about peru
Everything in Peru, in some ways seem
to be a peak - the colours there are almost unbelievable -
it was so beautiful one was often left speechless and by night
one thought, maybe it wasn't real - maybe it was a dream.
Georgia O'Keeffe
* Geography, Environment and Climate
* History
* The Sacred Valley of the Incas
* Cusco
* Machu Picchu
* Lima
Geography, Environment and Climate
 Peru has twenty-eight out of the thirty-two defined climates
in the world, and of the 104 classified zones of life, eighty-four
are found within its borders. The southeast further encapsulates
this variety, from brittle ice to sweltering jungle. With
nearly all the major Inca ruins (including Machu Picchu),
Lake Titicaca, the most pristine rainforest in the Americas,
the source of the Amazon, and the highest biological diversity
on the planet, it can safely be said that this area is unparalleled
on earth.
The Andes divide the driest place on earth from one of the
wettest. The Atacama Desert, on the coastal plains, is the
driest hot desert in the Americas, and has areas where rain
has never been recorded. Yet the cloud forest on the eastern
slopes receives an average 20 feet (6 m) annual rainfall —six
times greater than soggy Britain. These mountains are life-giving,
but global warming is diminishing their power. The river Amazon
begins here in pools of melted ice, but the accelerating rate
at which the glaciers retreat is alarming.
The Snow Peaks were the most powerful earthly deities in
Inca times and the four ranges of Vilcanota, Vilcabamba, Carabaya
and Urubamba are venerated to this day. Prayers to Christ
and the Virgin often include the name of the nearest Apu (mountain
god), and offerings are made to them from the highest altiplano
to the depths of the forests.
Not far off the coast from the scorching desert lies some
of the best fishing in the entire Pacific Ocean. It was fishermen
in this region who first noticed the El Niño, a significant
warming of coastal waters around Christmastime, summer in
the southern hemisphere. Normally, the cold waters of the
Pacific here maintain the rain shadow that keeps the Atacama
so dry. El Niño wrecks havoc upon coast, bringing torrential
downpours on desert which then blooms; wildflower seeds preserved
by the arid conditions spring to life with the rains. Native
wisdom has held for millennia that it rains every twenty years
in the desert; it is hard to ignore the climate's increasingly
unpredictable behavior in the past few decades.
Even without El Niño, some regions of the arid coast
experience coastal fogs or mist, and even drizzle during the
summer. Lima is shrouded in a grey smoggy mist called the
garúa between May and November.
In the mountains and the jungle, the climate is more accurately
divided into the wet season (October through April) and the
dry season (May through September). While there can be rain
during the dry season, it can be unrelenting during the wet
season, with heavy rains causing problems like washed out
roads. Heavy clouds can completely obscure the gorgeous views
of the mountains and valleys.
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History
 The Tahuantinsuyu, the Land of the Four Quarters, as the
Inca empire was known before the Conquest in 1533, stretched
along the Pacific from about the second degree north to the
thirty-seventh degree of south latitude; a line which also
describes the western boundaries of the modern republics of
Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Chile.
When the Inca, God-King, reigned supreme, there was order
in everything. Spectacular feats of engineering and irrigation
triumphed over one of the most barren environments on earth,
supporting the cultivation of an area farmed today. The real
strength of the Inca state lay in efficient administration;
it made an art form of harnessing manpower within a strong
hierarchical social system. Taxes in the form of state labor
and tributes kept the network of paved roads and agricultural
terraces perfectly maintained, while the storehouses were
filled with sufficient cloth, weapons and food to sustain
the entire population through times of war or famine. Movement
throughout the empire was strictly controlled and regional
costumes were encouraged in order to develop identity. Private
property was an unknown concept for which there were no Quechua
words. Every citizen was a part of the ordered whole, their
lives interlocked by duty like the fluid masonry of their
walls. Ama suwa, ama qella, ama lulla —"Don't lie,
don't steal, don't be lazy" —was a common greeting;
"Nor you," the reply.
It is almost inconceivable, then, that an army of 169 men
could conquer the largest empire in the Americas, but the
timing of the Spanish incursion coincided with a series of
catastrophes that left Tahuantinsuyu vulnerable. A mysterious
epidemic, possibly European smallpox introduced during the
invasion of Mexico, had killed tens of thousands, including
the Inca Huayna Qapaq, his heir Ninan Cuyuchi, and much of
the Inca court. The ensuing civil war waged between his sons
Huascar and Atahualpa lasted several years. Then, at the moment
of Atahualpa's triumph, the strange bearded white men arrived.
 The speed of Tahuantinsuyu's expansion was its weakness.
