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Shopping, sport and food in Trek!Peru
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Peru has an astounding range of handicrafts, or artesania, which
come from all over the country. You can buy box-like nativity scenes and devices
to fix to your roof to ward of lightning, musical instruments and very fine reproductions
of archaeological finds. In addition, it is a centre for sophisticated leather
work and cloth, the latter ranging from the fine coastal Pima cotton to the extraordinarily
soft alpaca and vicuña wool. You can buy off the shelf or
place and order for later
delivery or collection.
Spectator sports revolve around football, but in addition there are activities
such as bull fighting - where, unlike other countries, the bull is very seldom
harmed
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and caballo
de
paso,
horse
schooling using the remarkable breed which Peru has developed over the centuries.
This has a shuffling gait which allows the riders to appear to float. Around Arequipa,
they even have bull fights where it is the bulls which fight!
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We also review participative sport, from hang gliding (parapente) to
caving, surfing to skin diving. As mentioned elsewhere, the sections on trekking,
exploring the country by road and seeking out anything from orchids to archaeology
is the main object of the guide. The normally placid people of the sierra go
very wild indeed at their fiestas and patronales, and we show you
how to get to these, how to behave at them and what to expect from them. Consider
Tarma, for example: the main square is repeatedly carpeted with designs that are
made entirely from flower petals, in celebration of Easter.
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Food is extremely varied across Peru. The coast focuses on the sea, and the
range, freshness and care with which the catches are prepared make them amongst
the best sea food in the world. The ceviche is a Peruvian fish dish which has become
known internationally, but few foreigners know that the term refers to a mode of
preparation, not a single dish. As a result, there are literally hundreds of kinds
of ceviches to try!
The sierra has several distinctive cuisines. These are not always immediately
appealing to the to outsider as the guinea pig
(cuy) figures large in them, as do the less obvious cuts of meat. However,
many of these dishes are well worth trying, not least for their novelty, unusual
herbs and unexpected combinations. The jungle, once again, has many of its own
dishes, created from local ingredients in which plaintains, local fruit and river
fish figure very greatly. We offer not only guidance on the food of Peru but hundreds of
recipes, many of them illustrated.