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PERU TRAVEL PLANNER
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FIESTAS, FESTIVALS AND PUBLIC HOLIDAYS
Peruvians love any excuse for a celebration and the country
enjoys a huge number of religious ceremonies, festivals and local events. Cusco,
in particular, is a great place for both Christian celebrations and for Inca
festivals like Inti Raymi in June. In October, Lima, and especially its suburb
of La Victoria, takes centre stage, with processions dedicated to Our Lord of
Miracles, in memory of the ever-present earthquake danger. Carnival time
(generally late Feb) is lively almost everywhere in the country, with fiestas
held every Sunday - a wholesale licence to throw water at everyone and generally
go crazy. It's worth noting that most hotel prices go up significantly at fiesta
times and bus and air transport can be fully booked days in advance.
In addition to the major regional and national celebrations, nearly every
community has its own saint or patron figure to worship at town or village
fiestas . These celebrations often mean a great deal to local people, and can be
much more fun to visit than the larger countrywide activities. Processions,
music, dancing in costumes, and eating and drinking form a natural part of these
parties. In some cases the villagers will enact symbolic dramas with Indians
dressed up as Spanish colonists, wearing hideous blue-eyed masks with long hairy
beards. In the hills around towns like Huaraz and Cusco, especially, it's quite
common to stumble into a village fiesta, with its explosion of human energy and
noise, bright colours, and a mixture of pagan and Catholic symbolism.
However, such celebrations are very much local affairs, and while the occasional
traveller will almost certainly be welcomed with great warmth, none of these
remote communities would want to be invaded by tourists waving cameras and
expecting to be feasted for free. The dates given on these pages are therefore
only for established events which are already on the tourist map, and for those
that take place all over the country.
In many coastal and mountain haciendas (estates), bullfights are often held at
fiesta times. In a less organized way they happen at many of the village
fiestas, too - often with the bull being left to run through the village until
it's eventually caught and mutilated by one of the men. This is not just a sad
sight, it can also be dangerous for you, as an unsuspecting tourist, if you
happen to wander into an apparently evacuated village. The Lima bullfights in
October, in contrast, are a very serious business; even Hemingway was impressed.
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Published articles and reviews about us
2009
Testimonials
Noelle Melnychuk
Calgary, AB
Our tour to
the islands on Lake Titicaca was a
wonderful day. We had great weather and the people that we met
were very friendly. The island of Taguile was a beautiful little
paradise. The hotel in Puno was very good, with a great
breakfast. It is too bad we could only stay one night. We kept
the room for the second night so that we could freshen up before
going on the bus to Cusco Peru.
Thank you for everything that you have done to make our trip so
enjoyable. Please pass along to Christi our thanks for the great
job that she did in organizing our tour. She was able to
assemble an itinerary that included everything that we asked for
and still was not too rushed. It was an enjoyable, informative
and relaxing time.
Thank you again to all of the staff at
Peru travel Gateway
and your suppliers for making this a wonderful experience.
Peggy Chang
McLean, VA
US
I always wanted to write
you a line and let you know my husband and I had a great time in
Peru. Thank
you so much for the arrangement; everything was really smooth! The
guide in
Cusco, Eriksson, was really great. thank
you also for helping me with all
the reservation and all the changes!! Cusco and
Machu Picchu were all
fantastic, I"m sure we will want to go back to Peru at some point
again, and
I"ll definitely contact you again!! Thank you!!
Sincerely,
Peggy Chang
Mary W. Earp
WINNALSAW, NC
US
We had a very nice trip to Peru.
Thanks for you help. Our hotels in Peru
were what we expected, very nice and the hotel help went out of
their way to make sure we were comfortable and had what we needed.
Our guides were outstanding. Always on time and catered to our
needs. Our groups were small except for the Sacred Valley tour where
we had 25 members. Food was plentiful and tasty at each restaurant.
The Hotel Casa Andina in Cusco gave us an upgrade when we returned
from MP which was very nice. Also, the Radisson gave us an upgrade
when we returned to Lima although we stayed only 6 hours.
Again, thanks for your services. I feel very fortunate that I
selected your travel services, because of the services. Several on
the trip thought I was mighty brave to select an unknown agency. I
was impressed with Ivan during our first emails and phone
conversations. I trusted him and he trusted me, this makes for happy
results for everyone.
Sincerely, Mary Earp.
Wendy Feldman
Los Angeles, CA
US 90025
I just returned back to the US from my trip to Peru. I wanted to let
you know how grateful I am for the wonderful experience that you
help me coordinate and plan. I loved all of the sites and felt I had
a unique experience that I will never forget.
The tour planners and the tour
guides were all wonderful and extremely helpful. Each of them were
very polite and knowledgable about their subjects and locations. I
learned alot about Peru and its customs.
The hotel on Machu Picchu (Sanctuary Lodge) and the hotel in Puno
(The Libertador) were excellent and I would recommend anyone to stay
in each of those locations. The San Augustin El Dorado was just
adequate; I found the hotel to be clean and the staff helpful, but
there is too much noise during the evening and mornings; this is
because many of the rooms overlook the central lobby of the hotel
and the acoustics create echos of sound from the front desk and
those people having conversations in the lobby area. Also, the space
heaters in each of the El Dorado rooms I stayed in did not work at
all. I do not think I would recommend the hotel to people unless
they didn't mind a noisy atmosphere.
The Posada del Inca hotel in Bolivia was very nice; I really liked
the rustic feel and intimate setting and the private gardens--the
views of Lake Titicaca and the mountains were spectacular. Although
I didn't realize it would be a hike (literally) up to it. One of the
couples I was travelling with on the first day in Bolivia had
trouble making it up the hillside (they didn't know they would have
to hike to the top to get to the hotel). I would recommend letting
potential guests know that it is a 40 - 45 minute hike from the dock
to the hotel itself. The guides were very helpful and it was good
that our luggage was carried up separately.
The trip was amazing and I just wanted to thank you for all of your
planning. I would recommend you and your staff to everyone I know
who wanted to plan a trip to go to Peru.
Have a wonderful new year!
Regards,
Wendy
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