Things to Try
Ecuador
Food:
Roast cuy (guinea pig), locro (cheese/avocado/potato soup), llapingachos (mashed potato and cheese fritters), or humitas (cornmeal tamales)
Things to Buy:
Panama Hats; pottery, handmade filigreed silver jewelry, wool sweaters, straw items, wood carvings, Amerindian belts (chumbi), handwoven shawls (macanas) and ponchos.
Shopping Hours: Monday-Friday 9 am-1 pm and 3-7 pm, Saturday 10 am-2 pm
Peru
Things to Buy:
Alpaca-wool sweaters and rugs, gold, Inca walking sticks, miniature handmade statues, woven-straw items, ponchos, llama rugs, cotton and linen fabrics, blankets, silver, tapestries, wood and leather products, Andean oil paintings, silkscreen prints and pottery.
Shopping Hours: Monday-Saturday 9 am-6 pm, with some stores open as late as 11 pm.
The Indian Market (Mercado de los Indios) on Petit Thours Street in Miraflores is the best place to buy a variety of handicrafts from all over Peru. The gold- and silver-filigree work can be excellent. Along Jiron de la Union (Union Street, in English) in Lima you'll find hundreds of shops filled with all the souvenirs a tourist could desire. There are also good shops in the deluxe hotels. Bargaining is the rule in markets, but prices are fixed in hotel shops. You will get better-value items in the smaller towns.
Be aware that no one can export artifacts or antiques. If you want to buy anything that looks remotely old, contact the Peruvian Institute of Culture to verify that you can take it home with you. Stuffed animals, animal skins or handicrafts made with the feathers of certain birds are also illegal.
Food:
Roast cuy (guinea pig), locro (cheese/avocado/potato soup), llapingachos (mashed potato and cheese fritters), or humitas (cornmeal tamales)
Things to Buy:
Panama Hats; pottery, handmade filigreed silver jewelry, wool sweaters, straw items, wood carvings, Amerindian belts (chumbi), handwoven shawls (macanas) and ponchos.
Shopping Hours: Monday-Friday 9 am-1 pm and 3-7 pm, Saturday 10 am-2 pm
Peru
Things to Buy:
Alpaca-wool sweaters and rugs, gold, Inca walking sticks, miniature handmade statues, woven-straw items, ponchos, llama rugs, cotton and linen fabrics, blankets, silver, tapestries, wood and leather products, Andean oil paintings, silkscreen prints and pottery.
Shopping Hours: Monday-Saturday 9 am-6 pm, with some stores open as late as 11 pm.
The Indian Market (Mercado de los Indios) on Petit Thours Street in Miraflores is the best place to buy a variety of handicrafts from all over Peru. The gold- and silver-filigree work can be excellent. Along Jiron de la Union (Union Street, in English) in Lima you'll find hundreds of shops filled with all the souvenirs a tourist could desire. There are also good shops in the deluxe hotels. Bargaining is the rule in markets, but prices are fixed in hotel shops. You will get better-value items in the smaller towns.
Be aware that no one can export artifacts or antiques. If you want to buy anything that looks remotely old, contact the Peruvian Institute of Culture to verify that you can take it home with you. Stuffed animals, animal skins or handicrafts made with the feathers of certain birds are also illegal.
posted by WW at 3:49 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home