Staying Connected

Telephones

Peru's telephone system has been much improved since it was privatized and acquired by Spain's Telefónica in the mid-1990s. (There are now several additional players in the market, including Bell South.) It is relatively simple to make local and long-distance domestic and international calls from pay phones, which accept coins and phone cards (tarjetas telefónicas). Most phone booths display country and city codes, and contain instructions in English and Spanish.

For tips on calling Peru from abroad and calling within Peru, see the inside front cover of this book.

To Make International Calls -- The easiest way to make a long-distance call is to purchase a phone card (maximum S/30 or $9.90/£5.10). Many of these cards, purchased at newspaper kiosks and street vendors who sell nothing else, are called Tarjeta 147. To use such a card, first rub off the secret number. Dial the numbers 1-4-7 and then dial the 12-digit number on your card. A voice recording will tell you (in Spanish only) the value remaining on the card and instruct you to dial the desired telephone number. It will then tell you how many minutes you can expect to talk with the amount remaining. You can also make international calls from Telefónica offices and hotels, although surcharges levied at the latter can be extraordinarily expensive. A newer and very inexpensive way to make international calls is through Internet software such as Net2Phone, which more Internet booths in Peru are featuring. Rates are as low as 20¢ (10p) per minute to the United States. Some cabinas even have private booths from which to talk. Reception, however, can be spotty.

Toll-free numbers: Numbers beginning with 0800 within Peru are toll-free when called from a private phone (not from a public pay phone), but calling an 800 number in the States from Peru is not toll-free. In fact, it costs the same as an overseas call.

Using a Cellphone -- The three letters that define much of the world's wireless capabilities are GSM (Global System for Mobiles), a big, seamless network that makes for easy cross-border use. In the U.S., T-Mobile, AT&T Wireless, and Cingular use this quasi-universal system; in Canada, Microcell and some Rogers customers are GSM, and all Europeans and most Australians use GSM. If your cellphone is on a GSM system, and you have a world-capable multiband phone such as many Sony Ericsson, Motorola, and Samsung models, you can make and receive calls throughout much of Peru. Just call your wireless operator and ask for "international roaming" to be activated on your account. Unfortunately, per-minute charges can be high.

For many, renting a phone is a better idea. While you can rent a phone from any number of sites in Peru, including kiosks at airports and at car-rental agencies, I suggest renting the phone before you leave home. North Americans can rent one before leaving home from InTouch USA (tel. 800/872-7626; www.intouchglobal.com) or RoadPost (tel. 888/290-1606 or 905/272-5665; www.roadpost.com). InTouch will also, for free, advise you on whether your existing phone will work overseas; simply call tel. 703/222-7161 between 9am and 4pm EST, or go to http://intouchglobal.com/travel.htm.

If you decide to wait to rent a phone, Peru Rent a Cell (tel. 01/958-0384 in Lima) has representatives and a booth awaiting flights in baggage claim at the Lima and Cusco airports and rents small Nokia cellphones for just $10 (£5) per month. If you use your phone only to receive incoming calls, either from within Peru or from any other country, you only pay that one-time activation fee. Otherwise, domestic calls cost 70¢ (35p) per minute, and calls placed to other countries cost $1.50 (75p) per minute.

Anyone headed to more remote parts of Peru might consider renting a satellite phone ("satphone"). It's different from a cellphone in that it connects to satellites and works where there's no cellular signal or ground-based tower. You can rent satellite phones from RoadPost . InTouch USA offers a wider range of satphones but at higher rates. Per-minute call charges can be even cheaper than roaming charges with a regular cellphone, but the phone itself is more expensive. As of this writing, satphones were outrageously expensive to buy, so don't even think about it.

Internet & E-Mail

With Your Own Computer -- For dial-up access, most business-class hotels throughout Peru offer dataports for laptop modems. You can bring your own cables and adapters, but most hotels rent them for around $10 (£5). Call your hotel in advance to see what your options are.

In addition, major Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have local access numbers around the world, allowing you to go online by placing a local call. Check your ISP's website or call its toll-free number and ask how you can use your current account away from home, and how much it will cost.

To find public Wi-Fi hotspots around Peru, go to www.jiwire.com; its Hotspot Finder holds the world's largest directory of public wireless hotspots.

Without Your Own Computer -- In Peru, by far the easiest way to check your e-mail and surf the Web is to drop in at the Internet cabinas (booths) that can be found in virtually every city and even small towns. Connections are usually fast, and the service is as little as 20¢/10p per hour. Many Internet cabinas are also starting to feature software programs such as Net2Phone, which allows you to call abroad through the Internet for ridiculously low prices, around $1 (50p). (Connections, however, aren't always perfect.) Although there's no definitive directory for cybercafes, two places to start looking are www.cybercaptive.com and www.cybercafe.com.

Aside from formal cybercafes, most youth hostels nowadays have at least one computer with Internet access. In Peru, many nightclubs and bars offer Web hookups. Avoid hotel business centers, unless you're willing to pay exorbitant rates. Most major airports now have Internet kiosks scattered throughout their gates. These kiosks, which you'll also see in shopping malls, hotel lobbies, and tourist information offices around the world, give you basic Web access for a per-minute fee that's usually higher than cybercafe prices. The kiosks' clunkiness and high price mean they should be avoided whenever possible.

Online Traveler's Toolbox -- Veteran travelers usually carry some essential items to make their trips easier. Following is a selection of online tools to bookmark and use:

• Airplane Seating and Food. Find out which seats to reserve and which to avoid (and more) on all major domestic airlines at www.seatguru.com. And check out the type of meal (with photos) you'll likely be served on airlines around the world at www.airlinemeals.net.
• Foreign Languages for Travelers (www.travlang.com). Learn basic terms in more than 70 languages, and click on any underlined phrase to hear what it sounds like.
• Intellicast (www.intellicast.com) and Weather.com (www.weather.com). Get weather forecasts for all 50 states and for cities around the world.
• Travel Warnings (http://travel.state.gov, www.fco.gov.uk/travel, www.voyage.gc.ca, www.dfat.gov.au/consular/advice). These sites report on places where health concerns or unrest might threaten American, British, Canadian, and Australian travelers. Generally, U.S. warnings are the most paranoid; Australian warnings are the most relaxed.
• Universal Currency Converter (www.xe.com/ucc). See what your dollar or pound is worth in more than 100 other countries.
• Visa ATM Locator (www.visa.com), for locations of PLUS ATMs worldwide, or MasterCard ATM Locator (www.mastercard.com), for locations of Cirrus ATMs worldwide.