UKC

I am off to Peru next weekend and unfortunately my 16 year old daughter will be in hospital. (trip insurance will not cover cancellation as she has a pre existing medical condition!!)Is there any way to keep in touch while on a trek?(Cordillera Huayhuash circuit). Do trek leaders carry satellite phones? I don't suppose mobiles will be any use!
Maggie

In reply to madmags:
Loads of internet cafes in towns. Will that help?

N

In reply to madmags: im not sure about the Huayhuash, but we managed to get, albeit very poor, signal in the Eastern Cordillera Blanca, so you may have a bit of luck.

In reply to madmags: I was in Peru a couple years ago climbing for six weeks. Internet connections are very good in just about every town. Cheap also
Not sure about cell coverage it is very good in most areas but not likely to extend to the remote valley's. I suppose you could look at buying a throw away when you get there and most of the villages that you come to that are open and close to a major hiway may have reception. Cost no idea.
Sat phones where mostly carried by Western guides and not locals because of cost. I honestly never saw a sat phone carried by a local or westerner in the three trips to Peru that I have taken. Though we carried sat phones on Aconcagua mostly to phone home.
You could perhaps rent a sat phone before leaving and check out the cost for that kind of plan. I know I would be worried about my daughter also. Keeping in touch helps even if you can't do anything.

In reply to mikebarter387: Oh yea and het you phone connection Spanish up tp spead. The podcast " coffe break spanish" is very good

In reply to madmags: Thanks for your replies. I'll take the mobile, cross my fingers and hope for the best!!

In reply to madmags:

It will need to be a triband mobile otherwise it won't work out there.

In reply to pec: What ia a triband mobile?

In reply to madmags:

What model phone do you have?

Go to the phone manufacturers website and look for the model you have to see if it's triband or quadband. It'll be in the technical info under operating frequency.

Different countries use different frequency bands for mobile phones. Europe use 900 and 1800 MHz. Peru use 850 and 1900 Mhz. A Triband phone can use any of 3 frequency bands (most likely the 2 European ones and one of the American ones). There's also quad-band which supports all 4. 3G phones use different frequencies in addition to the above but that's not really important.

In reply to madmags:

If you're going with one of the 'big' trekking companies there's a fair chance they'll have a sat phone but I'm not sure how keen they'll be to let you use it, even if you pay for the calls. Why not ask them before you go?

In reply to madmags: You can get a pay as you go triband phone from Tesco for about £30 I think. On their pay as you go tariff making and receiving calls from Peru costs £1.49 per min with texts 40p to send and free to receive.
You may be able to get a better tariff if you've time to look or even buy a SIM card out there but it may not be any cheaper.
There's still the problem of reception in remote areas.

In reply to Mick's Daughter: Thanks- I have just emailed KE who I am going with.I'll look up my phone aswell to see if it is Triband!