: some hostels have been taking in boarders for decades

* as a rule  of thumb any time I travel somewhere  new   where I dont  speak the language  especially well I have my  travel agency  call ahead  and make reservations  at smaller  more boutique  like  hostels  or hotels  where  folks tend to be  bi lingual and really push to be helpful oh, the agency’s  site  is www.bethecoachtours.com they keep me hooked up, an american  company with a bilingual staff offices  in  north and south america  go figure.

BCT & Friends touring Lima, Cuzco, Aguascalientes, Machu Picchu Peru