TripTalk: Peru, Nov 2006 (re-posting from earlier note on our web-site)

I believe that I am going to be carrying a “hangover” for years from the magical dip that we took in Nov 2006. I feel blessed to have experienced what I did on the trip to Peru and want to share my joys form the trip with you. So here is a travelogue that can be leveraged by folks contemplating a visit to this great land. Comments on history, economy and cuisine included to increase the readability of the note.

While Peru inevitably evokes images of Machu Picchu and the Inca empire, the country is also riddled with archaeological sites which are a legacy of even more ancient times. However our prime focus, similar to that of most tourists was Machu Picchu and the remains of the Incan empires around Cusco as well as colonial sights in Lima and Cusco.

It all started in Lima, the capital of Peru – 1.5 days

Lima is filled with cathedrals and colonial buildings. The highlights in Lima were mainly architectural and included:

• The Plaza Mayor (Main Plaza) around which stand the Palace of Government, the Municipal Palace, the Cathedral and its seventeenth century bronze fountain
• The Cathedral of San Francisco with its 20,000 plus skeletons in its catacombs
• The smaller square in Rimac
• The uppity neighbourhood of San Isidro
• The broad avenues of Lima with various buildings including the Italian Art Museum, the Palace of Justice etc
• The carved balconies in the buildings in the colonial part of the town

Then we quickly went off to Cusco, the capital of the Incas – 3 days

The landscape changed dramatically in very short while (an hour plus of flying distance) – from the sea-shores of Lima to the drier hills around it and then the green hills around Cusco.

Cusco has more than 3000 years of history and is considered as The Oldest Existing City of America. This ancient city, located at 3360 metres above sea level in the valley of the Huatanay River, in the south-eastern Andes of Peru, has construction comprising of different historic periods: pre-Inca, Inca, colonial and republican, turning it into the main tourist destination of the country. The simple joys of watching the people of the city go about their work while sitting at the central square of Cusco in the Sun with the crisp mountain air to breathe in was the best part of being in Cusco.

Being in a historical city, we obviously checked out key historical sites at Cusco:

· The Koricancha (The Sun Temple) which had been covered by the San Domingo church but has now been excavated and consists of some well sculpted religious buildings in perfect formation.

· The neighbouring citadel/ religious Inca location of Sacsayhuamán - Its construction took over seven decades and required the work of 20,000 men approximately, both for the foundations and hewn stone works, the transportation of materials, carving and stones setting. It is a spectacular fortress built with huge carved rocks joined with absolute accuracy. It also reminds us of the huge effort that the people here put into building these sites, the administrative capacity of the empire, its powerful logistic system capable of mobilizing and organizing such a work but also the forced labour that must have gone into building these places.

Cusco still has the stone roads laid by the Incas and homes and offices are built on the same old foundation in many instances. We spent 2 nights in Cusco before setting off for the Sacred Valley.

Sacred Valley, with its breathtaking valley view, amazing “living” Inca city of Ollantaytambo – 1 day

This is where we met alpacas, llamas and their predecessors the vicuña and guanaco while travelling through scenic surroundings. Rivers, valley and more Inca ruins followed.

The highlight in the valley was the town of Ollantaytambo. It is a typical town of Incan origin. This site was a strategic military, religious and agricultural center. It clearly was a very fortified city, surrounded by a wall with pukaras or fortresses set in a breath-taking location where three valleys meet. Its urban sector continues to be a living district for people even today.

Short Inca Trail – 0.5 days

Setting off on a train from Ollantaytambo, we dropped off at the river edge to begin a moderate hike through the hills, traveling up Wiñaywayna to Machu Picchu [1000m (3000+feet) elevation gain, 600m elevation loss; Maximum altitude point: 2,650 m (8,692 ft)]. Passed the ruins of Chachabamba and Winaywayna and finally came to the divine location of the Sun Gate to see the breath-taking view of Machu Picchu.

