One must learn in Peru: baño & ducha

Coming from a place of comfort and convenience, Peru has got plenty to get use to. Here's some things I had to learn...

Baño
Washroom. There ain't always gonna be flushing toilet, sink, soap, toilet paper, sometimes not even lights or a door that locks. In fact, most of the time (and you are lucky to find one), just expect a toilet. They will always tell you to not flush toilet paper down, its something to do with their tiny drainage system and this rule pretty much applies all over South America. Oh, yes of course my dear, you pay for using it.

Ducha de caliente
Hot shower. The nights are chilly at 2500m altitude thus you will definitely need hot showers. Of course, expect the water temperature to be temperamental, going from hot to warm to cold then extremely burning hot again in a 10 minute time frame. You'll hear people screaming "aahhhhooowwwww" in the showers, trust me, it's not a shenanigan. The trick is to just turn the control 1/3 way and wait patiently for the hot water. Turning the control all the way to get the hottest water does not work here, you'll end up waiting for hours. Some accommodations will have a time frame for hot showers, after that, the generator is turned off and you'll get to enjoy fresh ice cold mineral water straight from the mountain.

On that note, caliente is use to describe hot objects, calor is use to express the feeling of warmth. If one messed up and said I feel "caliente"... it means I feel "horny".

the lovely hostel reminding us to behave...