Peru was a country I'd imagined in my head way before our trip started.  I saw it full with colorful fabrics and dark skinned children on animals resembling horses.  I imagined tall snow-covered mountain peaks and the dusty tombs filled with bones that Indiana Jones entered.  Most of all, I pictured Machu Picchu amongst rolling green hills.

Peru didn't disappoint me.  It was filled with mystery, new flavors, and even more adventure than I expected to find.  I pictured tall mountains, and these puppies towered over 20,000 ft.  I expected desert tombs and ancient mysteries, and I the sources seemed endless.  Here are my recurring thoughts about Peru.

It's a Mystery Lovers Dream Come True.
Peru is filled with so much old stuff.  Much of it is Incan, but they weren't the big dogs until the 1400-1500s, before them all sorts of civilizations were building palaces and bedecking their rulers with amazing gold pieces weighing more than bowling balls.  Here are some highlights:

And that's just the more known stuff.  There are ruins in northern Peru that are said to be even more grandiose than Machu Picchu.  In Arequipa, we visited Juanita, this 500 year old mummy that had been perfectly preserved in ice.  She was a young virgin that when sacrificed to gods on the top of a mountain, she became a god herself, and over time was covered and in layers of snow and ice.  She was discovered in the past few decades when a nearby volcano started spewing ash, melting the ice Juanita was kept in.  You can visit the amazingly preserved Juanita and offerings of gold llamas and pottery.

Peru is Ginormous!
OK, it's not as big as some big countries, but the country is big, and offers a lot of punch.  It has vast deserts, extreme mountain ranges, and lush Amazon jungle.  Many vacationers to the country end up with altitude sickness because of landing at sea-level Lima and within two hours heading to main attraction cities like Cuzco at 11,600 ft (3,600m).  My friend Kate visited for 10 days, and we spent over 30 hours on buses traveling over 1,000 miles (1,600 km).  It's the sort of place you want to trek all over, because there is a lot to take in.


The men, well, they're what I figured.
I've had this notion since I was young that Peruvian men were sort of slime, and well, I had this reputation confirmed.  Now of course, nationality can't determine a person's character, and I'm sure there are plenty of great Peruvian family men out there, but sadly, I think they're the minority. 

Of course, all throughout Latin America I've heard tales of promiscuity and cheating bastards, but they really got slimy here.  Tales of a man with a wife and 3 kids who takes up "work" in Brazil, and starts splitting the year 6 months in Peru, six months in Brazil.  The person who knew this guy said "I'm sure this "work" has to do with some pretty looking Brazilian."  The same guy told us another story of a husband and father who also fathered a child to his wife's younger sister, and further that he'd started spending lots of time away from these kids, especially at night.  Further, this guy told us about lending money to "friends" to cover family expenses, ended up spending the money on booze and ladies, and of course, never paid the cash back.

Now I'd love for an out-pouring of Peruvian hate mail on this one, but with all the personal anecdotes I know, I think it's fair for me to steer friends away from these types.

And It's Touristy.
Peru is fantastic, but for visitors, it's a cushy South America.  I think It would be easy to stay in five star hotels and eat hundred dollar meals every night, because there is a demand for it.  Luxury buses abound, and we even ate in McDonald's (at least it had Incan decor.) 

Now, I don't blame the types that can/do travel that way, I daydream quite a bit about cushy accommodations with light blocking shades and noise blocking doors.  We even partook in some hot showers only hotels and fancy meals, they taste pretty god after chicken foot soup.  My only advice to travelers coming to Peru is be sure to get a feel for the local culture by talking with street vendors past their "Good price just for you" and eating in small spots outside your guidebook.  Peru has a lot to offer outside of the tour brochures.

And oh yeah, I wasn't kidding about the chicken foot soup.  It was actually pretty good, though I ate around the foot.  This trip has made me brave (perhaps read nuts).

