Peru Sports

A cute little town with a good nightlife, but not too much to keep the traveller there for a long time. The Islas Los Uros (aka Islas Flotantes) although very touristy, are well worth a visit as they are so unique. I have heard stories about the other islands we missed saying that the homestay situations can be awkward cause they try to get you to dress in traditional clothes, in a dress like Snow White in Disney land sort of thing and is detrimental to the culture. We did go to Isla Del Sol off Copacabana and it was absolutely amazing. Hiked the whole island and definitly reccomend it. If you want a splurge you can get to Cuzco via several ruins with a guide on a plushy tour bus for $25. Colectur takes you quite reasonably to Copacabana through the border. You have to pay 1 Boliviano to get into Copacabana, but nothing to the border gaurds when you are crossing.

Not entirely sure whether Huacachina is still there after the 2007 earthquake. If it is, then its a great place to chill for a few days. Set in an oasis surrounded by huge sand dunes, there are 2-3 hostel/hotels, mainly frequented by backpackers, two of them have nice pools and there are a couple of good restaurants/bars. Its also close to Ica, where you can do a wine tour and discover how they make Pisco Sour. But the main reason for visiting Huacachina is the sandboarding. You go out into the desert in big Mad Max -style dune buggies (not for the faint-hearted, and wear eye protection and ideally a bandana or something to cover your face), flying over HUGE dunes, and then sandboard down them. You can do it snowboard style (difficult, the bindings aren't exactly quality), or just lie on the board. You'll be spitting up sand for months but its huge fun.

The town of Trujillo: Trujillo is a pretty city placed on the dry desert coast of Peru. In the center of the city close to "la plaza de armas",the city square, there are many colonial buildings. There are some dicoteques - personaly I've only been to La Barra once, really shortly, so I cannot tell much about the place. Whereas I've been to "El Mecano" several times. In "El Mecano" they play reggatón, salsa and latin pop and they have decorated the place in a nice formel one style. In the center there are several shopping centers with all kinds of cheap clothes, jewlleries of e.g. silver which is a lot cheaper than in the Western World, teddy bears, ect. Arqulogical cites outside the town. If you go on trips just outside Trujillo there are many beautiful arquelogical places to visit, especially the moon temple or, "la huaca de la luna" as it is called in Spanish, is an amazing ruin which maintains its coloured and figurative decorations. Chan Chan on the way to Trujillo's beach Huanchaco, is the largest Pre-Columbian city in Southamerica. It is very interesting, but hire a guide, because without the background history it might just seem like uninteresting huge sand walls. Bring sunblock, because the sun is very strong and you easily get burned if you don't take care. Food: Personally I strongly recommend the homemade burgers of Trujillo. You can get them with all sorts of dressing and especially with a lot of chilly(called aji) they taste amazing; pineaple(piña), "papitas"(chrisps) and guacamole are also recommended along with traditional dressings as kechup and mayonnaise. Besides burgers taditional fish dishes as cebiche/ceviche, and all the dishes of "pescado frito", fried fish are great in Trujillo as it is near the ocean. Rice with chicken/duck,"arroz con pollo/pato" is also aleays nice as well as a stuffed potato, "papa relleno", or sticks with spiced cow heart,"anticucho". Take care: Many of these dishes can e bought in the street stalls and personally I really like the culture of eating in the street, but if you eat e.g. ceviche be carefull and eat a proper place with pices not below 5 nuevo soles. Do not eat in the stalls in the markeds if your stomach is not very used to peruvian food - even many peruvians say it is disgusting ind would never eat there. Take special care with pizza, as many people, my self inculded, have had food poisoning from pizza.

check out the Market... it has nearly everything for sale from fruits veggies, to meats fishes, to machetes  scalpels, to dvd players and radios. 

Stay calm the first day, let your body get used to the altitude (specially if you live in a place close to the sea level), if you are really prone to feel sick try to get an oxygen tank. If you are doing some hiking and feeling a bit dizzy, you will likely find some muña in the wilderness (ask a guide or a local for it) rub it with your hands and take a big whiff and it shall easy the sickness.