Part of the 23,000 kilometers (approximately 14,000 miles) of roads built by the Incas in South America, this is Peru's most famous trekking route and possibly one of the most spectacular in the Americas. Every year; some 25,000 hikers from around the world walk along the extraordinary 43 kilometers of this stone-paved road built by the Incas leading to the unassailable citadel of Machu Picchu located in the depth of the Cuzco jungle. The journey starts in the village of Qorihuayrachina, at kilometer 88 of the Cuzco - Quillabamba railway and takes three or four days of strenuous walking. The route includes an impressive variety of altitudes, climates and ecosystems that range from the high Andean plain to the cloud forest. Travelers will cross two high altitude passes (the highest being Warmiwañuska at 4,200 m.a.s.l.) to culminate the hike with a magical entrance to Machu Picchu through the Inti Punko or Gateway of the Sun.
Inca Trail to Machu Picchu
One of the main attractions along the route is the web of ancient settlements built in granite rock by the Incas like Wiñay Wayna and Phuyupatamarca immersed in an overpowering natural scenery. Hundreds of species of orchids, multicolored birds and dreamlike landscapes provide the ideal backstage for a route that every hiker should walk at least once.
Description of the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu rout
Based on traditional 4 days / 3 nights tour.
The total distance of the trail is approximately 39.6 Km. and begins at Km. 88 at a place called Q'oriwayrachina. To begin the trail, you must cross the Kusichaca bridge, (an important Inca bridge which using Inca techniques, has been built with steel cables which allow visitors to cross the Urubamba River). Then you head over to the left bank through a Eucalyptus grove and start the day calmly.
Almost immediately, you will come across the archaeological complexes of Q'ente, Pulpituyoc, Kusichaca and Patallaca. From this last spot, follow the trail along the left side of the Kusichaca River in the area with the same name where you will not only see the bridge but also you will find tombs, aqueducts, terraces. roads and a canyon. Continue until you reach the small peasant village of Wayllabamba and Inca aqueducts. It takes around four hours to cover the 9 Km up to this spot. One can camp here for the first night, but for comfort we recommend staying in Llullucha 1.6 Km further on.
The second day is more difficult as the hiker will have to climb up to 4,200 meters, crossing the Warmiwañusqa pass, the first and the highest. If you suffer from "soroche" (altitude sickness) it is best not to stop and descend quickly to the valley of the Pakaymayu River, where you can camp. This spot is 7 Km away and an approximate eight-hour walk. Inca trail
The third day is the longest but most interesting. You will be able to visit impressive archaeological complexes such as Runkuraqay, the second pass, at 3,800 meters above sea level. This is a walled complex with interior niches that perhaps was a small place for rest, guard post and worship place. After crossing the second pass, descend to Yanacocha (the black lagoon), to then climb up a path with stone steps until you reach another cluster of buildings which attracts the attention of visitors. This spot is called Sayaqmarka a pre Hispanic complex with narrow streets, buildings erected on different levels; shrines, patios, canals and a protecting outer wall. At the top of the buttress one can see many constructions which lead one to suppose they once were a temple and an astronomic observatory which had a permanent supply of water and excellent food storehouses.
Sayaqmarka is a place filled with mystery and enchantment. The approximate distance to Runkuraqay is 5 Km, which takes 2 hours. This complex lies at 3,600 meters above sea level. There are excellent paths and a tunnel through this complex. We recommend you camp near the Phuyupatamarca ruins or 3 Km further on at the Wiñay Wayna Visitors Center, where one can buy food and drinks or use the bathrooms. The Phuyupatamarca ruins are better preserved than those seen before now.
It has a solid base built down to several meters in some cases. The Wiñay Wayna ruins were given the name possibly because of the abundance of a beautiful type of orchid which flowers nearly year-round in the whole area. The Peruvian government and the Viking Fund signed an agreement in 1940 to investigate the area, and sent the Wenner Gren expedition led by Professor Paul Fejos. But despite the expedition, there is no precise information about the specific function of six groups of dwellings near Machu Picchu. They are divided up into four well-defined sectors which are: the agricultural sector with many terraces, the religious sector, the fountain sector and the residential sector where the houses are located.
On the fourth day, which starts around 8 A.M., the walker arrives at Machu Picchu at around 11 A.M. after 8 Km of hiking through the jungle. Follow the signaled route and drink some water at the Wiñay Wayna Visitors Center. The path is clearly marked but try to avoid getting too close to the cliff edge.
It is forbidden to camp in Inti Punko. Leave your equipment at the control gate and enjoy getting to know the most important monument in this part of ; the continent. You have time to walk around Machu Picchu until mid-after-noon. Check train timetables to return to Cuzco.
If you plan to stay in the town of Machu Picchu (Last called "Aguas Calientes"), the distance from the station of Puente Ruinas to Machu Picchu is 2 Km. It takes around 20 minutes to walk down a narrow path which runs parallel to the train line.
We recommend you check for trains before walking the path.
Source: PromPeru Inca trail Peru
Climate and Environment
The climate is relatively mild all year- round, with heavy rains from November to March, and dry and hot weather from April to October, which is a recommendable time to visit. The annual minimal temperature runs from 8° to 11.2°C. In the months of June, July and August the temperature can often fall below zero. I
The annual maximum temperature varies from 20.4° to 26.6°C. The terrain is fairly jagged, with many gullies and streams fed by glaciers which eventually pour into the Urubamba river, which crosses the area forming a deep valley which runs through the granite base of Vilcabamba for more than 40 Km through a variety of eco-systems.
