Huancayo, Peru [a Nice Place to See, or Even Retire] NOW in English and Spanish

Everyone is going to say, “Now where is this place?” It is the best hidden secret of Peru. But first let me say, of all the places I’ve been in the world, there are about six or seven places I could live: Paris is one [just overlook the French people, wish they were English]; Lisbon, being two; Kyoto being three [my wife is jealous of the Japanese women though]; Sevilla Spain [home to Hercules] being four; Saint Paul, Minn. [home to the poet Longfellow, and the novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald] being five; and Peru [home to Ricardo Palma, the Mark Twain of Peru].

In Peru there are three places where I can live: Lima, Cuzco and Huancayo. But the best place of all is Huancayo, which has a beautiful twilight; the sunsets, like a canopy over the Mantaro Valley and like a flame that shoots out, illuminates everything; and the Laguna de Paca, the beautiful nearby lake, with its full moon, is enchanting; and its Sunday market, and all the vendors with their assortment of food. If a retired American can’t live here on his little Social Security, he can’t live anywhere else in the world cheaper, with such a culture, climate, and landscape; not to mention, but I will, his great variety of food, and hospitable people; and a nearby hospital for the elderly. They are not like most of the world – take the US dollar and spit it out when you walk out the door. Yes, I’m afraid that’s what you’ll see if you travel the world; Europe is the leading dog in this department. Go where you want, but live where they respect you. And Peru is a place, and surely Huancayo.
In Peru, the police protect Americans and, for some strange reason, trust them. My advice to them is not to trust us so much, we are not all as you would like us to be. There is still such an old breed, but few of us remain. They came up with this idea, that what we say is set in stone, and it was; but today it seems that the stones are made of mud, not granite as before. I repeat, there is still a thread of this cultural fiber, but it is thin. But in Huancayo the people are graceful people, and the Andes are spectacular. And Huancayo has his nose right on it.

If you are looking for McDonalds, stay in Lima, I like Lima, it is the New York of South America, and every time I go to have lunch at El Parquetito in Miraflores, I have to take a taxi, it only costs two dollars or so, but it is too difficult drive there, unless you’re the Road Runner. In St. Paul everyone drives like old ladies, they should go to Lima, but don’t drive, forget about driving; you will kill yourself, take a taxi or take a bus.
Cuzco is beautiful, and Machu Picchu is number seven on my top ten list, and it has the Sacred Valley, but it doesn’t compare in beauty and serenity to the surroundings of Huancayo, and San Jerónimo with its Mantaro Valley and its small adobe church, San Sebastián, where the legend tells, Catalina Wanka hid her gold treasure, which was coming down the Andes for the liberation of the Inca King, Atahualpa, whom the Spanish killed, and lost the gold, yes, they he liked blood. better i guess

Spanish version
Translated by Rosa Peñaloza

Huancayo, Peru (a Nice Place to Visit, or even to Live)

Everyone will be saying, “Now where is this place?” This is the best hidden place in Peru. But first let me say, of all the places I’ve been in the world, there are about six or seven places I could live: Paris being one [solamente pasa por alto a los franceses-desearía que ellos fueran ingleses]; Lisbon, being the second; Kyoto, being the third [aunque mi esposa es celosa de las mujeres japonesas]; Sevilla Spain [la casa de Hércules] being the fourth; Saint Paul, Minn. [la casa del poeta Longfellow y el novelista F. Scott Fitzgerald] being the fifth; and, Peru [la casa de Ricardo Palma, el Mark Twain de Perú].

In Peru there are three places where you can live: Lima, Cuzco and Huancayo. But the great place of all of them is Huancayo, which has a beautiful twilight, the sunsets, like a pavilion over the Mantaro Valley, and like a sharp flame it illuminates everything; and the Laguna de Paca, a beautiful nearby lake, with its full moon, is enchanting; and its Sunday Fair, and all the vendors with their assortments of food products. If a retired American cannot live here on his small pension, he cannot live in any cheaper leaves in the world, with such culture, climate and landscape; not to mention, but I will, the great variety of food from him, and the very hospitable people; and a nearby hospital for the elderly. They are not like most of the world: they take the US dollar, and spit it out as they walk out their doors. Yes, I’m afraid but this is what you will see if you travel around the world; Europe being the worst of all in this area. Go where you like, but live where you are respected. And Peru is one of the places, and undoubtedly Huancayo.

In Peru, the police protect the Americans and for some strange reason they trust them. My advice to them is not to be so trusting of us, we are not all what you think we are. There is an old class still that way; but there are few of us left. They have the idea that everything we say is set in stone, and this used to be; but today because the stones are made of mud, not granite as they used to be. I repeat, there is still a string of this cultural fiber, but a very thin one. But in Huancayo people are generous, and Los Andes are spectacular. And Huancayo has his nose right on it.

If you’re looking for Mc Donalds, stay in Lima, I like Lima, this is the New York of South America, and whenever I go to have lunch at El Parquetito in Miraflores, I have to take a taxi, which only costs two dollars or something, but it’s very difficult to drive there-unless you are the Road Runner. In San Pablo, everyone drives like old ladies, they must go to Lima, but not drive, forget about driving; you’ll kill yourself if you do, get a taxi or take the bus.

Cuzco is beautiful, and Machu Picchu is number seven on my top ten list, and this has the Sacred Valley, but this cannot be compared to the beauty and serenity of the surroundings of Huancayo, and San Jerónimo with its Mantaro Valley. , and its small adobe church, San Sebastián, where legend says that Catalina Wanka hid her gold treasure, treasure that she brought across the Andes for the liberation of the Inca King, Atahualpa, whom the Spanish killed, and lost the gold-indeed they did, they liked the blood more than the gold, I think.