Welcome to the TravelPod forums

[vega]

greeting from canada,

i've been here and there. always pleasure trips. now at 48 i'm off to Peru to fulfill a life long dream to volunteer. i do plan to keep this up at least twice a year. being properly prepared is the key, i hope.

i've read quite a few blogs and journals now is the time to get to the nitty gritty details from Ayacucho, Peru. i'll be working in an orphanage and street kids.

can't wait to have the oppotunity to share this trip with some of you.

Any advice, impressions, feelings

[andrea]

Wow! That's great! What kind of volunteer work are you going to be doing? I really enjoyed Peru - it's easy to travel in and the people are wonderful. You will love it! Definitely learn to speak the language - it really helps! There are lots of places down there that offer lessons. What part of Peru will you be in?

Andrea

[vega]

Wow! That's great! What kind of volunteer work are you going to be doing? I really enjoyed Peru - it's easy to travel in and the people are wonderful. You will love it! Definitely learn to speak the language - it really helps! There are lots of places down there that offer lessons. What part of Peru will you be in?

Andrea

The work is in Ayacucho and is for 3 weeks. From what i gather there is an orphanage, medical clinic, prison for women where their child was born there and are allowed to keep them until the age of 4, soup kitchen etc.

I will have the opportunity to do personal treks on the weekends and I only hope I will get the chance to do so. I read 2 other travel blogs from students and it was quite scary. They got very sick and everyone else they were with also. I'm sure you will agree it's no fun to be sick away from home (been there done that and in Europe where they have great medical facilities). The altitude sickness is something and compounded with the traveller's diarrhea can be debilitating.

I took spanish for 4 years in high school and understand it very well. It's strange how my mind works, when it comes to answering the words don't come to me. So i will brush up before I go but should be ok.

So I was trying to find your travel journals before I replied. I'm new and need to figure out how this site works. Thanks for answering and I will get back to you as soon as I can with a few questions I'm sure.

France

[z e n t o]

The local medicine to prevent altitude sickness is chewing Coca leaves.....where Cocaine comes from. It's legal though, so don't worry, just stick a couple of those in your mouth and you'll be fine! They actually sell little bags of those through the trekking routes in Peru for the international hikers. But to be honest with you, the altitude sickness is part of the experience. Embrace it and enjoy it!