Landscape
The natural surroundings are impressive and the balance achieved between nature and Inca architecture is striking.
The Vilcabamba mountain range boasts peaks higher than 6,000 meters such as Salcantay and Huamantay among others. The blend of mountains, jungles and valleys create a fantasy world where the spectacular dawn and sunset are shrouded in mystery.
Fauna
This is abundant and varied. The existence of species in danger of extinction such as the spectacled bear (Tremarctos omatus), the Andean Cock-of-the-Rocks (Rupicola peruviana), the dwarf deer (Pudu mephistopheles), etc. was one of the reasons why the government decided to declare it a Conservation Unit.
The park includes species like the puma, Andean fox, river otter, Taruka (Huemul deer), wildcat, ferret, etc. There are birds in Machu Picchu like the Mountain Caracara, hummingbirds, torrent duck, parrots, wild turkey, and many other colorful smaller birds. There are also reptiles like the jergon bothrops and the coral micrurus snake (lethal for its venom), lizards, frogs, and numerous Andean and jungle fauna which inhabit the Sanctuary. This abundant wildlife makes the Sanctuary of Machu Picchu ideal for tourists and researchers who wish to watch or study the animals.
Flora
The large natural areas are filled with a variety of forest species which vary according to the habitat. The forest vegetation is represented by trees such as cedar, romerillo or intimpa, laurel, etc. There are also species like Ocotea, Pedocarpus, Guarea, Weinmania, Clusia, Cedropia, Cinchena, Eritrina or Pisonay, and Ilex among others. The decorative plants have made the Sanctuary famous. Experts have identified more than 90 species of orchids, and many species of begonias and puya cacti. Most of the area is covered by herbaceous, shrub like and arboreal plants. The varied conditions have created an ideal environment for the growth of diverse plant life that runs from thick jungle like the cloud forest to the sparsely covered mountain tops.
Archaeology
Apart from everything that has been mentioned, there is also the Incas cultural heritage. The Inca Trail which was well built, crosses dense forests and deep canyons. There are 18 archaeological complexes dotted along the trail which can be seen in all their splendor. These are made up of housing, irrigation canals, agricultural terracing, walls and shrines, which are irrefutable proof of the existence of important human settlements.
Tourist Facilities - Inca Trail to Machu Picchu
Lodging in Machu Picchu - Hotels in Machu Picchu
There are some alternatives, a 3 stars hotel located in Machu Picchu's citadel, in the high part of the mountain. Also in the town of Machu Picchu (last called Aguas Calientes), located in the valley, from where we start our climbing to Machu Picchu, has services of 5 stars hotels and lodgings.
Hot Springs
At a distance of 800 m. east of the town of Machu Picchu, there are under ground hot sulfur springs which bubble up from the rocky under ground at varying temperatures. The especially-built pools at this resort are the basis of its use as hot mineral baths. The average temperature of the water runs from 38° to 46°C. There are also changing rooms, bathroom sand a small snack bar.
Train to Machu Picchu
In order to get to Kilometer 88 one can go by train from Cuzco or Ollantaytambo. Another alternative to get to Kilometer 88 is to go by automotive transportation to Chilca at Km. 77 and down by car to Km. 88.
Road Transport
The only way to return from Machu Picchu or Aguas Calientes to Cuzco is by train. Check all train timetables.
Tourist Transportation
There is a fleet of mini-buses that link the Puente Ruinas station via a narrow, winding road to the top of hill - Machu Picchu complex. The drive takes approximately 20 minutes to get there and another 20 minutes back.
The service runs all day, though the frequency depends on the amount of tourists.
There is a trail between Puente de Ruinas and the Machu Picchu complex. The walk takes approximately 1 hour.
Signposting
There are signposts located in different parts of the trail using a series of words and international symbols. In the majority of places, these signs give the walker the necessary information about a certain spot, its climate, distances and services.
These signs are classified into information, prevention and restriction.
RULES GOVERNING THE VISIT OF TOURISTS:
Every person who enters the Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu and uses the authorized trekking routes must heed the following rules provided by government authorities:
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Give requested information to authorities and official entities.
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Pay the entrance fee to the Inca Trail or other path.
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Do not litter !!!
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Use public installations without deteriorating or destroying them.
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Do not make campfires. Inca trail
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It is strictly forbidden to extract, depredate or buy any variety of flora in the Machu Picchu Historic Shrine.
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It is strictly forbidden to capture, hunt, depredate or buy any wildlife in the Sanctuary.
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Camp only in the places indicated. It is forbidden to camp inside archaeological constructions or restricted areas.
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Behave in orderly fashion so as not to disturb other hikers.
Any violation of any of these rules will lead to police or park guards intervention so as to enforce the respective sanction. Respect the rules and avoid unpleasant incidents.
