Peru - Lonely Planet Publications [1]
Peru faces other challenges as well. A prolonged global recession could put a quick end to this period of growth. (Economic figures already indicated a slow-down in the export market by the end of 2009 and inflation tripled – to 6% – from 2008 to 2009.) Equally fragile is the political situation. President Alan García, who served a disastrous first term as president in the ’80s (Click here), has seen his approval rating steadily sink since he took office in 2006. In 2008, his entire cabinet was forced to resign due to allegations of corruption. And, in 2009, a clash between various indigenous tribes and the national police – over development rights to extensive tracts of rainforest lands – left almost three dozen dead in the remote northern region of Bagua.
These events have left the president with a weakened mandate at a potentially fractious time. Members of the Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) guerrillas have shown renewed (if limited) signs of life in the central highlands around Ayacucho. In the Amazon, the imminent opening of the Interoceanic Highway, connecting Peru to Brazil and running straight through the southern Amazon, could have a negative impact on delicate rainforest ecosystems. And there is still plenty of poverty to contend with: despite the years of growth, one in five Peruvians still lives on less than US$2 a day.
To some, the country’s problems might seem insurmountable. But living in Peru – and being Peruvian – has always required just a little bit of defiance. In the 1950s, Peruvian journalist Jorge Donayre Belaúnde penned a lengthy poem to his homeland called ‘Viva el Perú…¡Carajo!’ (Long Live Peru…Damn It!). The verse is an epic, warts-and-all tribute to Peru, depicting life in Andean villages as well as sprawling urban shantytowns. Peruvians, wrote Donayre, aren’t scared off by difficult circumstances – not by cataclysmic earthquakes, nor difficult geography, nor the bad habits of their wily politicians. In the face of adversity, there is an intractable optimism. In the 50-plus years since Donayre first wrote those words, that hasn’t changed one bit.
Viva el Perú…¡Carajo!
Return to beginning of chapter
Getting Started
* * *
WHEN TO GO
COSTS & MONEY
TRAVEL LITERATURE
INTERNET RESOURCES
* * *
Return to beginning of chapter
Luminous archaeological sites? Check. Lush Amazon rainforest? Check. An arid coast lapped by a highly surfable Pacific swell? Check.
Peru, it seems, has it all. Every cranny of this part of the Andes offers a unique glimpse into singular cultures, incredible foods and enough natural wonders to keep a National Geographic cameraman employed for decades.
Visit for a week and you can take in a main site or two. Got two? Then join a trekking party, or add another destination to your itinerary. And if you have plenty of time on your hands, strap on a pack and hit the road for months – there’s that much to do. Best of all, transportation is plentiful and generally inexpensive, and accommodations are available to suit every budget, from cheap backpacker hostels to atmospheric colonial mansions.
This chapter will help you figure out when to go, what to pack, how much to spend and which places you won’t want to miss.
WHEN TO GO
* * *
A Peruvian weather site (in Spanish) is www.senamhi.gob.pe.
* * *
Peru’s climate has two main seasons – wet and dry – though the weather varies greatly depending on the region. Temperature is mostly influenced by elevation: the higher you climb, the cooler it becomes.
The peak tourist season is from June to August, which coincides with the cooler dry season in the Andean highlands and summer vacation in North America and Europe. This is the best (and busiest) time to go trekking – on the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu,