Imagine: You’re going to travel to Cusco in Peru because you always wanted to visit Machu Picchu. In advance, you bought a travel guide, looked up the major sights on the web and watched documentaries about it. In the night before your flight, you’re very excited. On the travel day you get really exhausted because being on the go for so many hours. Finally, you arrive at your hotel in the evening and are hungry like a lion. You’re tired, but you’re ready to discover the Peruvian cuisine. But the problem: The hotel restaurant is already closed*, there’s nothing to eat in sight, you’re alone and kind of afraid to wander the dark streets on your own. Additional to that you’re too tired to look up which restaur**ants fit your time, taste and budget AND offer you Peruvian delicates. But what now?..*
I think you all have experienced this scenario or a similar one before on at least one of your trips.
And I went through this exact scenario in January:
When I was backpacking through Peru I had no idea what I could expect. Cusco was my first stop in Peru on this trip, so I had no idea of the Peruvian prices, how they try to trick tourists and was completely on my own. First, I took a taxi to the city center with the intention to find a nice restaurant I see spontaneously. But when I got there, I recognized this was a fault. Dozens of employees were in front of their restaurants, talking, almost shouting to me. “We serve the best ceviche in town here”, “Get the best llama meat for the best price”, “Discount for the pretty lady” … But I already had the feeling, that many of these restaurants were just built up for tourists. I heard, that many touristic restaurants would sell pig meat but say it is llama meat, cause tourists usually can’t tell the difference because they’ve got no comparison. So long story short: Out of my desperateness, I looked up for Peruvian restaurants nearby in my GoogleMaps-app and read the reviews of other local guides and tourists. And then I found the restaurant called “PER.UK”, which was mainly Peruvian food, but with an influence of European taste. I ordered quinoa, the traditional carbs there with some very yummy vegetables and chicken. Before my main course they served me a snack, traditional crunchy “maiz pieces” (corn) and it tasted so delicious. Okay - to be honest, it wasn’t totally traditional. BUT- it was authentic, delicious and I enjoyed this evening…
As a Local Guide, I kind of feel responsible but also proud to share my knowledge and experience of my local area or places I’ve traveled to. For me, food is one of the major things that shape culture and a country’s image. Another thing is, that a good dish or a bad dish can affect your mood, your whole day or even your memories: Mainly I can help others with tips for my local home area because I was raised there and as a “real local” I know what’s authentic food from there. Furthermore, I try my best to help others find authentic food in other countries or cities besides my “local knowledge”. I know how to speak German, English, and Spanish fluently. I ensure you, if you can speak the language of a country, you usually get treated differently as a “normal” tourist. During my time in Cusco, I heard of many travelers, who didn’t speak a word Spanish, paying the double or triple price of my dishes in restaurants or had bad quality food. Another thing is, that nowadays many food businesses only want to make a profit out of tourists. I personally feel betrayed by this way of thinking, cause like this you can’t experience authentic food. With my posts as a Local Guide, I can give foreigners tips for authentic restaurants, the best street food in town or what is really the national dish.
I hope, that with my posts as a local guide I can help people to find authentic places and give them orientation in a world with an overload of offers and information. I feel proud if I can show them authentic food worldwide and make their travels and (food) memories unforgettable.