Hiking in Peru, Peru

Displayed:   times.

Beside the famous Inca trail to Machu Picchu in Peru, you can do a lot of more days hikes all along the Sierra, preferably in the dry season. The hiker's Mekka is Huaraz, where you can find a lot of agencies that offer guided tours and/or equipment to borrow. The thin vegetation in the higher Sierra makes off-trail hiking easy. Good maps are hard to find inside Peru. It is better to bring them from home. Make sure you have enough iodine to purify your drinking water. When hiking in higher altitude, good acclimatisation is absolutely necessary. Take a good sleeping bag with you, since nights in the Sierra may become bitterly cold (-10 degrees Celsius in 4,500m altitude are normal, sometimes still colder). Beware of thunderstorms that may rise up very suddenly. Rapid falling temperature and hard rain falls are a serious danger in higher altitudes. Don't forget that the night lasts for 12 hours year-round, so a flashlight is a good idea. When hiking on higher, but not snow covered mountains, water may be rare. Getting alcohol for stoves is easy: Either buy the blue colored alcohol de quemar or, better, simply buy pure drinking alcohol. You can get this in every town for about 3 Soles (US$0,85) per liter. (If you ever should get the idea to drink it, mix it with some other drink, otherwise it will burn like hell ;-)). It won't be so easy to find special fuel for gasoline stoves. Gasoline for cars can also be found in many hardware stores (ferreterias) sold by liters.

Rate this tip:

Rate!

Add Comment >>

Your Name:

Your Comment:

General Tips about Peru

» Required travel documents for Peru
» Electric power
» Area code to Peru
» Shopping
» Hiking in Peru
» Roads in Peru
» Electricity
» Water and food
» People
» Climate in Peru
» Huaraz Area
» Machu Picchu
» Kuelap
» Piura
» Manu National Park
» Huancayo
» Chan Chan
» Ayacucho
» Understanding Peru
» What to see in Lima - Peru
» Cuzco
» Arequipa
» Lima
» Lake Titicaca

   More travel tips about Peru