Here are some of our favorite things, and the other kind. These are merely personal observations of the areas we visited. Other parts of Perú are certainly different and have their own attributes. And the objective is not to be whiney. Here goes…

Favorite Things

• Wild areas — Volcanoes, rivers, deserts. Much of southern Perú is thinly populated due to being in the Atacama desert. In Toro Muerto, not even a blade of grass was to be found, let alone the eponymous unhealthy cattle.
• Low costs — Lodging, food, transportation, hired help (like teachers and guides) are all less expensive than north Americans and Europeans are used to. This lets us do more within our meager budget.
• Sweet people — In plazas, lodgings, on the street we were greeted by Peruvians who wanted to make sure we were enjoying our visit and to engage in a little friendly conversation. Much appreciated.
• Valued heritage — Perú builds new stuff, but tries to maintain their heritage structures. So you find many buildings from colonial days, the Inca empire, and even earlier. 
• Plazas — Every city, town, and pueblo has a plaza de armas. These are awesome spaces, always with an interestingly architected church on one side and a large open area where the community mingles. Good stuff.
• Good food, vegetarian friendly — There is a lot of variety of food, including a fair number of vegetarian options. Even in small towns we had no problem feeding our culinary peculiarities.
• Good Spanish — This is an odd observation coming from a couple of people who really do not function in Spanish, but Peruvians seem to speak more slowly and clearly than folks we’ve met in other countries. 
• Optimism in the face of challenges — Much of the country is affected by the tectonic plate subduction activity. Multi-syllable way of saying there are frequent earthquakes. And active volconoes. And corruption and poverty. But folks take it in stride. There are maps showing how millions of people will die when El Misti erupts over Arequipa, but they put on a smile and live with it.
• Community culture withstanding collision with western influence — While modern technology and approaches are readily accepted, the old ways are kept, too. So you get women in traditional outfits chattering away on their smart phones in the plaza. And it is real, not just something to entertain tourists.

Less Favorite Things

• Sanitation for food and water — Don’t drink the water, and expect bad things to happen shortly after enjoying a nice green salad.
• Driving style — About the only traffic law observed is stopping for traffic lights. Everything else is ignored – lanes, speeds, stop signs. It works, but does not appeal to someone who is careful about every driving rule. 
• Slow internet — Maybe we just had bad luck, but internet was slow everywhere we used it.
• Traffic — There are too many vehicles for the size of streets available. It makes Los Angeles roads look empty. 
• Garbage everywhere — Peruvians have no problem dropping trash wherever they are. In tourist areas, there are people who are constantly collecting trash to hide the problem. This problem seems to be endemic to many countries in this part of the world.
• Lack of green space in cities and towns — The Spanish architectural style does not smile on green spaces. Few trees. Plazas are mostly paved.
• Half-way approach to everything — It seems that anything worth doing is not worth doing well. Painters never mask or use drop cloths. Tile installers don’t quite line up the tiles. Walls are never square. I don’t think I would trust an airplane made in Peru.
• Approach to retail — Two things: everyone seems to be trying to sell you something, and the hundreds of tiny shops all the same. You wonder how people survive as proprietors of undifferentiated shops that no one seems to visit. 
• Metal roll up doors — A stroll around town seems post-apocalyptic. Not a fan of this aspect of Spanish urban design.
• Rats nest of overhead wires and cables — Unsightly and unnecessary.