Many of the northern civilizations still saw the Inca as hostile
invaders, so the Spanish were able to raise auxiliaries from
battle-hardened tribes such as the Canari and Chachapoya.
In the sixteenth century, Spanish soldiers were some of the
finest in the world, their weapons and strategies honed on
campaigns against the Moors and Aztecs.
In November 1532, Francisco Pizarro made a reckless decision:
he would leave the coast of Peru and march inland to meet
the Inca Atahualpa. The Conquistadors were frightened by the
ravines and passes in which they could easily have been trapped,
and their horses had difficulty climbing the steep trails.
A year later, after the tiny band of invaders had seized Atahualpa,
melted down his huge ransom of gold and silver, broken their
promise to release him, and then executed the Inca, they were
free to march south to the imperial capital, Cusco.
A sixteenth-century Spaniard, Miguel Agia, summed up the
contrast between the conquerors and their subjects:
The Spaniards and Indian are diametrically opposed. The Indian
is by nature without greed and the Spaniard is extremely greedy,
the Indian phlegmatic and the Spaniard excitable, the Indian
humble and the Spaniard arrogant, the Indian deliberate in
all he does and the Spaniard quick in all he wants, the one
liking to order and the other hating to serve.
The excesses of the European masters have been multiplied
in modern Peru, but the indigenous character has not changed
greatly. Indians remain conservative, stoic, uninterested
in politics but loyal to family and community, and highly
spiritual.
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The Sacred Valley of the Incas
 Known as Vilcamayo to the Incas, and El Valle Sagrado de
los Incas to the Spanish, the Sacred Valley is the portion
of the Urubamba river valley from Pisac to Ollantaytambo.
The Sacred Valley was home to several cultures prior to the
rise of the Inca Empire. These pre-Inca cultures include the
Chanapata (800-300 BC), the Qotacalla (500-900 AD), and the
Killke (900-1420 AD). The Inca controlled the valley for little
over a century.
The Río Urubamba, a section of which is called the
Vilcanota, was a central element of the Inca's cosmology.
They viewed as the earthbound counterpart of the Milky Way.
The river feeds this fertile valley, and the majority its
inhabitants live a life little changed since the arrival of
the Spanish. Farming is done largely with the help of wooden
plows pulled by oxen, travel is largely by foot, and the native
population speaks Quechua. The salt pans of Salineras de Maras
are still in use.
The valley is guarded at either end by Inca citidels hanging
high above the valley floor. The stronghold at Ollantaytambo
was the only Inca fortress to withstand a sustained Spanish
attack. After the unsuccessful seige of Cusco in 1536-37,
Manco Inca withdrew to Ollantaytambo. Hernando Pizarro followed,
with a force seventy horsemen, thirty foot soldiers, and a
large native force. They arrived at Ollantaytambo to discover
the Incas had diverted Rio Patacancha to make valley impassable.
Meanwhile, Manco Inca had joined forces with neighboring jungle
tribes to form a force that reportedly overflowed the valley's
sides. The Spanish eventually retreated under cover of darkness,
abandoning much of their equipment. Then reinforcements arrived
from Spain, and Manco Inca retreated further down the valley
to Vitcos and Vilcabamba.
Today, the Sacred Valley is a quiet place, but it is slowly
changing as its attraction as a tourist destination grows.
Many tourists are preferring to center their exploration not
in Cusco, but in the Sacred Valley itself, taking several
day trips and returning to one of the excellent hotels that
have begun to spring up in Urubamba, Yucay, and Ollantaytambo.
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Cusco
 Cusco was the capital city of the Incas. In fact, the name
itself means "navel;" Cusco was considered the center
of the world by the Incas. The four quarters of Tahuantinsuyu
were centered on the lofty city, perched at 11,000 ft. (3600
m) elevation.
Before the Inca settled in the region, other cultures settled
the area, including the Killki culture (700-800 AD) and the
Lucre culture (around 1000 AD). Inca legend credits Manco
Capac and his sister Mama Occlo with the founding of Cusco,
around 1200 AD. It wasn't until Pachacuti assumed power in
1438 that the Incas became true empire-builders.
The only Inca ruler to not live in Cusco was Atahualpa, who
was on his way to Cusco when captured by Pizarro in Cajamarca.
Pizarro reached Cusco on November 15, 1533. Cusco fed on their
dreams of El Dorado, as they saw Koricancha, the Temple of
the Sun, with its walls covered in sheets of gold.