HIKING TOURS IN MACHU PICCHU
Special Offers 2010: Tours "Inca Trail to Machu Picchu"
Reservations are only processed with 30 days of anticipation, to be able to obtain the corresponding permission
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Inca Trail to Machu Picchu (2 days) - US $ 370 (Group services - Fixed departures)
* Inca Trail by Inkas Cusco (4 days) - US $ 409 (ISIC Card) (Daily departures)
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Inca Trail (4 days) - US $ 454 (ISIC Card) (Daily departures)
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Inca Trail Standard Class (4 days) - US $ 520 (Fixed departures)
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Inca Trail Premium Class (4 days) - US $ 610 (Fixed departures)
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The Sacred Inca Trail - Cuzco and Lima (9 days) - US $ 749
See our alternative trek: (Inca Trail tour)
* Trek to Choquequirao (5 days) - US $ 450 (Fixed departures)
* Salcantay - Machu Picchu Trek (5 Days) US $ 445 (Fixed departures)
* Salcantay Trek & Machu Picchu (5 Days) US $ 454
Machupicchu Magical Travel Agency, Tourist Package in Perú: WEB SITE: http://www.tourmachupicchutravel.com/ Telephone number: +51-84-254571 / +51949755958 (whatsapp)
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
How to arrive to Machu Picchu?
Walking, "The Inca trail"
For those that have about seven exclusive days for the visit to Machu Picchu and also are adventure lovers, the walk through the "Inca trail" is recommended. This route has become the favorite of many tourists and only last year, more than 15 thousand people followed these roads to arrive to Machu Picchu.
This hiking begins in the 82 kilometer of the railroad Cusco - Aguas Calientes, in Ollantaytambo. Leaded by guides and in groups not smaller than 10; you arrive to Machu Picchu after 4 days, after traveling 40 kms. (24.85 miles) by the old Inca stone road, on the edge of the Urubamba canyon. The road crosses the Inca ruins of Patallacta, Huallabamba, Runku Rakay, Sayacmarca, Phuyu Pata Marca and Wiñaywayna. Besides captivating natural landscapes, water falls, tunnels, abundant flora and fauna, amid the exuberant vegetation for being near the forest, with view to the snowy mountains, and with pure air free of any vestige of contamination; ideal for birdwatching. The service of mountain guides, includes all the equipment, feeding, tents, carriers, etc.
Exist routes for hiking of smaller duration; one that leaves from the 104 km. of the railroad crosses the ruins of Wiñaywayna and after few hours you arrive to Machu Picchu.
In all these routes lodgings of "Instituto Nacional de Cultura" (National Institute of Culture) exist where you can spend the night, and the roads are signaled, in spite of it, it is recommended to hire the services of experienced mountain guides.
By Train
The traditional and most frequent is by train from Cusco to the station of Aguas Calientes. This service offers the following categories
"Autovagón" (Main wagon) (US $55): Daily departures at 6 a.m. and 9 a.m., boarding service, lunches; return at 3 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. the trip lasts an average of 3 hours and it is direct.
The train has the "Inca car" (US$45), "Pullman" (US$34) and the "Express" (US $19). Departures Monday to Saturday, at 6:25 a.m., 8:40 a.m. and 10:15 a.m. Return to Cusco at 4 p.m., 6 p.m. and 8:15 p.m. The trip lasts a little more than 3 hours, and it makes stops in some intermediate towns.
When arriving to Aguas Calientes, small buses can be taken that ascend the mountain and transport you to the citadel.
The train line runs parallel to some parts of the Urubamba River, and the trip itself is a show for the beautiful landscapes that you observe.
Helicopter
Another option is a flight in a helicopter from Cusco to Aguas Calientes, ideal for those who only have little time and a better budget.
For those that have about seven exclusive days for the visit to Machu Picchu and also are adventure lovers, the walk through the "Inca trail" is recommended. This route has become the favorite of many tourists and only last year, more than 15 thousand people followed these roads to arrive to Machu Picchu.
This hiking begins in the 82 kilometer of the railroad Cusco - Aguas Calientes, in Ollantaytambo. Leaded by guides and in groups not smaller than 10; you arrive to Machu Picchu after 4 days, after traveling 40 kms. (24.85 miles) by the old Inca stone road, on the edge of the Urubamba canyon. The road crosses the Inca ruins of Patallacta, Huallabamba, Runku Rakay, Sayacmarca, Phuyu Pata Marca and Wiñaywayna. Besides captivating natural landscapes, water falls, tunnels, abundant flora and fauna, amid the exuberant vegetation for being near the forest, with view to the snowy mountains, and with pure air free of any vestige of contamination; ideal for birdwatching. The service of mountain guides, includes all the equipment, feeding, tents, carriers, etc.
Exist routes for hiking of smaller duration; one that leaves from the 104 km. of the railroad crosses the ruins of Wiñaywayna and after few hours you arrive to Machu Picchu.
In all these routes lodgings of "Instituto Nacional de Cultura" (National Institute of Culture) exist where you can spend the night, and the roads are signaled, in spite of it, it is recommended to hire the services of experienced mountain guides.
By Train
The traditional and most frequent is by train from Cusco to the station of Aguas Calientes. This service offers the following categories
"Autovagón" (Main wagon) (US $55): Daily departures at 6 a.m. and 9 a.m., boarding service, lunches; return at 3 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. the trip lasts an average of 3 hours and it is direct.
