http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/01/02/five-things-you-should-know-before-you-travel-to-peru Comments On: Five Things You Should Know Before You Travel to Peru by Paul Constant en-us Copyright 2013 The Stranger. All rights reserved. This RSS file is offered to individuals, The Stranger readers, and non-commercial organizations only. Any commercial websites wishing to use this RSS file, please contact The Stranger. webmaster@thestranger.com (The Stranger Webmaster) Thu, 23 May 2013 00:00:01 -0700 Thu, 23 May 2013 20:45:00 -0700 Foundation http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://www.southamericatravelblog.com/tr…

Posted by Steffi]]> Fri, 11 Jan 2013 15:27:49 -0800 The Stranger http://www.southamericatravelblog.com/tr…
Posted by Steffi]]> Fri, 11 Jan 2013 15:24:55 -0800 The Stranger
Chicha is awesome. Drank much of it (and pisco).

Not for everyone, though.
Posted by Joel_are]]> Fri, 04 Jan 2013 10:45:24 -0800 The Stranger
And, fwiw, the issue is not did you eat guinea pig (seemed ok, but a rare exceptions in decades of vegetarianism, so I don't have much to judge on), but did you drink chicha?
Posted by devinderry]]> Thu, 03 Jan 2013 17:31:07 -0800 The Stranger Posted by SeaBradBike]]> Thu, 03 Jan 2013 09:05:28 -0800 The Stranger Posted by anonsdfsdfsdf]]> Thu, 03 Jan 2013 04:22:51 -0800 The Stranger Posted by care bear]]> Wed, 02 Jan 2013 20:00:40 -0800 The Stranger
And @3, the Rockies may be high, but they are *nothing* compared to the Andes. The scale of those mountains is unbelievable, with vast areas above the altitude of the tallest Rockies peaks. Until you seen them/been there, they just can't be appreciated - the Rockies are puny in comparison.
Posted by sperifera]]> Wed, 02 Jan 2013 19:58:42 -0800 The Stranger
While Machu Picchu itself is magical, and Cuzco is a lovely city, the tourists/locals choque de cultura made it a tense and unpleasant experience on the streets for me, at least. But the urban form of the place? Damn.

When I think of all the knowledge we lost when the Inca were conquered, I wanna weep into my pisco sour.
Posted by TVDinner]]> Wed, 02 Jan 2013 19:20:07 -0800 The Stranger Posted by sam2300]]> Wed, 02 Jan 2013 17:04:45 -0800 The Stranger
What I miss is the little Peruvian restaurant in Ballard, at 15th and about 65th. They made a good Pisco Sour. Sigh...
Posted by Dr_Awesome]]> Wed, 02 Jan 2013 16:41:09 -0800 The Stranger
We did not find cuy on the menu where we ate, but we did have trucha (a type of trout) and local veggies that were really good! We had coca tea a few times too.
Posted by Sachi]]> Wed, 02 Jan 2013 16:01:08 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Bloated Jesus is Bloated]]> Wed, 02 Jan 2013 15:41:01 -0800 The Stranger Posted by scary tyler moore]]> Wed, 02 Jan 2013 15:18:02 -0800 The Stranger
Fermented shark = guinea pig. Sheep head = llama. Skip the former.
Posted by Will in Seattle]]> Wed, 02 Jan 2013 14:35:19 -0800 The Stranger
Here are my thoughts:

I opted for Manu Biosphere over the Inca Trail. Both involve a 4-day time investment and roughly the same amount of money. In some ways I wished that I had done the Inca Trail instead, but there's nothing quite like seeing the most biodiverse land area on Earth, even if most of the animals are hiding from you.

Lima is dirty, and it's also huge. I would add that it is difficult to navigate and relatively expensive for Peru. Taking a rickety taxi through the slums along Morales Duarez was quite an experience. I've seen plenty of poverty in Asia and the North America, but it felt different there. Perhaps it was the sheer number of vacants and dilapidated buildings that struck me. Overall, I can see why people love Lima, but the city is a pretty tough sell for short-term tourism.

Cuy (guinea pig) is a delicacy. Did not have it, because the value seemed really poor. I did eat alpaca, however. Not bad.

Whatever anyone tells you, coca tea is a poor cure for altitude sickness. Unless you're going through an acute crisis, the best bet is to grin and bear it until you adjust.

Aguas Calientes was better than expected. That's not to say that it is nice, just nicer than expected.
Posted by Joel_are]]> Wed, 02 Jan 2013 14:34:21 -0800 The Stranger
'low-rent Anthony Bourdain.' ha! No one should eat guinea pig, ever. blech
Posted by slainte]]> Wed, 02 Jan 2013 14:21:27 -0800 The Stranger