Watership Down: A Nature Adventure or Heroic Fantasy?
In the evenings, I like to spend an hour or so reading to my 4 and 6 year old daughters. We’ve gone through a pretty solid selection of works so far, and I expect the trend to continue because it’s the best part of the day. I’ve been impressed by the complexity of stories which …
I’ve Been Through the Green Card Process—They’re Vetted
I remember going to the US Embassy in Lima to turn over a stack of documents to apply for my wife’s residence visa in pursuit of a green card. My wife was a Peruvian citizen at the time, and we’d been married in Lima several months before. For me, the process was simplified by the …
Amazon’s ‘Sneaky Pete’ Has Echoes of ‘Breaking Bad’
For those of you with Amazon Prime, you might want to check out their new original series, ‘Sneaky Pete.’ This is another of the never ending series of web shows that seems to be designed specifically for binge watching. The film stars the underrated Giovanni Ribisi (there’s a last name for Scrabble). Ribisi usually gets …
How To Buy Machu Picchu Tickets
As soon as you have set your date to visit the sacred valley, it’s very important to reserve your Machu Picchu tickets. The Peruvian government limits the number of entrants to Machu Picchu to 2,500 daily. Although it is possible to buy an entrance ticket within a few days of your scheduled visit, dates, particularly weekends, …
Peru’s Internet Service is Better Than Yours
Internet connections are as vital to our daily lives as our water pipes and electric cables. We just can’t live without them. Most Americans would probably believe that their internet is much faster than what’s available in the rest of the world. After all, we invented the internet, right? Of course we did. Except in …
5 CV Writing Rules for Lima Job Seekers
Most people have no idea what they’re doing when they write their resume (called a CV in Peru, short for curriculum vitae, the full word curriculum is also used). Your CV is your first, and often your only chance to leave a positive impression on your potential employer. But even that chance is dismal. They …
Machu Picchu GoPro Shooting
On my last visit to Peru, I decided to do some Machu Picchu GoPro shooting. I brought my Pentax K200 along as always, but I also decided to strap my old GoPro Hero to my chest. We had a pretty neat day. It rained on us a little bit, and since I was more paying …
Running the Inca Trail With Two Olympians
Peru’s first winter Olympian, Roberto Carcelen, called me up recently with the question I dread to hear from professional athletes. “Hey, what’s your fitness level?” For the record, my fitness level is pretty decent. Last February I competed in America’s largest cross-country ski race, the 50 kilometer American Birkebeiner, and finished in a …
The US Embassy in Lima
While most visitors will probably never need to pay the US embassy a visit, Peru can always throw you a curveball. So, what should you do if you need to go to the US embassy? We’ve got the answers. Typically the main reason people end up at the embassy is for a new passport, usually …
Star Wars Rogue One Review
Star Wars Rogue One Star wars is just as big in Peru as it is in the US. My wife’s brother memorized the dialogue from the original trilogy and could speak along with the film before he had become fluent in English. Needless to say, this exposure to the language was a great assist for …
Hotel Samanapaq in Ollantaytambo
I checked in to the Hotel Samanapaq hotel in Ollantaytambo on the 2nd to the last day of our trip. I’d been touring the Sacred Valley with my wife and kids for the last week, and we were exhausted. We needed a place to rest and recover from all the hiking we’d done over the …
What Happens if you Overstay your Tourist Visa?
It’s the quintessential fear of anyone who visits Peru as a tourist: What do I do if I overstay my tourist visa? Violating immigration law tends to conjure up horrifying scenarios that end with you in some 3rd world prison praying for a lawyer that speaks your language. Fret not, bold traveler, you have plenty …