The train has the "Inca car" (US$45), "Pullman" (US$34) and the "Express" (US $19). Departures Monday to Saturday, at 6:25 a.m., 8:40 a.m. and 10:15 a.m. Return to Cusco at 4 p.m., 6 p.m. and 8:15 p.m. The trip lasts a little more than 3 hours, and it makes stops in some intermediate towns.
When arriving to Aguas Calientes, small buses can be taken that ascend the mountain and transport you to the citadel.
The train line runs parallel to some parts of the Urubamba River, and the trip itself is a show for the beautiful landscapes that you observe.
Helicopter
Another option is a flight in a helicopter from Cusco to Aguas Calientes, ideal for those who only have little time and a better budget.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Machu Picchu: casi 40 mil turistas visitaron la ciudadela inca a un mes de su reapertura
Más del 80 por ciento de las visitas fueron de extranjeros. El Camino Inca recibió alrededor cinco mil visitantes, todos ellos foráneos
Jueves 06 de mayo de 2010 - 03:10 pm
Imagen
Unos 38 mil 454 turistas visitaron la ciudadela incaica de Machu Picchu a un mes de su reapertura al público tras las lluvias que dañaron la vía férrea que permite el acceso, informó hoy el Instituto Nacional de Cultura (INC) en Cusco.
Según los reportes de abril, publicados por la agencia estatal Andina, de dicha cifra 33 mil 211 fueron extranjeros y cinco mil 243, nacionales, lo que evidenciaría que el interés del visitante foráneo se mantiene.
Machu Picchu fue reabierta el 1 de abril en una ceremonia especial que contó con la participación de la actriz estadounidense Susan Sarandon.
Las estadísticas muestran que aquel día la ciudadela recibió mil 688 visitas, el 2 de abril fueron mil 822 y el día tres unos mil 686. El promedio diario en todo el mes superó las mil personas.
Respecto al Camino Inca, también reabierto el 1 de abril, el INC-Cusco indicó que fue recorrido por cuatro mil 848 turistas, todos ellos extranjeros, entre adultos y estudiantes.
Jueves 06 de mayo de 2010 - 03:10 pm
Imagen
Unos 38 mil 454 turistas visitaron la ciudadela incaica de Machu Picchu a un mes de su reapertura al público tras las lluvias que dañaron la vía férrea que permite el acceso, informó hoy el Instituto Nacional de Cultura (INC) en Cusco.
Según los reportes de abril, publicados por la agencia estatal Andina, de dicha cifra 33 mil 211 fueron extranjeros y cinco mil 243, nacionales, lo que evidenciaría que el interés del visitante foráneo se mantiene.
Machu Picchu fue reabierta el 1 de abril en una ceremonia especial que contó con la participación de la actriz estadounidense Susan Sarandon.
Las estadísticas muestran que aquel día la ciudadela recibió mil 688 visitas, el 2 de abril fueron mil 822 y el día tres unos mil 686. El promedio diario en todo el mes superó las mil personas.
Respecto al Camino Inca, también reabierto el 1 de abril, el INC-Cusco indicó que fue recorrido por cuatro mil 848 turistas, todos ellos extranjeros, entre adultos y estudiantes.
President Garcia encourages tourists to visit Cusco and enjoy its festivals
Peru’s president Alan Garcia Thursday encouraged world tourists to visit Cusco and be part of its religious festivals, such as the Inti Raymi.
“We want to confirm Cusco's national identity and rescue its huge historic value, we also want the whole world to continue admiring Cusco,” he said.
Garcia said he was very pleased that once again Cusco authorities chose the Government Palace to launch this initiative.
“This house is honored with the presence of you all to attend the Inty Raymi, Qoyllurit’y and the Mamacha Carmen,” he stated.
During the ceremony held at the Honor Yard of the Government Palace, Garcia stressed on the need to continue promoting Cusco's religious festivals.
“We want to confirm Cusco's national identity and rescue its huge historic value, we also want the whole world to continue admiring Cusco,” he said.
Garcia said he was very pleased that once again Cusco authorities chose the Government Palace to launch this initiative.
“This house is honored with the presence of you all to attend the Inty Raymi, Qoyllurit’y and the Mamacha Carmen,” he stated.
During the ceremony held at the Honor Yard of the Government Palace, Garcia stressed on the need to continue promoting Cusco's religious festivals.
Capital of the Incas: Cusco
CUSCO -- Peru is the third largest country in South America after Brazil and Argentina with a total area of 1,285,216 square kilometers.
It is the 20th largest country in the world in terms of area. Peru is bordered by Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Ecuador. Western Peru is bordered by the Pacific Ocean, and the total length of its beaches is about 2,500 kilometers. The Andes Mountains are located towards the center of the country running from north to south. The highest peak is almost 7,000 meters. Due to its close proximity to the equator, Peru is subject to quite direct rays of the sun. You can suffer sunburn if you do not take precautions.
Argentinean José de San Martin proclaimed Peru’s independence in 1821. Peruvians do not much care about arms because they believe that the United Nations will protect them in the event of war. Peruvian people love to have fun and dance more than anything.
Although Lima is the current capital of Peru, the capital of the Inca Empire was Cusco. Cusco means ‘center of the world’ in Quechua. It is one-hour flight from Lima. Those who travel from Lima, which is at sea level, to Cusco, which is 3,450 meters above sea level, may suffer from altitude sickness
Since the country was dominated by Spaniards for 300 years, the official language is Spanish. Spanish is used in official paperwork. Moreover, along with Colombia, Peru is known as a country where the best Spanish is spoken. The local Quechua language is still alive among the people. The language is written in the Latin alphabet because Quechua had no written alphabet.
