By Catriona Spence

Food. It has to be one of the best things about Peru as there are so many national dishes to choose from. And trying new, regional, dishes isn’t that part of the experience of travelling? On a recent trip to Tacna, I did exactly that.

Having found a local restaurant offering a set lunch menu, I asked for the local dish. She asked me if I liked ‘mondongo de res’. Ah ‘res’, I knew that was the word for beef.

Mondongo - looks tasty enough but make sure you know what you're ordering

Yes, great I said, my favourite. I was excited. Beef, I hadn’t eaten beef since leaving England; it would make a nice change to chicken. But I should have thought that it wouldn’t be what I was imagining as I was only paying 3 soles for the entire three course meal. A few minutes later and a dish called Picante a la Taceña was put in front of me. It sure smelled good, but where was the beef? It turned out the beef was in fact cow’s stomach. Well, I had understood the right animal at least. With the woman watching me, I forked through the dish trying to pick between the mondongo and make sounds that showed her I liked the food, while all I could think was why hadn’t I learn that word in Spanish class?

Food aside, Tacna was however pleasantly surprising. On arriving the first thing I noticed was how clean, green and quiet it was. Was I still in Peru? Where were the micros and combis that should be racing around the streets? I decided to wonder around, and the main square was the obvious place to start. Looking like a typical traveller, map in hand, I discovered there was no square on the map. Where had it disappeared to? I soon realised that Tacna is indeed totally unlike all other Peruvian cities and does not have a main square, but rather a triangular shaped central area. No one could tell me why, but after my unfavourable lunch experience, I was definitely warming to this city; it was different.

The reason why I travelled to Tacna was, like many, to cross the border to allow me to extend my stay in Peru. Having done similar before at other border towns, I was surprised at how fun this border crossing was. I relived my childhood, riding a rickety, old, wooden train across the border. To top it off, it was unusually hassle free. Just hand over your form, hop on the train, fill out the Chilean immigration form on board and walk straight through at the other side. No long queues, no needing to find your way between the two respective immigration offices; it is all dealt with in the train stations. Perfect.

In a few months time when I need to cross the boarder again, I will definitely choose Tacna, but I’ll be sure to steer clear of mondongo.

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