We went to Peru some years ago. My father grew up in Chile and wanted to see home, but the Allende government was in a turmoil at that point so we opted for Peru. In addition, my parents were living in Venezuela at the time so it wasn’t too onerous a jaunt by plane, and I was taking Pre-Colmbian Art History and needed to do an honors thesis. I chose the Chimu of the northern Peruvian coast. so going to Peru let me visit their royal city of Chan Chan, as well as a number of Inca ruins and other Moche ruins.
We enjoyed Peru immensely, even though it was during a no-meat period. To make it even more intriguing, we were there during Holy Week so we got to see various religious parades. And we are a family that travels “on its stomach” so the array of new and interesting food was delightful. Pisco Sours and Pastel de Choclo, yes! However, I was somewhat less than enamored by picking out my own guinea pig to eat at the cuy farm/restaurant. I have a hard enough time picking out my lobster, but at least it doesn’t have big brown eyes.
Lima itself felt rather European, with a mix of very modern and very old buildings constructed around plazas centered by a statue. Cuzco was almost dream-like, with “new” buildings constructed as extensions to Inca stone structures dating back to 1100 A.D., and a constant smell of rain, wood fires and incense in the streets. All of the religious parades were accompanied by mournful music played on the quena, a Peruvian flute. Macchupiccu was breath-taking in more ways than one, and Trujillo in the north was also an interesting town, very much more colonial in feel than either Lima or Cuzco. It is cool what can be done with adobe when it typically rains only once in every 60 years or so. We were there during an earthquake, so that added its own layer of excitement.
We took several train rides, which were adventures in and of themselves, and had some hair-raising encounters with the now-defunct Aerolineas Fawcett and in some of the taxis in Lima.
The museums were great, especially the Museo de Oro, a private museum of Chimu gold grave goods. Igelsia San Francisco was fascinating, especially since I knew the forensic anthropologist involved in identifying which of the skeletons really was Pizarro’s, the one in the display case or the one that fell through a hole inside the wall during the earthquake of 1746. It was the one in the wall. The beaches were beautiful, although the water was cold. Most of the people we met were very nice, although there was a bit of groping by male passersby of female family members. The craft market in Lima was wonderful.
The hotel we stayed in was one that my father had stayed in when he was a little boy, and amazingly enough, the taxi driver we hired for the duration turned out to have been the driver for my grandfather.
We did not have time during that trip to get to Lake Titicaca or the jungles of Manu National Park and the Tambopata-Candamo Reserve Zone. Maybe someday!
The biggest draw-back I think was the enormous shantytown surrounding Lima. It was even bigger and poorer than the ones in Caracas. Also, we all spoke Spanish, but in Cuzco many folks only spoke Quechua. We also met a very few people who only spoke Aymara, but we were generally able to find translators.
Oh, and be careful about eating street food! Make sure it is well-cooked in front of you to minimize stomach problems.
