Dollars in Peru

One thing I did remember from our first short trip to Peru was that any of the chain stores would accept dollars as payment. When we left the states, we made sure we had ample cash on us to handle whatever we would need at the airports, customs, etc - knowing whatever we had left over could easily be used to buy groceries until we had a chance to get our hands on some soles.

What I didn't remember is that when you use dollars, they need to be in absolute perfect condition. I has three one-hundred dollar bills that nobody would touch. Not the grocery store, not Western Union, not even the banks. Seriously, in a country where the average person makes $400/month no one would go anywhere near my cash, that was actually handed to me by a bank teller in the U.S.

Our only recourse was to take it to a bank that specializes in such things in downtown Lima. The catch? Easy. The exchange rate is 2.7 to 1 ... this "bank" gave us 2.2  - so it cost us about $50 just to cash the bills. We turned $300 into $250 just like that.

The lesson here is that before you head of to Peru, make sure to get nice, clean, crisp, (no rips or tears) greenback from your bank.