Peru Travel Answers

hotels are already taken cared of...i am only wondering how much I need for lunch, water, souvenirs?!?

You can buy a menu del dia (usually 2 courses, some times including a soft drink) for anywhere from S/.2.00 - S/.16.00. S/.4-S/.8 is about average. A triple (treeplay), which is like a club sandwich but MUCH nicer, will be anywhere from S/.8.00 to S/.12. A large glass of fruit juice will be about S/.6-8. All this depends on where you eat/drink. A small bottle of water will be S/.1. Do not pay more. A tip - do not buy water from a street vendor, as the water will often have been stored in the sun and will taste of plastic. Buy the water in a corner shop or in a supermarket. Will cost more in a hotel. Souvenirs - well, that's up to you. You MUST bargain. Offer half of what is quoted and expect to pay 75% of what is quoted, more or less. Some things are so ridiculously cheap that it makes a nonsense of trying to haggle e.g. very nice ballpoint pens that are made to look like little ladies in national costume - I bought 10 for S/.4, which is £1 and was given S/.0.50 discount! Always ask for the price to be told to you in Sols. For any large purchases make sure that the price they are quoting is in Sols and not US$. You can easily access money through ATMs. We use one of those cash travel cards. However, perhaps you might want to have a few Soles to bring with you just in case the tour takes off at a great rate and you don't have time to change. Of course you can use Can.$ to exchange in Peru, although US$ is more usual. What is your routing? Perhaps I can give you more pertinent information/tips/advice....

You will not get a very good exchange at the airport. It is not a good idea to carry cash i.e. loads of money with a view to changing it during your stay. The best thing is to obtain a travel cash card for use in ATMs or for using in shops. Shop around for the one that gives you the best deal re fees and exhcange rate. I use Caxton FX but don't know if it is available in your country of residence. You will find that Peru is a cash society, for the most part.

Here is what I would suggest for Peru. Since you are on a guided tour I would not convert any Canadian dollars into Peruvian Nuevo Soles (they called them PEN) before leaving to Peru. I would not convert currency at the airport but go into town, I am assuming you are arriving in Lima, and then go to an ATM. Try to find an ATM that is within a bank as opposed to out on the street. There are a few in one of the two main downtown Lima squares. The best and biggest bank in Lima is Banco de Crédito del Perú so I would try to find one of their branches if possible. The exchange rate is about 2.5 PEN per Canadian dollar or about 0.38 to 1. Be sure and spend all the PEN before you get back to Canada because it will be hard to get any bank to buy them back. I agree with what Hawk says about costs and cautions but I would add to not buy any fruit from street vendors. Water in some areas of Peru receives minimal water treatment. Good news is that the food in Peru particularly Lima is fantastic!!

Why not buy fruit from street vendors? Are you including the markets? This surely cannot apply to anything you can peel - e.g. bananas, avocados, melon, peaches, apples, papaya, cherimoya, pineapples, oranges, pears....... even grapes!! Do try the fresh fruit juices. As for ATMs - there are loads of banks with ATMs inside, often in an enclosed area. PEN? Never heard them called that, although that is the designated 'call sign' in the currency exchange lists. Sols or Soles (that's sol-ess) is the name. Not a good idea to change money at hotels, as you won't get a good rate. Good idea to use up all or most of your sols before leaving, although the place where I buy mine will take back any unused - but that is in the UK.

There are street vendors and then there are the public markets that sell fruit and other produce. My experience in Lima is that a lot of the fruit sold by street vendors is not that fresh and in some cases is close to rotten especially fruit like the lucamas or capulins. Absolutely the public markets are a great source of buying produce fresh. Of course my experience is based on a limited number of encounters but those experiences are sufficient enough for me to urge caution. One of my favorite fruits in Peru is the chirimoya (custard apple) but it is grown mostly in the highlands. Some tips on my Lima page.