[Overlord]

Thanks for the travelers report, Elok. For some reason, the coca tea wasn't that much of a stimulant for me the first time that I had it, so I never repeated the experience.

[Sydaycymn]

The Inca period was a very short period of the History of the precolumbian Amerindian civilizations of the Andes. The Incas begun expanding less than 60 years before Columbus discovered America.

Some cool non inca ruins would be Chan Chan, which I would advise visiting if you want to do some tourism. The Museum of the lord of Sipan is good too. Lima also has good colonial architecture, it was the most important South American city during the Spanish Empire, the Capital of the Viceroyalty.
Lake Titicaca would be good too.

The beaches in Peru are not good, the water is cold because of the Humboldt Current.

On Humala, he presented himself in the past as a pro Chavez candidate, and he lost elections because of that.

He had to turn to the center and show, or at least pretend to show, that he is closer to a Lula da Silva (the ex president of Brazil, moderate modern leftist) and not a Peruvian Chavez in order to win the election.

I don't think he will become a new Chavez. The majority of the electorate is free-tradeish, Humala won only because Kimiko is the daughter of Fujimori.

[diemeareendup]

I just finished certification in Cusco. I did some practical teaching--it ended with six Peruvians singing "As Tears Go By" along with me and Mick Jagger--but no actual teaching yet. I have an interview with a nice-sounding institute here in Lima tomorrow (I went to Lima because it has the country's only Orthodox church; otherwise I would gladly have stayed in Cusco).

[Sniliabiz]

Holy farglesnot, that's a big post. I wonder if anyone will read it?

[Junrlaeh]

Speaking of food, I remember eating "anticuchos". It was very nice. I looked closely at the menu and noticed it was "corazon" which was a bit of a surprise. Very nice though

[JoesBro]

Elok, tell me about the potatoes. I hear there are many varieties of potato which are grown only in Peru and no where else but which are common in most markets. Supposedly taste, color, size, and shape are all different while some are soft and others hard so they can be used differently in cooking. Lastly, tell us about the roast guinea pig.

*Tacu-tacu. I just had tacu-tacu this morning. I expected some kind of Peruvian taco, based on the name. Instead I got a colossal mound of rice, onions and beans fried together, then molded into a sort of loaf. A dimple at the top contains a mildly spicy green sauce which I think might have been aji, the popular garlic sauce. Not sure, though, since aji tends to vary a lot from place to place. Tacu-tacu is pretty bland by itself, but not bad if you make use of the limes and hot sauce creole restaurants provide as condiments with every meal. If a Peruvian meal ever seems bland, use the limes.

The green sauce is probably Chimi Churi.

[actifadepette]

Elok, tell me about the potatoes. I hear there are many varieties of potato which are grown only in Peru and no where else but which are common in most markets. Supposedly taste, color, size, and shape are all different while some are soft and others hard so they can be used differently in cooking. Lastly, tell us about the roast guinea pig.

Well, there are indeed a crap-ton of different varieties. You can go to a market and find a number of them--the Mercado Virgen Assunta in Huancaro, for example, has an entire quarter of its area devoted solely to potatoes. You can tell at least a few varieties apart by color and shape. Sadly, we only got to cook one variety; our apartments weren't really set up for proper cooking, just a gas range and a few rickety pots. With that and the drinking water problem it was a pain in the ass cooking anything, so we mostly just ate out. The fries you get in restaurants all seem to be of the same variety fries in America are made of, or else a very similar one. Maybe that's an affect of American culture rubbing off or something, I don't know.

Cuy (the Peruvian name for guinea pig) is a somewhat common dish. They usually just roast the things whole, like real pigs at a luau. You can go to the market at Plaza Tupac Amaru in Cusco on weekends and they'll have a whole mini-restaurant set up with stacks of roast cuy on spits. The hair's gone, but they're sitting there with their faces scrunched up and their mouths gaping open, piled like cordwood. A wee piggy holocaust. They're all reddish. I'm told the meat is rather sweet, but like I said, I didn't touch the things. Sorry I can't be of much help.

PH, it's actually been raining off and on the last couple of days here. It might just be that you visited at a different time of year? Funny thing is, this is supposed to be the start of the dry season, or so I thought. It was certainly dry in Cusco--didn't rain once the whole month. Who knows? The temperature is certainly nice, though. I hear it's like May in Maryland, year-round.

The best anticuchos I've had so far were sold at the Lima airport, believe it or not. This little shop in the food court was selling them, and those were the only anticuchos de corazon I've had with decent-sized hunks of meat, with a little red in the center. Juicy and delicious. Of course, that might mean they modified the recipe to suit my bozo American tastes, and proper anticuchos should be little ribbons. Oh well. Also at the airport food court: a restaurant called Manos Morenas, which translates to "black woman hands." I'd assume my dictionary was at fault, except it has a 'do-rag wearing cartoon mascot beside the name. It appears to be something of a chain. I believe they'll have problems if they try exporting it to the Estados Unidos, where more than one person in 1500 is black.

BTW, if any of you live in the D.C. area, there's a chain called Perchi's ( www.perchismd.com , I think) that serves Peruvian food. I went to the one in Glen Burnie before I left, and it was pretty good. Pollo a la brasa, lomo saltado, bisteck a lo pobre...no anticuchos, though.

DaShi, if it was such a wall of text, why did you quote the whole thing? Sheesh.

[xADMlNx]

Wherever you go in Peru, from the jungles to the mountains to the coast, it's a safe bet that you will never be more than half a mile from a place selling pollo a la brasa, and generally you'll be much closer than that. I hate to **** on an otherwise good thread, but I'm almost certain that this isn't accurate. Peru's jungles are wild as ****.

[himecthekWiff]

I didn't see any other hyperbole. Peruvian food is indeed awesome.

[Nwxffgke]

Thanks for the postings, Elok. Very interesting.
Wishing you the best of luck.