Peru Travel Report 1: Lima

Paragliding in Lima

After the move from Puebla to Mexico City and the beginning of the internship, I finally find some time to write about my recent travel in July to Peru.

It's funny: In Europe you will hear many jokes about Americans who don't have a clue about our continent. Is Germany a country or a city? And where is Europe, anyway?

But I have to confess that more or less the same happened to me with Peru. Knowing Mexico as the only Latin American country, it served as a reference and unconsciously I expected Peru to be somehow similar. So wrong. Mexico and Peru are as similar as Germany and Italy. Not similar at all, that is.

People look different.

They talk differently. They behave in another way. They even think very different about the same topics. Although during summer school I prepared several presentations on Peru for my Latin American Markets lecture, it was still not as I had expected at all. Nothing beats the real experience. I did recognize some things and patterns, but in general I was overwhelmed.

Miraflores is really developed. Such scenes reminded me of Japan: Clean, organized, convenient.

Just as more or less all the tourists who arrive by plane, my first stop was Lima. During my month-long travel I actually didn't find not even one person who would have talked in a positive manner about the capital. They complained about the weather (little sun, always misty), the security (some quarters can get rough), the dirt and the overall architecture, which they didn't consider very beautiful.

Miraflores

Well, coming from Mexico I was totally delighted. People were more modest, not pushing you all the time, not aggressive. There was so much more ethnic diversity. I especially liked Chinatown and the delicacies there.

Small Chinatown, but still much bigger and authentic than in Mexico City.

Buns with sweet bean filling - how I missed them...

Such a crowded shop...

... had great food, of course. Steamed buns, even better than many verions I had in Asia.

Peru has a large Chinese minority and the second biggest Japanese community outside Japan. This Asian influence is very notable. "Chifa" is Chinese-Peruvian fusion and even in the most remote mountain village you will likely come across such a flavour temple. The dishes there were so good, that I actually ate half the plate before taking a photo as a memory...

Tofu and veggies in black bean sauce

Normal-sized people and muuuuch less macho.

Temperatures were decent. Food was aaaaawesome and again: Normal-sized. Rice was omnipresent which I totally prefer over any other carbs, especially Mexican tortillas...

Fava beans in totally-not-cheesy cheese sauce and rice with seafood. And not to forget great tasting "aji" (chili sauce).

"Alfajores", melting in your mouth

This line told me: It had to be good...

Indeed: Rice pudding with cinnamon, coconut, Mazamorra (sweetened corn purée with chunks of fruit), rice with sugarcane and some kind of sugarcane syrup. Diabetes, here I come.

Not only in sweets, but in each and every dish you had soooo much more flavour and nuances than in Mexican cuisine. At least to me, Mexican cuisine follows the principle of drowning plain and unseasoned but extremely greasy food in tons of salsa. Done. In Peru, chefs seemed to strive for perfection, adding another spice here and there and yet keeping the dishes light and not overwhelmingly seasoned.

"Humitas" are bread-like Tamales - and again: So much better than the Mexican version.

"Juane" is a kind of tamal very typical for the Peruvian jungle. Unbeatable (except the chicken which suddenly appeared in my beautiful rice and went to the trash... sorry)

Papas a la Huancaína (Potatoes in cheese sauce), a famous dish from Huancayo.

Peruvian cuisine meets my idea of interesting and more or less balanced food: Many colors, many consistencies, flavours and textures.

Surprisingly, Italian Panettone was everywhere.

The Peruvian version of "Churros" (deep-fried dough with caramel filling)

Perhaps even better than Ceviche: Ceviche soup (forgot the proper name, though).

"Causa": Mashed potato with vegetable (or fish or meat) filling

The streets (and the food!) were much cleaner than in Mexico and the overall ambience was sooo much more silent. Not this permanent noise annoyance anymore. The most upscale quarter "Miraflores" (where you will most likely encounter tourists and upper class people, rather than the "normal" Peruvian) obviously was wealthy, but despite this, residents didn't have to hide behind thick walls with electric fencing on top.

Great ad! But in fact, "Inka Cola" is even more popular in Peru than Coca Cola.

You could walk in the middle of the night to the beach, do some sports, enjoy the rich street café culture... It was really a holiday from Mexico and seeing my country of study with some distance, it was a little bit shocking to what kind of safety measures I had gotten used to in Mexico...

In fact, the further you move outside Lima's centre, the more you feel the poverty. But even in the less "beautiful" parts where bus drivers didn't want to let me go off, I never felt uncomfortable. People were curious, not aggressive.

Outside the city centre, Lima is not soooo beautiful anymore.

The felt much more comfortable with the Peruvian mentality. And it was also really relaxing that they were not so extremely proud of their country as Mexicans are. Nothing against patriotism, but please with a touch of modesty... Today, my colleagues - who are really nice, but still Mexicans (read: patriotic, I can tell you...) - proudly explained me that Mexico has such an incredibly rich culture and that was the reason why the Italian restaurant we had passed was given an Italian name. Erm, of course in other parts of the world an Italian restaurant wouldn't have an Italian name. Just in incomparibly culturally rich Mexico...

My last days in Peru I spent in Lima, enjoying the relaxed and safe atmosphere and I also visited Pachacamac, an archeological zone not really worth visiting. I had to take 4 different transports just to encounter this discrepancy between how it should be and reality:

The site's main attraction couldn't be visited due to risk of collapse.

How it should look like (right) vs. reality (left)

 I also noticed the harsh enforcement of law: Hawker stalls were confiscated, the food still burnt on the street, the vendor left behind... No income, no goods, no stall anymore...

Strict law enforcement.

The history about "Sendero Luminoso", the Peruvian terrorist group killing so many people in the country was sad to see in the museums, but at the same time extremely eye-opening, due to very well done expositions.

Of course I also saw a lot of funny and odd things...

It was the first time that I read in a bathroom "DON'T sit"...

Please don't steel the toilet?!

But in the end it's all about the people you meet. And until the very last day I met such nice persons like P. and C. who worked in the US embassy. And who invited me to some sushi which was as delish as in Japan. Perfect finish!

Perfect finish with perfect sushi and perfect companions P. and C.

But of course this is an anticipation of my last days in Peru. Before, there was one month of awesome travelling. Next station was Barranca, which I will write about soon. So, this post ends with the Peruvian manner to say goodbye - and which surprisingly was exactly like in Germany (while in Mexico it's unknown): Ciao!