Llamas and food.
I've always had a problem associating a living animal with the food on my plate.  I've actually lost my appetite (and gotten naucous) in front of numerous plates of food because it resembled too much the real thing.  The one exception, during my whole entire lifetime is my new love affair with the llama. 

First, I fell in love with how cute they are.  They look like big fuzzy sweaters just waiting to be knit. And their big eyes make them so friendly.  There's also the cute way their knees bend forward giving them this graceful, almost noble air.  I can't get enough of them, and I want to buy everything made from llama.

Adios Peru, I feel like I hardly know you.  I spent nearly 2 weeks in total in Peru but I have this distinct feeling like I am missing something.

Leggo of my hand! (and my Eggo)

I think I feel like I am missing something because of the nature of a lot of things we saw.  I feel like there was a lot of hand-holding and ushering us around instead of us discovering things on our own.  We are used to having some sort of vague instructions where we hop on a public bus then hop off at some unknown destination where we usually have to ask a couple of pedestrians how to finally arrive at our destination.  In Peru, everything is set up as a full-functioning tour that you can purchase at about every street corner.  If you're on a short vacation, this would come in handy as it makes it easier to maximize your time, but for me, I would rather have a bit of an adventure navigating the land.

Who are you (who, who...who, who)?

Since a lot of things are set up for the tourists, tourists seem to be removed from the rest of Peruvian society.  Again, this works great for maximizing your time, but it also gives us less encounters with Peruvian people who aren't trying to extract money from us.  I have no doubt that Peruvians are kind, inviting people, but 99% of our interactions with them involved them trying to sell us something.  I felt it a bit in Costa Rica, but even more so in Peru.  For example, here's a conversation with a hotel owner:

Me: We would like to go to see the towers at Sillustani.  How does one get there by bus?
Owner: We have a tour that goes there at 4.  It leaves here at 4 pm daily and only costs 20 Soles, including transportation and a guide.  Do you want to reserve it?
Me: No, we'd rather go on our own and get there before there are many people.  Can we take a bus towards Juliaca and get dropped off near the entrance?
Owner: Yes, you can, but it might be expensive as you have to then hire a taxi.  Why don't you go on our tour as it includes a guide who can explain what every tower means?
Me: Ya, we have a book that explains the towers, and we'd rather go and explore them on our own.  So how much would a bus and taxi cost to get there?
Owner: But the site is very large and you probably won't see many other tourists there if you take a tour.

And so on...  I get it that you have a tour and that you would like to sell it to us.  However, I don't feel like arguing about which is better for me; I just want good, honest information.  After a while, I think the owner got it that we weren't going to take a tour and finally gave us some info.  I just don't like feeling like a customer at a used car lot.  I would rather assume that we are friends and that you are giving me friendly information, not like a customer at the Peru shop.

Well, it ain't all bad

Peru is touristy, but for a reason.  There are some fantastic archeological sites (a lot aren't even Incan), of which we only scratched the surface.  There's mountain trekking on snow-capped mountains, sand boarding in deserts, and wildlife watching in Amazonian forests.  So there's definitely plenty to do for the discerning tourist.  It's because of the many places that I have yet to see and experience that might draw me back to Peru.

The food is actually of pretty good quality as well.  It's still South American (read: kind of bland) but there were enough new things on the menu to keep me interested.  Now I know that alpaca is a wonderful substitute for beef!  Oh, and the Pisco Sour is a great drink for any occasion; kind of like the love child of egg-nogg and a margarita.

A Yummy Pisco Sour

Executive Summary

For you lazy folk out there my summary would be this: a great, fulfilling place for a 2-week or less vacation.  No where else that I can think of can give you the possibilities that Peru has, even if you just go to Cuzco and the Sacred Valley.  For a long-term traveler, though, Peru is a bit of a disappointment as it gives the impression of being more business enterprise than a country full of passionate people.  I prefer to believe in the latter for now, but I wish I didn't have to believe it, I wish I just knew it.