Román remembers when electricity came to town; and told me that as late as the mid-1990s, the people of Sangarará still used a barter system in lieu of money. Currently, he's renovating his childhood home in the village to become a tourist hostel and pub. There's not much in the way of tourist infrastructure here yet, save a few rustic hostels and a pollo brasa (rotisserie chicken) restaurant with some of the best salsa picante I've ever tasted. But Román is one of a group of people who thinks this is a place worth discovering. That's because this dusty village was an early and crucial stop on the road to Peru's eventual independence.