Pirwa Hostels Peru Blog

SOMEONE has to lead the Pub Crawl 2-Step...Why not you?

Whether it’s mixing drinks at the bar, teaching dance classes during happy hour, speaking different languages with travelers from around the world, assisting travelers with their reservations, or photo-documenting events, our Lima and Cusco hostels are in need of your special talents!

Don’t rush through a few days in Cusco or Lima hopping from site to site, get to know the cities better by staying a couple of weeks, enjoying a free bed and breakfast in exchange for helping us out in reception, in the bar, or other areas depending on your skills. Interested travelers can write to us at info@pirwahostelsperu.com for more info.

La Diablada

Backpackers: Hurry to Puno if you don’t want to miss the La Diablada Festival! It takes place throughout the first week of November… Make it there in time and be rewarded by watching the devil lead his own parade to the beat of traditional Andean highland music as elaborately costumed, painted and masked locals surround him with danglins red crucifixes. It’s definitely all about the spectacle here; traditionally, dancers make their own masks, although certain artisan mask-makers have gained prestige in Puno.

The Diablada Puneña was born of the Aymara-speaking Lupakas’ interpretation of 16^th century Spanish Autos Sacramentales which the Jesuits used for proselytizing, although its roots also lie in the pre-Columbian Anchanchu cult and the Myth of the Supaya. The festival’s origins can thus be traced to the syncretism of pre-Columbian beliefs involving the deities of Lake Titicaca and Spanish Catholicism. It is also rumored to be dedicated to the departure of evil Spanish Conquistadores two hundred years ago…

Tourist Week, Puno’s Anniversay & the Rising of Manco Capac

As the Peruvian “Capital of Folklore”, Puno will show off its hundreds of dances during parades and contests this week, as well as indulge in food and handicraft fairs.

The city will celebrate its anniversay on November 4^th, and among the festivities of street bands and dances the jubilation will culminate on the following day, Nov 5^th, with a reenactment of the rising of the founder of the Inca Empire, Manco Cápac, and his wife, Mama Ocllo, from the waters of Lake Titicaca. Lake Titicaca is the point where the Incas traced the mythical origin of their founder. They exit the lake in traditional reed boats with more than a hundred rafters in tow. The reenactment enlists the talents of more than 200 artists. There will also be a staging of the Spanish founding of the city,with a focus on the turmoil and exploitation of the infamous Laikakota gold mine on Puno’s outskirts.

How to Get to Puno & Where to Stay

Most people take the bus, as the nearest airport is actually in Juliaca. If your bus arrives between the hours of 7:00am and 7:00pm, you’re transport from the bus station to Pirwa Puno is free! For those who didn’t plan ahead, we still have availability for this week.

When not exploring the natural and cultural diversity of the world’s highest lake, massive Lake Titicaca with its famous Floating Islands of Uros, relax at Pirwa Puno. Conveniently located only a couple blocks from Puno’s Main Square and offering both private rooms and mixed dormitories, we can accomodate all sorts of travelers! Best of all, Jenny and Carlos are always ready to help you with information about getting around Puno, what to see and how to do it.

The World’s Deepest Canyon

If for many years neighboring Colca Canyon was famed as the world’s deepest canyon, it is only because Cotahuasi Canyon wasn’t measured until 1995. At 3,535m, this geological wonder is the rightful owner of that title. The canyon  was home to the Wari before the Inca conquered this region and annexed it to their empire in order to shorten the salt route connecting Cusco and the coast.

Let yourself be humbled by the immense landscapes and humbling profundity of Cotahuasi Canyon, and the power of the river that carved it out over the millennia during this four-day tour that will take you along a route marked by stunning lakes, thermal baths, waterfalls, petrified forests, and puya and cactus forests. Walk along Inca trails, passing local peasants with llamas or donkeys; visit quaint towns with narrow streets bordered by white-washed buildings and centered round colonial churches; relax in the Luicho Medicinal Baths. Observe how pre-Inca terraces are still being farmed today, producing quinoa, amaranth, purple corn, and other native crops. We’ll descend through the 12 ecosystems of the “Canyon of Wonder” See the surprising Sipia Waterfalls, where the rocks narrow the river to 5m wide so that they burst through, fall 150m, and crash over the rocks in a spectacle of spray and rainbows. Explore the canyon floor and riverside.

During the return trip to Arequipa, we stop to visit the rock formation known as Maje Castle, fodder for a variety of legends, the mysterious Toro Muerto (Dead Bull) petroglyphs, where volcanic rock resulting from eruptions of Coropuna and Chachani were engraved 1000 to 1500 years ago. They are believed to be the work of the Wari and Chuquibamba cultures, but no archeological  remains have been directly associated with this site.

Click here and check out this and other tours by Pirwa Travel Service in Arequipa!

Matador Assistant by Jorge Vera

Although bullfights take place in Peru throughout the year, it is during the October/November bullfighting season that the most prestigious bullfighters of Spain and the Americas come together to compete in the world’s second-oldest bullring, the 244 year old Lima’s Plaza de Acho. This year the Feria begins on Nov. 2^nd and ends in December, with 05 scheduled events featuring the world’s best bullfighters each Sunday afternoon at 3:30pm. The bullfighter executing the best moves wins the 18k Escapulario de Oro and the best bull wins the Escapulario de Plata.

Bullfighting’s popularity in Peru is rising alongside rising protests on the grounds of animal cruelty. For a unique look into Peruvian culture, you can join in with the spectators or with the protestors according to your personal conviction. Those interested in watching a match, though, should be aware that in Peru it is to the death (and, as always, the bull has the disadvantage.)

Passageway in the Plaza de Acho

How to Get There

Tickets are sold at Teleticket shops at the Wong and Metro Supermarkets chain. You’ll have the option of sol, sun, and sombra, shade. Sol is cheaper at around US$20, with prices climbing up to US$120 for first-row sombra.

You can check newspapers for restaurant offers, as varius locales offer special pre-event menus and then bus their clients to the bullring, a good option for those worried about going to the Rímac neighborhood and the Plaza de Acho bullring by themselves. (The area around the bullring is not the best, and anytime there are .)

As we ‘ve all discovered upon waking up hungover in strange places, drinking close to where you plan on spending the night is never a bad idea… That’s why Pirwa Inclan in Lima’s in-house bar and rooftop terrace, or Pirwa Colonial in Cusco’s in-house bar is the perfect place to spend your

Halloween night!!

We’re cross-country partying and invite you to come drinking and dancing with us!

Once we’re drunk enough we may hit the streets to stop by some of our favorite spots in Lima and Cusco, but we’ll end the night back at Pirwa with you a safe distance from your bed…

You don’t haaaave to dress up, but we’ll make it worth your while with some drink specials and are always there to help you put together a ridiculous outfit to match our own!

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