In Lima, the capital city in Peru, it is a fact that there is a lot of delinquency rates and has a very disorganized political structure. It comes from the fact that there are more than 43 different districts only in the city, making it real hard for coordination and consensus to occur. But as any country in the world, you have to be smart about where you go walking or sightseeing. In any country around the world if you walk with expensive goods, it is more likely that you will get mugged rather than blending with the crowd.
Then comes the other popular topic that people love to trash talk about. Terrible traffic, terrible medical care terrible security and terrible education. I do understand that these are pressing issue that plague Peru today, but for someone that doesn’t know Peru’s history, it’s hard to understand that it is not that easy to lift ourselves off the ground. Not long ago Peru suffered from a terrorist movement called “Sendero Luminoso”, which created so much violence and terror in so many regions of the country. This led to an economic drop, and sparked the disorganization of the government. For instance, the government allowed private transportation companies to operate in Lima because the government didn’t have the money to keep funding the municipal buses, trains and taxis. The country is going step by step, and it isn’t like the politicians that run the country are making it any easier either.
Peru has still a long way to reconstruct. That, I do admit. But the stereotype of Peru needs to shift dramatically. Every country has problems, but we can’t live with those in our heads and make problems the actual perception of the country. If my friends would judge me based on my problems and difficulties, then I probably wouldn’t have any friends. I call everyone out there, to come to Peru and give it a try. Chance of getting robbed? Yes. Chance of bad traffic? Yes. But with the basic precautions, chance of having one of the best experiences of your life? Yes.