June 27, 2025
Recently I went on vacation to Peru. We started off in Lima, then went to the Sacred Valley of the Incas, checked out Machu Picchu, then ended at Lake Titicaca before spending the better part of a day flying home. In some cases it wasn't much more than a sample pack, but I feel like a little bit of many things is more rewarding than a deep dive into one or two, so I'm OK with that.
I'll be adding to my photo albums page soon-ish; it'll take me a while to caption, filter, resize and upload my pictures, and finally to get that all plunked into the database. Should happen sooner than it did for Scotland though, now that I've got something like a process for it.
But to get some initial thoughts out of my head:
Peru isn't a small country. Sure, it's not the size of the US, but we had to fly from Lima to Cusco because the drive would have been 28 hours. Just driving from Cusco to Puno took ten hours, admittedly with stops along the way, but that was already up in the mountains in the southern part of the country. We basically wound up having alternating days of traveling and seeing things.
The food. Turns out I really like seviche. Also, lomo saltado and potatoes (though I knew about the last one). I found quite a few things to stuff my face with while I was there. All told though I didn't really gain any weight while I was out, which was a nice surprise.
Also, they like runny food. On the less-good side of things: their oatmeal is more like oat-soup (and nearly oat-water), their scrambled eggs are half-cooked, and they pour yogurt over their cereal like it's slightly-viscous milk. I was able to get used to the yogurt. The eggs and oatmeal, not so much.
You better know some Spanish. While there are plenty of people who speak a little English, it's not like Europe where as soon as the local population hears you butcher their mother tongue they take pity on you and switch to English. About half the people I encountered spoke only about as much English as I do Spanish (which ain't much -- one semester of classes in 1996!) or less. Lots of broken Spanish and point-and-grunt ensued. A few times I had to resort to punching stuff into Google Translate, but mostly I was able to (barely) get by. Our guides of course all spoke English more than well enough to tell us what was going on.
Visit in the dry season. Most of Peru is in the high desert, or in the mountains outright. The notable exceptions are Lima (which is a sea-level desert) and Machu Picchu (rainforest). Coming to the country in our summer/their winter meant the only rain we saw was the day after we did Machu Picchu; everything else we had great weather for.
There's more than just Machu Picchu. It's the main attraction, sure. But the defensive station at Ollantaytambo is impressive in its own right and the Indigenous populations living on Lake Titicaca are also worth taking the time for.
The towns feel kinda same-y. Nothing against the people living there, they're just playing the game, but two things that are odd (to me) about Peru make everything look like it's copy-pasted everywhere. First, there basically aren't construction loans -- apparently the typical interest rate is 70% (?!) so you just build the house in stages as you save up money. This leads to a lot of half-built buildings with exposed concrete and cinderblock, all following the same basic pattern. Second, you don't have to pay property tax until the house is finished, so a good chunk of the "finished" houses we passed were left without plaster on the exterior, or with rebar sticking out of the top floor's concrete. Not done so no taxes. I completely understand why it's that way given the rules they're following, but it makes everything look kinda shabby, like a downtown that's been hollowing out for decades.
Overall, it's worth the trip. Definitely go see it, especially if you like Old Stuff. There's way more out there than just what the Greeks, Romans and Egyptians built, and pre-Columbian peoples should also get their due. Be ready to do a lot of traveling within the country to get to everything, and make sure to give yourself time to adapt to the altitude. But absolutely give it a look.