Pizarro officially founded the Spanish city of Cusco on March
23, 1534, dividing it among eighty-eight of his men who remained
as settlers, with Manco Inca set up as a puppet ruler with
a new palace just below Sacsahuaman. The battles among the
settlers for dominance, and the associated abuse heaped upon
the native residences, provoked Manco to rebel. Leading a
force of one hundred thousand, he trapped two hundred Spanish
forces in Huacapata, located roughly in the same spot at the
modern Plaza de Armas. Incredibly, the desperate Spanish counterattack
on the temple-fortress of Sacsahuaman succeeded, marking a
critical turning point in history, for the Inca could have
regained control of all of Peru except Lima had they won at
Cusco. Manco and his succeeding son, Tupac Amaru, held out
at Vilcabamba until 1572. Cusco has lived in relative peace
since, except for the great earthquake of 1650.
Cusco today is a vibrant city of some three hundred thousand,
the vast majority of whom are native Quechua Indians. Despite
being a major tourist destination, both for its own treasures
and as a staging point for the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu,
Cusco has managed to hold on to its own distinct flavor. It
retains a natural charm that is irresistible.
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Machu Picchu
 For many tourists, Machu Picchu is the highlight of their
trip to Peru. Visiting Machu Picchu will exceed the wildest
of expectations, inspiring awe and the deepest respect for
the skill of the Incas as builders. Many are surprised to
learn it sits at an elevation of only 8,040 ft. (2450 m),
2,600 ft. (1150 m) lower than Cusco. It perches 1,500 ft (450
m) above the Río Urubamba on a narrow ridge between
the mountains Machu Picchu and Huayna Picchu.
The site was discovered in 1911 by Hiram Bingham, who was
looking for Vilcabamba, the last hiding place of Manco Inca.
There is still some debate over the true nature of Machu Picchu,
but majority opinion holds it is a royal retreat and sacred
center begun by Pachacuti in the mid 1400s and occupied until
shortly after the arrival of the Spanish.
Machu Picchu is filled with astonishingly beautiful structures
that blend harmoniously with the surroundings. From every
perspective, the buildings and stones mimic the shapes of
the surrounding mountain peaks. The carved stone Bingham dubbed
the Intiwatana, the Hitching Post of the Sun, abstractly echoes
the shape of Huayna Picchu. Archaeologists argue this stone
does not play the same role as other intiwatana stones at
sites like Pisac, but do agree it held special significance
as an element of mountain worship. They also agree it is not
a sundial.
One of the most beautiful structures at Machu Picchu is the
Temple of the Sun, a solar observatory that features the finest
stonework of the site. Bingham called its north wall "the
most beautiful wall in America." It is built on a natural
rock structure, partially encircling the top of the structure.
Here the rock has been deliberately cut to form a ledge that
bisects the sunlight passing through the eastern window at
sunrise on the winter solstice. Underneath, the rock structure
forms a cave, misleadingly named the Royal Tomb by Bingham.
No burial has been found in the cave. Archaeologists now think
the cave represents the sacred heart of the mountain.
Machu Picchu is a photographer's delight. The combination
of sun, stones, mountains, and buildings result in shadow
dance that lasts all day.
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Lima
 Lima is perhaps unfairly judged against the astonishing offerings
of places like Cusco and Machu Picchu. It's frequently ignored
on tourist itineraries. But as the home of over eight million
people, about a third of Peru's population, Lima is a lively,
bustling city with plenty to offer.
Lima was founded in 1535 by Francisco Pizarro, and became
the capital for the viceroyalty of Peru, which included modern
day Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador and Chile. The "City of Kings"
was the richest and most powerful city in South America until
the early nineteenth century. In 1551, the University of San
Marcos, the oldest on the continent, was founded in Lima.
The Inquisition was headquartered in Lima from 1570 until
1813.
Lima was devastated by a tremendous earthquake in 1746, leaving
five thousand people dead, and leveling most of the city's
buildings. It was rebuilt with an eye to the European architecture
of the day. While Lima prospered as a port during the nineteenth
century, it was during the middle of the twentieth century
that Lima exploded, growing from 300,000 inhabitants in 1930
to 3.5 million in the 1970s. Unable to absorb the influx of
immigrants from the provinces, this period saw the eruption
of pueblos jóvenes (young towns) on the outskirts of
Lima.
While Lima is still recovering from this explosive growth,
it has much to offer, as the modern center of Peruvian life.
For the tourist, it houses some of the best museums in the
country, including the Museo Arqueológico, the Museo
de la Nación, and the Museo de Oro. Lima Centro offers
colonial-style churches and buildings. Excellent shopping
can be found in Miraflores, and Barranco is the area to visit
for Lima's exciting nightlife.
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