Roaming South America

Where Dinner Isn’t a Given: Traveling Through Peru’s Quiet Towns

May 23, 2026

Chuquito, Perú, population maybe around 8,000, elevation 3875 meters (12,713ft). The town has a history that goes back to pre-Inca times. There's a city-block-sized area in the town that has archaeological history. There are stone carvings that are supposed to be phallic in appearance. But, there is no history of such worship in Perú. That means any such advertising is only for tourism. The town is very small, but it does have two big hotels between the highway and Lake Titicaca. If you stay overnight and want or need to go out for dinner, you have one (1) option - the big white hotel. It has a restaurant, and it is the only place in the town that is open for dinner. There are a couple of cash machines in this town.

I Called Out ‘Hola’ Six Times… and That Told Me Everything About Ácora

From Chuquito, my plan was to spend a night in Acora, population around 23,000, but when I got there, I couldn't find a place to spend the night. There's one hostel I found, and when I went inside to ask about a room, I shouted "Hola!" probably six times, but nobody answered me. I don't know where the employee(s) were, but they weren't working the front of the hotel. So I left that town and went south to Llave. No cash machine in this town.

Where the locals take neighborhood block watch seriously. There was another hostel, but I judged it by its appearance and didn't even bother with it.

Llave is a large town, with a population of around 29,000. This town has lots of hostels, and maybe a hotel or two somewhere. The center plaza is currently under renovation. The streets are paved but also have a fair bit of dirt along the sides, making for dusty air. It's a nothing-special town, like the above-mentioned two towns. There is one cash machine that I found at the Banco de la Nación.

While walking around Llave, I saw some odd things hanging from utility poles - effigies. They are used by neighborhood watch groups in areas where there has been some higher-than-normal crime and probably little police presence. They're called castigos simbólicos or muñecos. In the photo in my photo album, there is a sign attached to the effigy. It reads, “Delincuente que sea atrapado será justiciado sin piedad” or “Any criminal caught will be punished without mercy.” And at the bottom of the sign is this, “Vecino, chapa tu choro” or “Neighbor, catch your thief.” In some areas, communities do detain and punish thieves themselves, so the warning isn’t purely theatrical. It's not "visitors beware," it's "thieves beware, we're watching." It's about small-time crimes - petty theft and break-ins, mostly. In Llave, the townspeople have come to the decision - enough is enough. And they've started to take things seriously against local crime. They're saying, "We'll handle it ourselves."

Three Towns, Three Realities: Life Off the Tourist Map in Southern Peru

Those three towns are all an hour or less apart from each other along the west side of Lake Titicaca. There are no tour buses, no menus in multiple languages; these are towns that run on their own terms, at their own speed, and don't care if tourists visit or not. Places like these are fine to pass through, interesting for a few hours, and sometimes frustrating to stay overnight in. Why? Because they’re built for residents, not travelers. And honestly, that’s why they’re interesting, even if only for an hour or two.