Welcome to Lima, which just so happens to be the birthplace of Pariwana hostels. That’ll be your first order of business upon arriving in the Peruvian mega-capital of Lima. The city hosts more than 8 million people, and that number is ever-growing.
It might be a shock to arrive here, because it dwarfs every other city in the country. The streets are loud and effusive bus passenger wranglers are always yelling at you to “sube sube sube!”
Pariwana Cusco’s bar is a great place to socialize and meet other adventurous backpackers traveling through South America and Peru.
The artwork is big and dominating, and the tables are large, not unlike the tables you might find at a German beer fest. The music is a continuous playback of popular songs, mostly in English. They’re the kinds of songs that you look drunkenly at your friends and say, “Hey! I love this song!”
Peru is renowned for its gastronomic capacity to please backpackers and travellers alike. As a cheap traveller who likes to prepare, you’re interested in finding out about food quality in the country.
It is true that sanitary standards are lower here than in the Western world, a reflection of not just lower education in certain areas, but mainly as a lack of resources to control it all.
Peru’s climates vary to the extremes. From the northwestern coast’s sun-pounding humid heat to the freezing cold found at Lake Titicaca, travellers will encounter all forms of air and temperature.
That being said, a backpacker doesn’t a carry a backpack for nothing! Here’s a genuine traveller’s list of things that will be necessary to handle the diverse climates of Peru.
Lima is a sprawling metropolis of 8 million people. Giant cities are usually a traveller’s nightmare, but Lima doesn’t have to be yours. The places you’re going to want to visit are easy to get to from Pariwana Lima, and they’re quite centrally located.
The pressure builds as you start to plan leaving the city, and for good reason, because Lima’s travel hubs are scattered all about! Read through this post to understand the basics of Lima’s travel hubs.
Perhaps you’ll be walking down the street in Lima, after checking into your hostel, backpack load set down in your dorm room. Perhaps you’ll pass by a market and see the cute little furry guinea pigs in a cage trampling over one another.
You’ll think, “oh, how cute!” However, here in Peru Guinea Pigs are not kept as pets-they’re eaten.
The backpacker is a backpacker not just for the culture of hostelling and backpacking, but also because he or she is likely on a tight budget. Hostels exist in the first place in order to accommodate the needs of the financially-strapped.
Over the years the hostel has evolved into a fine-tuned machine that recognizes not only the need for affordability, but also the tendency for social interaction. It’s great, and that’s why you’re reading Pariwana’s blog: you love the place!
The price of food in Lima is much greater than elsewhere in the country because the city’s cost of living is much higher. Although the quaint markets of the Sierra villages offer the atmospheric prestige, Lima offers the same stuff.
You can find most everything in the capital. This makes Lima an important base of operations for any backpacker who’s looking to undertake the treks and Peruvian adventures waiting out there. Otherwise, Lima is the perfect place to end a trip before the flight home for its selection of souvenirs.
In the far north of Peru, backpackers have the choice of undertaking an exciting excursion to visit one of the world’s tallest waterfalls. Catarata Gocta has an interesting history. One of the most interesting aspects of the story is that it was only discovered in 2005. That is, it was discovered by the outside world.
Sitting in the north of the country not far from the border with Ecuador sits a beautiful beach town that every backpacker will eventually want to visit. Perhaps it’s because the chill of the mountains or the stiff heat of the jungle has pleased you plenty, and you want a relaxing break under a tropical sun with a breeze. So, it’s off to Mancora for you.
A perfect way to make your trip worth all the time and money is to coincide it will one of the country’s national or regional festivals.
Actually, you migh not have to worry about booking that hostel on a certain date, because backpacking in Peru is surely going to plop you in the middle of a festival at some point-there are so many!
Cusco opens up to your eyes as you arrive from the east over the Andes, the valley city careening like a meniscus from its slopes down to the airport and city center. You might just get that feeling in your chest; you know, the feeling of excitement to get out and see it all.
Once checked in to Pariwana Cusco, you’ll start planning for that ever-important trip to see one of the new Seven Wonders of the World, Machu Pichu. You could opt to get to Machu Pichu by road and foot, but if you’re not so inclined, perhaps a much faster train ride sounds enticing.
Welcome to the cultural hub of Peru. Once checked in to Pariwana Cusco, you’ll want to make the best of your time in order to see all the sights that Cusco has to offer.
There are plenty of free sites, including the ChocoMuseum, the numerous interesting Incan walls of precision-cut stones, the university, several churches and all the lovely plazas, but for everything else you’ll need to get your hands on the Boleto Turistico.
Maybe you’ve already heard that Peru is South America’s gastronomic marvel. Indeed, Peru boasts some of the most diverse food in the whole world. This means that a Peruvian backpacking trip entails a culinary experience that will leave you hungry for more. You could travel to all reaches of Peru, which is a recommendable plan.
However, if you’re strapped for time, then plan your trip to coincide with Lima’s Mistura food fest.
As if the area around Cuzco didn’t have enough ruins already, backpackers will be overwhelmed, perhaps, when they learn of one more. They’re all worth the muscle to get to them, but the real question is why you should want to visit each individual one? Well, welcome to the Moray Incan Ruins. They are set apart from other ruins in their function. It is still not 100 percent certain what their use was, but archaeologists have a pretty good idea.
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