[Dave]

My friend who lives in Lima recommended:

“First go to Huaraz, may get some rain but not too much and then go to Arequipa, Cuzco, Puno… and at the end of your trip to Iquitos.

They could go to huaraz to acclimatize and look around, but they should go to cordillera huayahuash, you can choose 4 days, 8 day, 10 days for trekking there… they can get information in huaraz… they can contact our guide in huaraz

And if they have time, they can go mancora beach, and manglares de tumbes, even they can across the border peru-ecuador, and they can continue to Guayaquil, Quito”

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If you do go trekking in Huaraz let me know – I’ve used several good guides over the last 5 years or so, including most recently this June…. Dave

[Dave]

Alon,

Sounds like you have some of the main highlights picked out for yourself in Peru – all those places you mentioned are well worth visiting. I was in Huaraz last November for several weeks and hit fantastic weather. Even at 2800 meters it was surprisingly warm during the day. There can be some rain that time of year but I don’t think its generally that bad.

Iquitos is warm all year round but never too hot and definetely not too cold even at night. I would expect some rain, but not as much as you would see during May through August. I don’t remember too much rain when I was there – maybe brief but heavy showers.

Since Iquitos is landlocked you will have to fly out of Lima on a non stop flight – I think it takes about 90 minutes or slightly less. LAN Peru is the best option.

So you will have to take a bus to Huaras as there is no commercial air service and then you will have to come back to Lima. Then you might want to go to either Iquitos and return to Lima or start the other part of your trip and then come back to Lima and do Iquitos towards the end.

You can take a bus to Cuzco from Lima but its incredibly long and becomes very windy when in the Andes. Depending on your budget, I would recommend flying to Cuzco from Lima and then taking a bus down to Titicaca and then down to Arequipa and flying back from Arequipa. Or if you don’t mind taking buses – try for overnight sleepers (saves hotel room and day time hours) – I’ve taken a bus from Ilo (a few hours from Arequipa in the south) back to Lima – it was like 18 hours. Long bus rides are crazy, but doable depending on how well you travel, budget and timeline.

I’ll pass by your comments/questions to some of my Peruvian friends.

Have a great trip!!

Regards,

Dave

[Dave]

I assume you are referring to Southern India – if you get up to the north in the Mountain you can experience a true winter during the northern Hemisphere’s winter months.

Regards,

Dave

[Dave]

Paul – fortunately my jobs are very flexible and while I have my own companies I also have setup sales jobs part time and ownership with several companies which allows me to work while at home/office as well as work overseas with my netbook. Alot of what I can do can be done abroad. I live very cheaply when I am at home.

I also go on Press Trips which cover all of my expenses, but in large part 90-95% of the trips which are the core to providing content to this website are paid out of my own pocket. I save money in part by often staying with locals for free (check out CouchSurfing.org) and many of the places I visit are fairly inexpensive compared to the states or Europe.

Regarding your question about the Middle East. Much of the Middle East is *extremely safe* – it is always important in any region of the world to follow any cultural rules and be respective of customs and traditions. I’ve been to a number of countries and haven’t felt unsafe. Perhaps I felt a little uncomfortable around them military presence at the Iraq border recently in an area known to have problems in the past. My next trip to the Middle East will be to Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Traveling between small villages and towns in northern and eastern Yemen with police chiefs (as well as spending several nights in the police chiefs
homes surrounding by their guns was certainly an experience)… but I never felt uncomfortable or in danger (Yemen is 2nd to the USA in gun ownership btw).

If you do it right I would consider going into Iraq and Afghanistan but being extremely careful and taking a low profile and be sure you are with a local you can trust and being extremely careful to avoid hot spots and or go with a group that specializes in select travels right now to these countries (and there are just a few hard core travel groups offering trips to these 2 countries).

But on the whole the Middle East is very safe and the people are extremely hospitable. If you are planning a trip there consider going first to some countries that are really setup for tourism – ie, Jordan.
Regards,

Dave

[Dave]

Yes, that sounds exactly right – Thailand is generally a very safe place to travel. If you need any other tips for traveling in Thailand let me know. It is my most often visited country and I usually spend up to 2 months there each year.

I have two friends from Peru – these ladies will be traveling all through Thailand next month solo.

Regards,

Dave

[Dave]

Does anyone have an update on Richie Sowa? Is he still “sailing” on his floating island – where is he now?

Thanks

~ Dave

[Dave]

I always enjoy a lunch at Fat City in Old Town Sacramento.

You can visit their website here:
www.fatsrestaurants.com

They are located here: 1001 Front St

Regards,

Dave

[Dave]

I recently read about all the underground tunnels at Disney World

This is an interesting read:

http://www.hiddenmickeys.org/wdw/magickingdom/Secrets/General/Underground.html

Regards,

Dave

[Dave]

I will answer my own question since I just was in Aquaba. There are actually at least 2 ports from which you can depart to Egypt from (Sinai Peninsula) – one closer to south beach and one in actual Aquaba. There are slow ferries and fast ferries and from what I could gather the time takes about 45 minutes to 2 hours to cross the Red Sea depending on which speed ferry you choose.

A minimum 1 night stay is required on the Egypt side of the Red Sea. The price is very expensive – somewhere between 90+ Jordanian Dinar for a ONE WAY ticket only. There is usually a morning and an afternoon crossing but schedules may vary depending on the season.

You can find more info here:
http://www.abmaritime.com.jo/main.html

Regards,

Dave

[Dave]

Hi – if you are still there in December or January can possibly meet up. We plan to fly over from Thailand.

Thanks

Dave

[Author]

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