In Quechua, Peru means the “land of abundance.” Among its population of 29 million people, 45 percent are Amerindians, the indigenous people of Peru; 37 percent are mestizo, people of mixed European and Amerindian ancestry; and 15 percent are Europeans. There is also a significant minority from Africa, Japan and China, comprising 3 percent of the population. Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori is of Japanese descent. Most of the population follows Christianity. The number of Muslim believers is small. Out of the 29 million people in this country, only 600 are Muslims.
City center, Cuso
Although Lima is the current capital of Peru, the capital of the Inca Empire was Cusco. Cusco means “center of the world” in Quechua. It is one-hour flight from Lima. Those who travel from Lima, which is at sea level, to Cusco, which is 3,450 meters above sea level, may suffer from altitude sickness. The body may have difficulty in adapting to such a change in an hour. Therefore, visitors of Cusco are advised to spend some time resting once they arrive in the city.
The population of the Cusco region is about 5 million. The largest square in the city is called Wakaypata in Quechua, meaning the “crying sector.” Almost everywhere in the city is filled with tourists. Tourists get tired soon due to the city’s altitude as the breathing rate increases and the heart beats faster. This is normal for local people.
The historical features of the city have been preserved as much as possible. Traces of colonial times can still be felt in the architecture and the arrangement of the streets.
Stones, used in the construction of palaces and city walls in particular, clearly show how architecture developed in Incan times. Large, smooth stones, carefully slotted together, made quite strong structures. There are even stones with 12 corners. In a period when cement did not exist, buildings were made strong in this way.
Machu Picchu, Cusco
Some people earn a living taking photographs of people in Cusco’s square. Local people wearing traditional clothes come to the square with their dogs and goats and earn money by posing with tourists for photos. Those portraying Incan kings with their weapons and crowns attract more attention from tourists, who experience the thrill of taking a photo with an Incan king.
Cusco: A lively city
You can encounter many different activities and events as you stroll around the city. Festivals are a common sight: The streets of Cusco play host to festivals, which are held by different towns, almost all the time. Peruvians from different towns and cities keep their traditions alive with their traditional clothes and dances during these festivals. Both tourists and Peruvians are excited to witness these different cultures. Although it is known that there are many types of corn, purple corn is not well known. Purple corn is an agricultural product that can be found only in Cusco. Peruvians call it “mai morado.”
There are no legal obstacles to selling coca leaves, which is the raw material for cocaine, in Cusco. Thus, you can frequently find coca leaves in the markets of Cusco. Local people make tea out of these leaves or they chew them. Unfortunately, forests surrounding the city are destroyed to raise coca plants. Peru is the second largest cocaine producer in the world.
There are a lot of butcher’s shops where meat is sold outside. Slaughtered chickens are sold with their feet still attached. It is possible to see dozens of people waiting in the marketplace with their cell phones in their hands. These people make money by letting people who urgently need to use a telephone use their phones. People in need use their phones and pay them. This is one way to earn money here.
[QUICK FACTS]
Capital: Lima
Official language: Spanish and Quechua
Government: Constitutional republic
President: Alan Garcia Perez
Area: 1,285,216 square kilometers
Population: 29,546,963*
Gross domestic product (PPP): $253 billion**
Main religions: Roman Catholic (81.3 percent), Evangelical (12.5 percent)
*July 2009 estimate
**2009 estimate
The most popular food is here is ceviche. In this quintessential dish of Peru, they use raw sliced fish marinated in lemon and lime. Sweet potatoes are also an essential part of Peruvian cuisine. Mai morado is the most popular beverage, which is made out of the juice of the purple corn. Sugar is added to the purple corn juice and left to sit for one day before being served. It is also served with pineapple or apple.
As the female population is greater than the male population, it is normal to see females in every business here. For example, traffic officers are mostly women.
Peru has many natural beauties. It also has a wealth in underground resources, including bronze, silver, gold, oil, natural gas and coal. Agriculture, fishing and logging have an important place in the country’s economy.
There is a Turkish Cultural Center in Lima, but there are only 20 Turks living in the country. The center holds events to bring Turkish people together with Peruvians. They gather at the center, eating desserts and chatting. There are even Peruvians who are trying to learn Turkish. As a result of the efforts of the Catarata Education Company, Turkish is taught as a foreign language at a state school in Peru.
It is the 20th largest country in the world in terms of area. Peru is bordered by Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Ecuador. Western Peru is bordered by the Pacific Ocean, and the total length of its beaches is about 2,500 kilometers. The Andes Mountains are located towards the center of the country running from north to south. The highest peak is almost 7,000 meters. Due to its close proximity to the equator, Peru is subject to quite direct rays of the sun. You can suffer sunburn if you do not take precautions.
Argentinean José de San Martin proclaimed Peru’s independence in 1821. Peruvians do not much care about arms because they believe that the United Nations will protect them in the event of war. Peruvian people love to have fun and dance more than anything.
