We took a traveling group of about 25 med students, attendings, residents, nurses, and other medical professionals throughout tiny villages in the Andes. We treated 150-250 patients a day in makeshift clinics set up in schools and community centers, with a couple of days spent at local medical clinics. We saw everything from dry skin and the common cold to broken ankles to gastric cancer, and we made the most of our limited supply of ibuprofen, calcium, antihelminthics, toothbrushes, and Spanish. We often worked through double translators - a local nurse translating from Quechua (Incan) to Spanish, and the medical student translating from Spanish to English for the doctor. But despite our limitations, I really feel like we were able to make a difference for the people there. At least, I know they made a difference for me. I'll never make the same assumptions about medicine again.
On the weekends, we visited Cuzco and Machu Picchu. Cuzco was fun, but oh my goodness, Machu Picchu was incredible. Being up there in the mountains, it's like you can see forever. And to think that an entire city lived there and then abandoned it - the stories are unbelievable.
So here's my advice if you're going to Peru. Get out of the city and meet the people. Do what it takes. Go with a medical mission, or go build schools, or sell freaking braided bracelets in the markets as you backpack through the Andes. Then, go to Machu Picchu. Just go. And hike Huayna Picchu (if you think your lungs can handle it).
Oh, and if you get a hankering to try the guinea pig, just don't spend too much on it. There's not a lot of meat on those things.
