Lima, Arequipa, Puno
There are only a few things which definitively tell you that you're on the other side of the world. One of them is the sun. I made the mistake on one of my first days in Lima of assuming the midday sun was in the south. After figuring out I wasn't getting where I wanted to, I realised what I had done. I haven't made the same mistake again...
Of course there are other unusual things too. Black corn-on-the-cob being sold in the market. I later tried some, but even after boiling it to death, it was still inedible. There must be a technique... (Postscript: I did indeed do this wrongly - people boil it to extract the juice, and don't eat the rest of the corn. It's a Peruvian speciality calledÂ
Chicha Morada.)
I basically relaxed for the first few days; I touched the pacific for the first time (I'd seen it in Japan years ago, but not been right beside the sea), I walked around the neighbourhood of the hostel and experienced Lima. I walked all the way into the city centre, which took hours, but gave a good impression of the size of the city (9 million people).
But it became clear I should first travel south before heading in to Bolivia for a while. So I took an overnight bus, which was more comfortable than any I've been on in Europe, to Arequipa, Peru's second largest city. It had nice reclining seats with lots of legroom, blankets and DVDs, and they even served dinner and breakfast, airline style.