Peru - Culture Smart!: the essential guide to customs & culture

Culture Smart / Cultuur Bewust

by John Forrest

Culture Smart! provides essential information on attitudes, beliefs and behavior in different countries, ensuring that you arrive at your destination aware of basic manners, common courtesies, and sensitive issues. These concise guides tell you what to expect, how to behave, and how to establish a rapport with your hosts. This inside knowledge will enable you to steer clear of embarrassing gaffes and mistakes, feel confident in unfamiliar situations, and develop trust, friendships, and successful business relationships.

Culture Smart! offers illuminating insights into the culture and society of a particular country. It will help you to turn your visit-whether on business or for pleasure-into a memorable and enriching experience. Contents include


* customs, values, and traditions
* historical, religious, and political background
* life at home
* leisure, social, and cultural life
* eating and drinking
* do's, don'ts, and taboos
* business practices
* communication, spoken and unspoken


"Culture Smart has come to the rescue of hapless travellers." Sunday Times Travel

"... the perfect introduction to the weird, wonderful and downright odd quirks and customs of various countries." Global Travel

"...full of fascinating-as well as common-sense-tips to help you avoid embarrassing faux pas." Observer

"...as useful as they are entertaining." Easyjet Magazine

"...offer glimpses into the psyche of a faraway world." New York Times

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction

168 pages, Paperback

First published November 14, 2006

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

John Forrest and Julia Porturas collaborated on the book "Peru: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture" as part of the Culture Smart! series of books related to travel. Although not a long book, I found it to be very informative, packed with really good information about what a traveler might find upon arriving in this South American country.

This book covers the waterfront, so to speak, on what to do and how to get along in Peru, not only in Lima, the nation's capital, but as you move throughout the country. The book is well organized, allowing you to find specific information quickly, but also nice for those reading the book from cover to cover, which is what I did. For those planning a visit, or for those staying longer, this primer is a great way to familiarize yourself with the ins and outs of the country, especially the customs and practices of those outlying areas away from the capital.

A popular saying in Peru states: "Este es el pais de las maravillas" ("This is the land of marvels"), and after reading the book, I don't doubt it. You should definitely keep a copy in your backpack or travel bag on any upcoming trips, as the authors have done it right.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this workmanlike travel guide on my Kindle, finding it to be a better than average read for this genre. I know much of the same information is conveyed in the big guidebooks from Lonely Planet, Rough Guide, Frommers, and other publishers, but it is usually fragmented among a number of chapters. Here, everything is presented in summary form. The history section and health guidelines are par5ticularly good, and there is a helpful bibliography at the end.

In time, I will read the more detailed books before visiting Peru -- hopefully some time next year. But for now I just wanted to cover the salient points, which Julia Porturas's Peru - Culture Smart!: the essential guide to customs & culture does with competence and style.

[Julie Shuff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finally with this I met my yearly goal and can read some longer, more time consuming things lol. That being said, this was my least favorite of the 3 I read of the Culture Smart! series. Maybe because the other two were cultures I am less familiar with (Japan & Korea). While Peru is a unique mix of many different influences, I’ve lived in Uruguay and Argentina so parts of this were a little too basic-like the fact they had to explain Quinceañera (which they inexplicably spelled with an o). Also, they don’t mention many of the safety issues that the UK and US governments outline on their respective websites. Beyond that though, the emphasis on personal relationships and social life were interesting considerations as I plan for a consulting trip in March.

TLDR: Useful and updated, with some limitations, and a lot of common knowledge.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was interesting to read this in Perú while visiting my husband's family. It helped provide some context for some of my observations and I was able to do some family-based "fact checking" on the spot. While it's always hard to generalize there seems to be genuinely useful info in this guide (specifically tailored to a UK audience).

[Beverley Kaye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative, easy read, full of practical information about what to expect and how to adapt to the people of Peru, including notes on food and tipping. It seems to be written for the business traveller but there was lots of information for tourists.

[Susan Bennett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though I read it after my trip, found it a good read & it explained some things I didn't realize while there

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I want to go.