It’s a sign: Peru

Here are just a few of the many interesting and intriguing signs I have seen and photographed here in Peru.

I spotted this collection of signs on a bus on my way home one night. My (rough) translations are as follows:

If they leave late, it’s not the driver’s fault.

Don’t ask for speed, ask for safety.

You are welcome but don’t take anything from this car.

Please don’t mistreat the seats. Take care!

Better to lose a minute in your life than your life in a minute.

No spitting!

No smoking!

Be polite. Don’t shatter your nerves. Smile!

I travel safely because Christ guides my way.

For a long time I was intrigued by this sign. I know Peruvians are generally quite short people by Western standards but was that a reason for anyone to advertise the fact that they are taller than average? Once my Spanish improved, I discovered that ‘taller’ is the word for workshop, so this sign actually advertises Larry’s Workshop. Makes much more sense, of course!

Attention!

Display your culture

Don’t litter

Look after the plants

Because they give you life

And the small sign: It is forbidden to throw objects on the ground.

Here in Peru, at election time, political parties paint the walls of their supporters with the candidates' names. If you agree to have your wall painted, and your candidate wins, then you are rewarded in some way, with a job perhaps or some kind of preferential treatment. If your candidate loses, tough! You're stuck with the sign until the weather erodes it away, or it gets over-painted in the next election.

Hotel Ibido

Direct access to the room

Private garage             room service

Hot water

I always used to misread this sign, thinking it said Hotel Libido. Turns out, it does mean what I thought it meant – a not-so-discrete hotel for sexual assignations! 

Bimbo: we do it with love.
Now, with a brand name like Bimbo, you may well wonder what exactly they do for love. In fact, Bimbo was originally established in Mexico in the 1940s, and is now the fourth largest food corporation in the world. It is the largest bread manufacturer in the world and the most common brand of bread here in Peru. I haven’t actually tried it as I much prefer the bread from my local baker.

This one speaks for itself.

And I will finish with this sign, taken in the little town of Pisac, which really is one of the best places to chill out that I have found so far in Peru!