Viva Travel Guide to Peru: Exploring Machu Picchu, Cusco, the Inca Trail, Arequipa, Lake Titicaca, Lima and beyond (Paperback)

by Ricardo Segreda (Author), Crit Minster (Author), Paula Newton (Editor)
Key Phrases: plaza mayor, Chavín de Huántar, Nicolás de Piérola, Plaza de Armas, Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
V!VA Travel Guides Peru is the most up-to-date guidebook available for Peru, period. Hundreds of days of on-the-road research by a team of Peru experts in addition to daily reports from travelers like you have yielded the most trustworthy guidebook on Peru to date. Updated continually, this Version 2.0 edition V!VA Travel Guides Peru will help you get the most out of your trip. This groundbreaking edition contains on-the-ground reports and current travel conditions in the areas South of Lima devastated by the August 2007 Pisco Earthquake. Pisco, Chincha, Ica, Huacachina, and Nazca were most heavily hit, but the earthquake also rocked the capital city of Lima breaking windows throughout much of the city. A year after the quake, locals have rebuilt much of the region's tourism infrastructure and desperately need travel dollars to assist in the reconstruction. Visitors to the enchanted land of Peru will: -Marvel at some of South America's most impressive ruins, including the world-renowned Machu Picchu, Ollantaytambo, Cusco and the massive fortress of Kuelap...- Explore the white city of Arequipa, surrounded by snow capped volcanoes and the Colca Canyon, one of the world's deepest canyons...-Uncover some of the most spectacular treks in the Americas in the Cordillera Blanca, the Sacred Valley and around Cusco...-Island-hop around the expansive, high altitude Lake Titicaca...-Discover ancient indigenous cultures and some of the world's most biodiverse habitats as they boat around the Amazon rainforest...-Find Lima's hidden beauty, from world class museums, restaurants, and hotels to its distinct neighborhoods and seaside charm. Included in this guide: * 540 information-packed pages and dozens of detailed city and region maps; * Extensive coverage of Cusco, including reviews of more than 35 tour companies, 50 hotels and hostels and 30 restaurants; * In-depth descriptions of the Inca Trail, as well as alternative treks well off the Gringo Trail; * A special section on adventure travel and hiking; * Tips on staying healthy and safe; * Listings for budget and luxury travelers alike. The V!VA Difference All of V!VA Travel Guides' books begin on V!VA's website, www.VIVATravelGuides.com, where travelers post reviews, comments, suggestions and updates daily. Combining the expertise of V!VA writers and editors with local experts and in-the-know travelers like you, V!VA ensures that you have the most up-to-date, accurate information available for planning your travels. Go to the website for free downloads of chapters and more. V!VA Travel Guides are for travelers who want a deep understanding of their destination before they go, feel a meaningful connection to the places and people they visit, and return home feeling enriched and wanting to share their experiences with others. Most bookstores don't stock VIVA's books. By the time they sit on store shelves for a few months, there's already a new edition available. You'll have to buy this book online, or ask your bookstore to order it.

Product Details

• Paperback: 540 pages
• Publisher: Viva Publishing Network (February 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0979126436
• ISBN-13: 978-0979126437
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #213,053 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Better than LP, January 31, 2008

By	Evelyn (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

I usually take along the Lonely Planet when I travel, a friend recommended I use this Peru guide and I'm glad I did. All the information was really accurate and the guide helped me get around easily, picking great hotels and restaurants along the way. The tear-out contact list in the back was really useful when I needed to go to the doctor in Cusco.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Has potential, needs work, April 12, 2008

By	John Walzer - See all my reviews

Viva Travel Guides is the newest entrant in the crowded field of travel guidebooks. As can be said of many youngsters, it has potential but needs discipline and polish. Much of the writing is pedestrian, repetitive, and sloppy; the book is full of typos and bad grammar; and it contains some whoppers of misinformation and tortured geography.

I lived in Cusco for a year a few years ago and know Southern Peru well. I bought this book to see how it measures up to the more established guides. While it is certainly serviceable, and will get you around the country without major mishap, it desperately needs a sharp-eyed editor to tighten and focus the writing, and correct the inaccuracies. The book is published using print-on-demand technology; the text and cover look fine, but the maps are low-resolution and at times indecipherable.

One fault is its repetitiveness. Each section opens with an introduction, then a "Highlights" section, then more specific city listings. This results in needless repetition. For example, in the Arequipa section, the fact that Arequipa is a UNESCO World Heritage Site is mentioned three times in five pages.

Another fault is sloppy writing. The sheer number of nonexistent words shows they didn't run it through a spell checker before going to press. And if you don't know the difference between "its" and "it's," or "lie" and "lay," hire someone who does to edit your manuscript.

More damning---or amusing, depending on your point of view---is the inaccuracies. The book states that the road from Cusco to Puerto Maldonado goes "over the peak of Ausungate." Fortunately, the engineers left the 6,400m (21,000 ft.) peak to the glaciers and ran the road far below. In the Amazon section, the book says, "Most of the hotels and lodges in the Peruvian Amazon are in the cities of Iquitos, Manu and Tambopata." Sorry, but Manu and Tambopata aren't cities. Also in the Amazon, it describes a flight to Boca Manu leading to a stay in a Machiguenga lodge at Pongo de Mainique. In two sentences we are whisked from the Manu River to the Urubamba River, far to the west.

All guidebooks contain errors, but the Viva book is especially egregious. Given the higher-quality alternatives on the market, give this one a pass until they hire copy and content editors to whip it into shape.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Christmas Gift, February 22, 2008

By	Dr. Bobby - See all my reviews

My mom got me the Viva Peru guide for Christmas because she knew I was heading to Machu Picchu, Cuzco and the Nazca Lines with my fiancee over New Year's. The guide was extraordinarily helpful, clear, well-written and current. The book is now travel-worn from constantly being in my hand, and from our one and only night in Lima when we got caught in a downpour outside our hotel. I loaned the guide to my friend who is heading to Peru this spring. Buy this book. You won't be sorry.