Although Lima is the current capital of Peru, the capital of the Inca Empire was Cusco. Cusco means ‘center of the world’ in Quechua. It is one-hour flight from Lima. Those who travel from Lima, which is at sea level, to Cusco, which is 3,450 meters above sea level, may suffer from altitude sickness
Since the country was dominated by Spaniards for 300 years, the official language is Spanish. Spanish is used in official paperwork. Moreover, along with Colombia, Peru is known as a country where the best Spanish is spoken. The local Quechua language is still alive among the people. The language is written in the Latin alphabet because Quechua had no written alphabet.
In Quechua, Peru means the “land of abundance.” Among its population of 29 million people, 45 percent are Amerindians, the indigenous people of Peru; 37 percent are mestizo, people of mixed European and Amerindian ancestry; and 15 percent are Europeans. There is also a significant minority from Africa, Japan and China, comprising 3 percent of the population. Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori is of Japanese descent. Most of the population follows Christianity. The number of Muslim believers is small. Out of the 29 million people in this country, only 600 are Muslims.
City center, Cuso
Although Lima is the current capital of Peru, the capital of the Inca Empire was Cusco. Cusco means “center of the world” in Quechua. It is one-hour flight from Lima. Those who travel from Lima, which is at sea level, to Cusco, which is 3,450 meters above sea level, may suffer from altitude sickness. The body may have difficulty in adapting to such a change in an hour. Therefore, visitors of Cusco are advised to spend some time resting once they arrive in the city.
The population of the Cusco region is about 5 million. The largest square in the city is called Wakaypata in Quechua, meaning the “crying sector.” Almost everywhere in the city is filled with tourists. Tourists get tired soon due to the city’s altitude as the breathing rate increases and the heart beats faster. This is normal for local people.
The historical features of the city have been preserved as much as possible. Traces of colonial times can still be felt in the architecture and the arrangement of the streets.
Stones, used in the construction of palaces and city walls in particular, clearly show how architecture developed in Incan times. Large, smooth stones, carefully slotted together, made quite strong structures. There are even stones with 12 corners. In a period when cement did not exist, buildings were made strong in this way.
Machu Picchu, Cusco
Some people earn a living taking photographs of people in Cusco’s square. Local people wearing traditional clothes come to the square with their dogs and goats and earn money by posing with tourists for photos. Those portraying Incan kings with their weapons and crowns attract more attention from tourists, who experience the thrill of taking a photo with an Incan king.
Cusco: A lively city
You can encounter many different activities and events as you stroll around the city. Festivals are a common sight: The streets of Cusco play host to festivals, which are held by different towns, almost all the time. Peruvians from different towns and cities keep their traditions alive with their traditional clothes and dances during these festivals. Both tourists and Peruvians are excited to witness these different cultures. Although it is known that there are many types of corn, purple corn is not well known. Purple corn is an agricultural product that can be found only in Cusco. Peruvians call it “mai morado.”
There are no legal obstacles to selling coca leaves, which is the raw material for cocaine, in Cusco. Thus, you can frequently find coca leaves in the markets of Cusco. Local people make tea out of these leaves or they chew them. Unfortunately, forests surrounding the city are destroyed to raise coca plants. Peru is the second largest cocaine producer in the world.
There are a lot of butcher’s shops where meat is sold outside. Slaughtered chickens are sold with their feet still attached. It is possible to see dozens of people waiting in the marketplace with their cell phones in their hands. These people make money by letting people who urgently need to use a telephone use their phones. People in need use their phones and pay them. This is one way to earn money here.
[QUICK FACTS]
Capital: Lima
Official language: Spanish and Quechua
Government: Constitutional republic
President: Alan Garcia Perez
Area: 1,285,216 square kilometers
Population: 29,546,963*
Gross domestic product (PPP): $253 billion**
Main religions: Roman Catholic (81.3 percent), Evangelical (12.5 percent)
*July 2009 estimate
**2009 estimate
The most popular food is here is ceviche. In this quintessential dish of Peru, they use raw sliced fish marinated in lemon and lime. Sweet potatoes are also an essential part of Peruvian cuisine. Mai morado is the most popular beverage, which is made out of the juice of the purple corn. Sugar is added to the purple corn juice and left to sit for one day before being served. It is also served with pineapple or apple.
As the female population is greater than the male population, it is normal to see females in every business here. For example, traffic officers are mostly women.
Peru has many natural beauties. It also has a wealth in underground resources, including bronze, silver, gold, oil, natural gas and coal. Agriculture, fishing and logging have an important place in the country’s economy.
There is a Turkish Cultural Center in Lima, but there are only 20 Turks living in the country. The center holds events to bring Turkish people together with Peruvians. They gather at the center, eating desserts and chatting. There are even Peruvians who are trying to learn Turkish. As a result of the efforts of the Catarata Education Company, Turkish is taught as a foreign language at a state school in Peru.
Peru: Lawmakers from Spain visited Cusco and Machu Picchu
A delegation of Spanish lawmakers visited Cusco and Machu Picchu and were delighted with the experience, reports TNews.
Cusco Regional President, Hugo Gonzáles Sayán, told Andina news agency that the visitors also had a positive impression of the works being carried out after the emergency caused by last January's rainfalls and floods.
“They are impressed with the way Cusco develops tourism sector in Peru,” said Gonzalez, adding that he expects them to spread the word about these positive things that they observed in Peru.
