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Re: Sea Turtles and Llamas #97772 07/04/09 07:58 PM
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 1,569
Mrs. Marc Offline
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Incredible reporting Fredie as usual.

Swimming with the Sea Lions is now right at the top of my "to do" list......guinea pig for dinner however, is MUCH further down on the list.


Having not (yet) been to MP, I cannot make a comparrison, but we did have (minor) issues with the altitude when we were in Tibet, though not nearly as considerable as those that Pat faced on your trip.


Arlene
Adventure before Dementia!
Re: Sea Turtles and Llamas #97773 07/05/09 05:50 AM
Joined: Feb 2004
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southernlady Offline
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Fred, I enjoyed your incredible posts. I'd love to take this trip some day. Thanks for taking the time to write about it.


Donna

I write about active travel for baby boomers: www.myitchytravelfeet.com
Re: Sea Turtles and Llamas #97774 07/06/09 04:11 PM
Joined: Feb 2004
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ssclbc Offline
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Is there a need to exchange dollars for soles? I know many of the larger stores will accept credit cards but do the market vendors accept dollars?


Lauri
Re: Sea Turtles and Llamas #97775 07/06/09 06:20 PM
Joined: Feb 2004
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jhp Offline
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Fred, thank you so much for all your posts! Not sure I want to snorkel with sea lions, but the rest of them left me with the ultimate curiosity to visit this area when I regain my youth! (the climbing part)

Re: Sea Turtles and Llamas #97776 07/07/09 02:46 AM
Joined: Jan 2005
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dfb Offline
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Joined: Jan 2005
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Lauri, We only used USD is Cuzco and MP at both stores and markets. Debbie

Re: Sea Turtles and Llamas #97777 07/07/09 02:47 PM
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ssclbc Offline
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Good to know...thanks Debbie!


Lauri
Re: Sea Turtles and Llamas #97778 07/08/09 06:59 AM
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 709
Freddie Offline OP
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Olivia - You don't want to snorkel with sea lions??!! That was the best part of the Galapagos trip. They're very cute and probably seldom bite people.

Lauri - We found that anyone who didn't take credit cards accepted US dollars. Even fairly small stores (grocers and pharmacies) took credit cards. We used dollars for tips and taxis, as well. Have fun.

Re: Sea Turtles and Llamas #97779 07/09/09 02:32 AM
Joined: Feb 2004
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adrenn Offline
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Lauri - when we were there several years ago, the merchants (I'm specifically talking about Cuzco here) had a system where the store's money was held off premises. If you needed change from your purchase, someone would run off with the money and come back with the change. It surprised us the first time it happened, but we always got our change promptly. We were advised to bring plenty of small bills ($1s and $5s). It was a good idea for Peru.

The other interesting feature is Peru is nearly all wired for the internet. The internet cafes in cuzco were really cheap for checking e-mail. We were there in our pre-wireless days so can't say about hot spot availability.

There were two jewelry stores in Cuzco stocking only Carlos Chaquiras silver creations. He's one of Peru's best known artists. The works are unique and breathtaking. I got a few pairs of earrings in the $60-$80 range. Even if the price tag does not make sense for the budget, the silver work is worth seeing. Google was having trouble with the link, so this is a copy of the cached page: Carlos Chaquiras

Cheers, Anne

Re: Sea Turtles and Llamas #97780 07/09/09 05:14 AM
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ssclbc Offline
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Thanks Anne!

I'm working on my bargaining in Spanish (yay for podcasts!). Good to know about the easy internet availability. I'm bringing my laptop and iPhone (international data roaming OFF!!) so I can download photos as I go and maybe I'll give skype a whirl if I can find some hot spots. E-mailing home will work if Skype doesn't.

I had a similar experience with the off-site change procedure in China. Good to be forewarned.


Lauri
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