5 Quirky Traditions to Keep in Mind on Your Peru Vacation
Random. Amazing. Frustrating. Weird.
If you have ever taken a vacation to Peru, one or all of these words will float to your mind sooner or later. If you expected to meet life in the same way as at home, you will be surprised. Why is Peru so different?
It could be thousands of years of civilizations rolling over each other, each leaving its own mark on the population and their behaviors. Peru today is an anthropological melting pot with modern and colonial Spanish influence in towns and cities, while in the countryside Inca and pre-Inca cultures dominate daily life.
As a result of this cultural megamix, you will witness some quirky and often disturbing practices while on vacation in Peru. Here are 5 common ones to watch out for.
1. Two bulls, a ladder and a cross on the roof
Something very common in the highlands is the placement of two ceramic bulls on the roof of the house. The roofs of the traditional houses are covered with red clay tiles and as you walk through the streets of cities like Cusco, Pisaq and Ollantaytambo, look up and you will see many pairs of bulls sitting side by side.
The most traditional bulls come from Pukara in the highlands between Cusco and Puno and it is said that two bulls side by side (male and female) mean several things; they keep the house safe with a blessing to the “Apus” (the Inca mountain gods) and ensure the wealth, health and unity of the occupants. The bulls can be combined with a ladder and a cross allowing easy passage to heaven when the time comes. This is a curious mixture of Inca and Catholic symbology, but one that is typical of many Peruvian things.
2. Red plastic bags on sticks
As you drive through the Sacred Valley of the Incas near Cusco, you will see many red plastic bags on the end of very long bamboo poles sticking out from the houses. These are signed! They say: “We sell Chicha”, a corn-based alcoholic beverage that is very (and in some cases too) popular in the countryside.
On Sundays you will not only see the red signs, but also the effects on people drinking Chicha as they stagger through the small towns and villages mumbling and being overly friendly or abusive to tourists, depending on what kind of week they have had.
It is said that since yeast is expensive, people spit into the brew to make it ferment. To add to the fun, it is said that in some parts of Peru and Bolivia the severed hand of a dead baby is also thrown in just in case. Make mine double…
3. Baby shoes hanging in or under the car
When you take a taxi, a public bus, or even some private cars in Peru, you may notice a small shoe hanging by its laces. This is mostly done inside the car, which makes sense (who wouldn’t want a memento of their kid when he’s at work?), but sometimes the logic is stretched when people hang their shoes under the car. This shoe belongs to the firstborn of the family and is said to bring wealth and luck to the family and help the family unit (seems to be a recurring theme!).
4. Chew Coca-Cola leaves
This is a very common habit in the countryside, but you will also see it in the city markets when people from the countryside come to sell their products. It is an Inca tradition in which people accumulate a ball of coca leaves on one of their cheeks and allow the resulting liquid to seep into the bloodstream. The alkaloid ingredients of the Coca plant, which contain about 1% real cocaine, allow fanatical chewers to combat fatigue, hunger and cold more easily and therefore work harder in the fields.
Many people chew the leaves when they’re not working hard, perhaps when they’re just sitting around chatting, and while it’s not necessarily an addiction, many people will consume 300-400 grams a week. Is that lump on your cheek coke leaves, or are you just glad to see me?
5. Serious decoration
When traveling by road, you will inevitably see cemeteries in the nearby fields and there are often roadside shrines where people have died in road accidents. Around special holidays like All Saints, these tombs are decorated by family members with many items that the deceased used to enjoy. This ritual often occurs on the deceased person’s birthday as well. Things are placed on and around the grave, such as football-related objects, model cars or dolls, photos, bottles of beer or rum, favorite clothes, families can play their favorite music, etc.
Have you seen any of these traditions on your Peru vacation? Are there others that you can think of?