“This has been a protocolar and touristic visit,” commented Gonzalez.
Cusco Regional President, Hugo Gonzáles Sayán, told Andina news agency that the visitors also had a positive impression of the works being carried out after the emergency caused by last January's rainfalls and floods.
“They are impressed with the way Cusco develops tourism sector in Peru,” said Gonzalez, adding that he expects them to spread the word about these positive things that they observed in Peru.
“This has been a protocolar and touristic visit,” commented Gonzalez.
Travel: Machu Picchu, Peru
IT IS one of the most famous treks in the world – a four-day hike tracing the relics of a remarkable civilisation to the extraordinary Machu Picchu. which has just reopened after being closed by a mudslide earlier this year.
The Inca Trail is not for the faint-hearted – with a seemingly endless series of climbs and descents, altitude sickness, and the occasional downpour to weather – but the rewards are more than worth it.
Our group included a mix of Americans and Poles, one New Zealander and one Briton. Relatively young and fit, we took to the trail with gusto, typically completing each stage in half the allotted time.
At each break we would stop for a breather and lunch, and marvel at yet another 500-year-old ruin from an empire that stretched up and down the west side of the Andes mountain range, into modern day Chile, Bolivia and Argentina.
The trail links the holy city of Machu Picchu with the formal capital of Cusco. In the days of the Inca, scouts would have raced along this route in less than a day to pass a message from one city to the next, warning of an attack or passing on information about farming.
Watching our own porters happily skip from rock to rock, carrying almost their own bodyweight in food and camping equipment as we trudged along at half the pace and with half the weight, it was not difficult to picture their ancestors making equally light of their surroundings.
The first day was a relatively straightforward six hours, largely uphill, but on a gentle gradient. The second day – we had been warned – was the killer. Dead Woman's Pass, at 4,200ft, is the highest point on the trail. When we arrived after a two-hour climb it was easy to feel optimistic about the day ahead; surely it was all downhill from there.
Well, not exactly – we actually went downhill, then uphill again, and then downhill once more. After eight hours of alternating ascent and descent, there was a final, mammoth staircase of rocks to take us up to Sayacmarca, an old Inca base and watchtower.
Some members took one look at the steep staircase and headed on to camp. A glutton for punishment, I climbed on up and, despite my weary body, blistered hands and throbbing knees, tried to enjoy exploring a series of former rooms from where Inca soldiers would have kept watch for signs of invading armies.
One of the glories of the Inca Trail is that the altitude and distance from any major city creates the clearest skies you will ever see. Like the ancient Cambodians who built Angkor Wat, the Incas were able astronomers and the Intiwatana observatory stands at the highest point of Machu Picchu, from where they would have gazed at the stars.
The third day was mercifully shorter. The six-hour hike took us past ruins, including the former Inca village of Winay Wayna, the largest and most complete Inca site on the way to Machu Picchu.
Made up of 90 per cent original stones, it also has the famous large steps that are found in Machu Picchu, which farmers would have used to grow different crops. The dozens of families who lived here would have had one room each in which to sleep, eat and wash, and through which tourists are free to meander.
Also like Angkor Wat, Machu Picchu was lost for centuries. The Incas were so keen to hide it from the invading Spanish that they destroyed many parts of the trail and left the city half-built. It was only in 1915 that history professor Hiram Bingham was led to the ruins by local farmers. What they showed him that day must have left him speechless – it certainly had that impact on me.
The sacred city of the Incas is a wondrous complex of temples and ruins, towers and steps, framed on all sides by steep mountains. We left camp on the fourth day at just before 5am, as the morning darkness gave way to milky pre-dawn light. At that time of day, the only sounds were the rushing river below and our creaking bones.
About a hundred weary bodies then started a two-hour charge to Machu Picchu, as tickets to climb the postcard-famous Wayna Picchu mountain are limited. We stopped briefly at the Sun Gate, which sadly failed to live up to its name as dense fog covered the ancient city stretching out below. However, as we completed the final leg, the mist lifted to reveal Machu Picchu like jewels beneath a blanket.
The famous giant steps, which resemble natural football terraces, were for agriculture and used to study failing crops and cross-pollinations. Built more than 500 years ago, they look as good as new thanks to the Incas' success in using mud and llama hair as an adhesive to hold the rocks in place.
Amid the thatched roof buildings the Incas would have used for storage, and water fountains where noblemen would have cleaned themselves before entering, are towers, temples, a sundial and several grazing llamas who look a lot less impressed by their surroundings than the hordes of camera-happy tourists.
In one corner Wayna Picchu pokes its 300m-high head above the clouds and looks down on the old city. It takes two hours to climb up and down the mountain, using steps the Incas themselves laid, but the spectacular views more than compensate for the effort.
The one downside to Machu Picchu is the number of visitors. We were one of three groups walking the trail, but we only passed occasionally and the ruins were largely deserted. However, a lot of tourists get the train across and the site itself is far more crowded. Trains go from the beautiful Peruvian city of Cusco – the Inca empire's capital – to Aguas Calientes, from where it is a short bus ride to the heritage site.
Staying overnight in Aguas Calientes, a town that gives the impression of being half-built because of all the bare brick buildings, but which is stocked with restaurants, souvenir shops and hotels, means you can visit Machu Picchu first thing in the morning, guaranteeing an option on one of the 400 daily places climbing Wayna Picchu, either at 7am or 10am. However, the town has little to recommend it and for those who really want to learn about the history of the area, and enjoy a challenge, walking the Inca Trail is the way to go.
