Pisco Services

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By Lorraine Caputo

Pisco has no public tourism office. But, the numerous tour companies at the corner of San Francisco and Progreso are eager to help.

Banks are located around the Plaza de Armas. All exchange American Express travelers checks (US dollars only), cash dollars and Euros. Their ATMs handle Visa, Plaus, Cirrus and Mastercard.

• BCP (Monday-Thursday 9 a.m.-6:30 p.m., Friday 9 a.m.-7:30 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Calle Pérez Figuerola and Independencia)—ATM also American Express.

• Scotiabank (Monday-Friday 9:15 a.m.-6 p.m., Saturday 9:15 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Calle Comercio, between Calle Callao and Avenida San Martín)—also is Wester Union agent.

• Interbank (Monday-Friday 9 a.m.-6:15 p.m., Saturday 9:15 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Corner of San Martín and Calle Comercio)—its GlobalNet ATM also accepts American Express and Diners Club cards.

Banco de la Nación is the MoneyGram agent; its ATM takes only Visa and Plus cards, and the bank exchanges only US cash dollars (Monday-Saturday 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Calle San Francisco and San Juan de Dios).

Telecommunications is still affected by kinks in the electrical grid, even a year after the earthquake. Internet cafés are mostly on the streets off the Plaza de Armas and charge $0.35-0.50 per hour. Phone providers are scarce and charge a bit more than in other parts of the country. Of course, old-fashioned mail, provided by Serpost, continues to function, rain shine or blackout (Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Calle Callao, between Comercio and Pedemonte).

The Hospital San Juan de Dios is functioning, though not at full capacity (Calle San Juan de Dios, between Calle San Francisco and Calle Pueblo Nuevo). Several pharmacies are across from the market at Beatita de Humay and 4 de Julio.

The police station is (finally) being rebuilt where it had been before the earthquake, but presently is on the opposite corner, on the Plaza de Armas.