If you were thinking about traveling to Peru this year or next you probably were planning on making the trip during the summer months of May through September. This is when generally the whole world descends upon Peru, the high season of Tourism in the country. This can mean inflated prices, crowded sites such as Machu Picchu and overbooked hotels. What you may not know is that for the majority of the country those are the winter months. November through March, the so-called low season, is most widely known as summer in Peru, and you can take advantage of the gorgeous coastal weather, low prices and festivities that occur during this time. Here is the Karikuy Top 10 Reasons to Visit Peru this Winter (November – March):
10. Freedom – During [Continue reading...]

I am getting plenty old. Pretty soon, I’m sure I’ll need bloodwork. But there are some things that I never seem to outgrow. And violently thrashing around a pit filled with a horde of sweaty, riotous, tattooed youths is apparently one of those things. I’ve had my ears thoroughly inundated with music during my six weeks here thus far and have made a great effort to secure that fact. But I have long been interested in how the Lima musical underground operates. It’s like those nature channel shows where the Aussie documentarian gets right up in there with the tigers, risking life and limb. You can’t just watch from afar. You’ve got to experience it for yourself
So, on Saturday afternoon, I hopped a cab over to the “Super Complejo” in [Continue reading...]

In researching Peruvian music, I’ve recently become aware of a certain unspoken phenomenon. Within the last ten to fifteen years, the female presence in rock, electronic and punk music has just become overwhelming. This doesn’t seem to be one of those intentional and actively-staged rebellions but, rather, a natural progression; one which is very logical when one examines all of the things that already make Peru so spiritedly independent amongst other Latin American countries. Basically, the cosmic beard fest that tends to envelop the bulk of the louder electro, rock, garage, metal and punk music throughout the Americas has a much less fierce pull in this particular area of the world. And that’s really a good thing.
Much like in Japan, the role reversal in music has become very apparent in [Continue reading...]

Flooded with graffiti-like artwork, the small music venue “La Casa de Auxilio”, or the House of Help, was the location for our Friday night entertainment this past weekend.

Huari, Peru – Virgin of the Rosary Festival.
It starts with a party. Family, friends, gringos (well that’s not entirely true, we only saw two more gringos in the entire town), but anyone who can get there shows up. Food vendors line the streets with grills and sell a variety of products including anticuchos (the heart of a cow, on a stick), potatoes, chicken, hamburgers, and hot dogs, as well as your traditional carnival food – cotton candy, snacks, etc. Marching bands fill the streets (way earlier than any of us could fathom), and last through the night. Different bands play on different stages riling people up for the main event: the fireworks show. They build these 40-foot tall bamboo structures loaded with explosives (two for the first night, three for [Continue reading...]