post by ANDREAS

While traveling through Peru I was immediately taken by the diversity of people and their living environments. The day I arrived in Lima on December 15th, I was already impressed by the big, modern, clean and efficient airport Jorge Chavez. While taking a taxi to and through the upscale Lima districts of San Isidro and Miraflores, I was amazed at the sight of countless skyscrapers, beautiful urban residential complexes, and not to mention, the abundance of Las Vegas-style casinos, hotels and restaurants lining the streets.

Now, I only had the chance to spend about half a day and half a night in Lima before traveling to Bolivia. That short time, however, was already enough to do away with my abstract pre-conceived notions of what Peru, and Lima in particular, was going to be like. Don’t get me wrong, I knew Lima was a huge city, and that it would probably boast all the characteristics typical of a modern urban area. However, I was still quite surprised by the upscale metropolitan feel that Lima emits.

All that being said, I need to add: Lima is not Peru, and Peru is not Lima.
And even within Lima. The districts of Miraflores, San Isidro and Barranco are definitely considered the city’s poster children in terms of urban development, upmarket shopping and corresponding income levels.

Overall, Lima is this bustling, busy and loud, modern and diverse city on the Pacific Ocean. Given the number of inhabitants standing at close to eight million people, one might suspect that it feels very crowded here. And during busy lunch hours or at the onset of the prickling Friday and Saturday nightlife one certainly gets a glimpse into that. However, Lima stretches out over a vast area, with each of the 43 districts functioning as a smaller city unit in itself. Aside from the above mentioned sights setting this city apart from the rest of the country, as soon as you take your first taxi ride along the four-lane Via Expresa, your head will keep turning at all the brightly lit-up bank and other commercial buildings.

On the other side of the shiny and highly desired coin that is Peru, you will find the rural communities. Although the majority of Peruvians do live in one of the bigger cities – aside from Lima that would be: Arequipa, Trujillo, Chiclayo and a number of others – life in the rural areas in between greatly adds to the countries multi-faceted personality. As I’ve traveled to Peru’s Lake Titicaca border region with Bolivia, and while traveling with the group in and around the old Inka capital Cuzco, I got a glimpse into the realities of life for the “campesinos” – or rural population – of this amazing country.

Many of them still dress in traditional clothing, usually boasting vibrant colors, oddly paired with manually produced rubber slippers created from recycled car tires.

Here is some more information on the type of clothing typical of the highland regions of Peru:

In Peru’s rural areas, the way people dress makes an important distinction, as a result of the blend of pre-Hispanic influences with the European clothing that the natives were forced to wear during the colonial era.

The traditional Inca anacu was transformed by the local women into the brightly-colored and multi-layered petticoats known as polleras. Depending on the region, a black skirt is decorated with a belt which can come in a variety of colors and is decorated with flowers in the northern Piura highlands or a brightly-hued woolen lliclla in Chiclayo, further south.

In the highlands above Lima, the skirt is decorated with red and black embroidered edging, while in Junín, as in Cajamarca and Cuzco, women no longer use black skirts. Underneath their skirts, the women use layers of petticoats made from cotton which can be embroidered with gold and silver threads, featuring superbly-crafted drawings along the edge.
(Source: http://www.peru.info)

Also, subsistence farming remains a large part of Peruvian life on the country side – a stark contrast to the western service-oriented existence typical of most Limeños – or inhabitants of Lima.

If one comes to Peru and only decides to linger in Lima – which is definitely a worthwhile and memorable experience – one nevertheless will miss out on what it truly means to be in Peru. And even when venturing out of the city, when one only decides to stick to the well-trotted tourist routes – mostly around Cuzco and Peru’s world-renowned Inka site Machu Picchu – the experience is certain to fall short of cultural diversity destined to make for the most long-lasting memories for a western tourist.