2 days at Machu Picchu – the magical city in the clouds

Set in a mountain of dense vegetation in the Amazon Andes, at 2430 metres above sea level, Machu Picchu remained hidden to the modern world until July the 24th of 1911 when the North American explorer Hiram Bingham formally discovered it. Due to the absence of written history in the Inca period, there is on-going mystery about the purpose of Machu Picchu. Many theories have been posed and some of them suggest that it was an advanced post for the expansionist projection of the Incas towards the forest, or a sort of monastery where the girls (acllas) that were to serve the Inca and the Willac Umo (High Priest) grew up. Others think it might have been a defence post against potential invasions coming from the forest or a resting place for Inca Pachacútec.

Whatever it was, it was built by stones of similar colour cut in shapes pressed together without any “cement” and in perfect angles with primitive tools.

But even if we forget the architecture and the history, just the sight of this town with its various quarters sitting on top of a hill surrounded by other magical hills and all of it verdant made our hearts stop and jaws drop. We stared at it for hours and spent two half-days there. Hope you get the feel of the drama of the place through the photos of The Sanctuary of Machu Picchu with its great natural richness in flora, fauna and geological formations, set in am amazing location at the confluence of the Andes and the Amazon Forest.

For the history and architecture aficionados amongst you, here is a quick description of Machu Picchu’s well-defined areas:

· The first, the agricultural one, has the typical system of farming terraces of different types and dimensions whose purpose was not only to serve as a granary for the Citadel but also to avoid the erosion of the terrain as a consequence of the rains.

· The second sector, the urban one, has a layout in the shape of a U and it is in here where most of the remains of Inca architecture lie. It has plazas, barrios (neighbourhoods), aqueducts, towers of surveillance, observatories and a sundial, all built with stones, besides streets and flights of stairs that make for a total of 3000 steps.

Key building for astronomy and religion worth mentioning include the Temple of the Sun, (a semicircular edifice built on a huge massive crag), the sundial or Intihuatana, (which is carved out of a great single granite rock, used as a ceremonial altar besides marking the passing of time, the area with the Three Windows (built with huge pieces of solid rock finely sculpted and neatly joined together).

But what mesmerized me almost all the time that I was at Machu Picchu was the greenery and the hills adjacent to the place - Huayna Picchu or Young Mountain.

We subsequently returned to Cusco by train, bid it farewell and then flew back to Lima on and then back home to a misty morning in Toronto.

3 Side-notes (created in November 2006):

a) Peru at a Glance

Population: 27.9 million (2005e) Capital: Lima: 5.7 mn (2004e) Pop. Growth Rate: 1.36 % (2005e) Total Area: 1,285,215 km² (approx. size of Manitoba & Saskatchewan) Language: Spanish & Quechua (official); another language recognized by the Peruvian government is Aymara, as well as 48 other native languages. Literacy: 87.7%: 93.5% (M), 82.1% (F) Life Expectancy: 70.4 years: 67.9 (M), 73.0 (F) UN Development Index (2005): Peru ranks 79th of 177 countries. GDP: C$95.21 bn Real GDP Growth Rate: 6.7% GDP per Capita: C$3,406 Inflation Rate: 1.6% Unemployment Rate: 10.5% (2004) Total External Debt: CAN$41.89 bn (2003 e.) Military Budget: US$829 mn(2003)

3 main regions: The coast, the Highlands (in the Andes Mountains) and the Jungle (Amazon)

b) Gastronomy in Peru

Peru has a wonderful variety of food (sea-food to guinea pigs J) but our favourites were:

• ROCOTO RELLENO: This dish is different to dishes from other places. "Rocotos" , filled with a mixture of grinded meat, peanuts, raisins and green peas. Once filled, covered with beaten egg to be then fried in very hot oil. Served with roasted potatoes.
• KAPCHI: Cooked dish soup of chick-peas or mushrooms with potatoes, milk, eggs and cheese.
• LAWA: Soup of fresh corn, chick-peas, yellow peas and huacatay (kind of mint).
• CEBICHE – top favourite: Raw fish filet cut into pieces and marinated in lime juice, onions, and aji (hot pepper).
• ESSCABECHE: Pieces of fish or chicken marinated in vinegar and steamed with plenty of onions.
• PESCADO A LA CHORRILLANA – a close second: Fried fish in a tomato, onion, and white wine salsa.

c) Hotels used on the trip:

• Casa Andina Private Collection at Cusco
• Sol y Luna in Sacred Valley
• Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel