Peru - Day 5

Last nights dinner at Astrid & Gaston was fabulous. We connived with our solicitous and enthusiastic waiter to do a Pisco tasting - a distilled grape liquor. Then onto a really top notch world class meal - all for under $200. Pics 1-7.

Today, after a brief cafe and breakfast, we took a four hour private tour with Martha. Martha has been a guide for some 13 years. She is a chatty soul, and so we covered topics including the economy, politics, living in Lima, Peruvian’s views on Venezuela, Chile, and the Spanish, the Catholic church and, of course the actual tour locations. Pics 8-15.

A visit to the Casa de Aliaga was a pleasure as we saw how the Spanish colonials lived snd live (the family still lives there). However, Spaniards are not favored here in Peru (as might be expected). Indeed, Martha is given special cautionary instructions when she tours Spaniards.

We visited the Hotel Bolivar, birthplace of the Pisco Sour, had a Pisco Sour and a long chat. Then off to El Centro, a Spanish colonial square, and then to the Bibliotheca Santo Domingo. Finally, we went to the Larco museum for a brief tour (I already had been there). Pics 14-15. Note that in Pic 14 some of the figures look Chinese - something still baffling to scholars.

Living in Peru median folks earn about $400 a month and have two jobs to earn that. Children tend to live with their parents through their 20s as housing is expensive. Martha, in her early 40s, has an hour and a half
to 2 hour commute into town. Her friends live in the city so she sees them after work. Most have no plans to have kids. The country is Catholic, but younger folks may be drifting away from the church. Life is “OK,” she said.

Martha confirmed what my other guide Anna said. Venezuela has been shipping unwanted gangs into Peru causing friction. There is no love lost with Chile although Uruguay is viewed favorably. Mining companies generate income but are foreign or privately owned. The country still is run by a few top level families. There seems to be a fair amount of rural unrest but I am not clear on its cause. Peru consists of many pre-Inca cultures and with both Anna and Martha (Moche culture) they identify still with that culture even if they don’t speak the dialect. The Incas really do seem like a passing influence over a diverse cultural map.Read more