The Inca Trail is not for the faint-hearted – with a seemingly endless series of climbs and descents, altitude sickness, and the occasional downpour to weather – but the rewards are more than worth it.
Our group included a mix of Americans and Poles, one New Zealander and one Briton. Relatively young and fit, we took to the trail with gusto, typically completing each stage in half the allotted time.
At each break we would stop for a breather and lunch, and marvel at yet another 500-year-old ruin from an empire that stretched up and down the west side of the Andes mountain range, into modern day Chile, Bolivia and Argentina.
The trail links the holy city of Machu Picchu with the formal capital of Cusco. In the days of the Inca, scouts would have raced along this route in less than a day to pass a message from one city to the next, warning of an attack or passing on information about farming.
Watching our own porters happily skip from rock to rock, carrying almost their own bodyweight in food and camping equipment as we trudged along at half the pace and with half the weight, it was not difficult to picture their ancestors making equally light of their surroundings.
The first day was a relatively straightforward six hours, largely uphill, but on a gentle gradient. The second day – we had been warned – was the killer. Dead Woman's Pass, at 4,200ft, is the highest point on the trail. When we arrived after a two-hour climb it was easy to feel optimistic about the day ahead; surely it was all downhill from there.
Well, not exactly – we actually went downhill, then uphill again, and then downhill once more. After eight hours of alternating ascent and descent, there was a final, mammoth staircase of rocks to take us up to Sayacmarca, an old Inca base and watchtower.
Some members took one look at the steep staircase and headed on to camp. A glutton for punishment, I climbed on up and, despite my weary body, blistered hands and throbbing knees, tried to enjoy exploring a series of former rooms from where Inca soldiers would have kept watch for signs of invading armies.
One of the glories of the Inca Trail is that the altitude and distance from any major city creates the clearest skies you will ever see. Like the ancient Cambodians who built Angkor Wat, the Incas were able astronomers and the Intiwatana observatory stands at the highest point of Machu Picchu, from where they would have gazed at the stars.
The third day was mercifully shorter. The six-hour hike took us past ruins, including the former Inca village of Winay Wayna, the largest and most complete Inca site on the way to Machu Picchu.
Made up of 90 per cent original stones, it also has the famous large steps that are found in Machu Picchu, which farmers would have used to grow different crops. The dozens of families who lived here would have had one room each in which to sleep, eat and wash, and through which tourists are free to meander.
Also like Angkor Wat, Machu Picchu was lost for centuries. The Incas were so keen to hide it from the invading Spanish that they destroyed many parts of the trail and left the city half-built. It was only in 1915 that history professor Hiram Bingham was led to the ruins by local farmers. What they showed him that day must have left him speechless – it certainly had that impact on me.
The sacred city of the Incas is a wondrous complex of temples and ruins, towers and steps, framed on all sides by steep mountains. We left camp on the fourth day at just before 5am, as the morning darkness gave way to milky pre-dawn light. At that time of day, the only sounds were the rushing river below and our creaking bones.
About a hundred weary bodies then started a two-hour charge to Machu Picchu, as tickets to climb the postcard-famous Wayna Picchu mountain are limited. We stopped briefly at the Sun Gate, which sadly failed to live up to its name as dense fog covered the ancient city stretching out below. However, as we completed the final leg, the mist lifted to reveal Machu Picchu like jewels beneath a blanket.
The famous giant steps, which resemble natural football terraces, were for agriculture and used to study failing crops and cross-pollinations. Built more than 500 years ago, they look as good as new thanks to the Incas' success in using mud and llama hair as an adhesive to hold the rocks in place.
Amid the thatched roof buildings the Incas would have used for storage, and water fountains where noblemen would have cleaned themselves before entering, are towers, temples, a sundial and several grazing llamas who look a lot less impressed by their surroundings than the hordes of camera-happy tourists.
In one corner Wayna Picchu pokes its 300m-high head above the clouds and looks down on the old city. It takes two hours to climb up and down the mountain, using steps the Incas themselves laid, but the spectacular views more than compensate for the effort.
The one downside to Machu Picchu is the number of visitors. We were one of three groups walking the trail, but we only passed occasionally and the ruins were largely deserted. However, a lot of tourists get the train across and the site itself is far more crowded. Trains go from the beautiful Peruvian city of Cusco – the Inca empire's capital – to Aguas Calientes, from where it is a short bus ride to the heritage site.
Staying overnight in Aguas Calientes, a town that gives the impression of being half-built because of all the bare brick buildings, but which is stocked with restaurants, souvenir shops and hotels, means you can visit Machu Picchu first thing in the morning, guaranteeing an option on one of the 400 daily places climbing Wayna Picchu, either at 7am or 10am. However, the town has little to recommend it and for those who really want to learn about the history of the area, and enjoy a challenge, walking the Inca Trail is the way to go.
Broads Authority mulls World Heritage bid
The status would put the area on a par with the Pyramids, Machu Picchu, Victoria Falls and the Great Barrier Reef.
The decision to bid for recognition of the Broads as a cultural landscape under the World Heritage Convention, was first mooted in 2005/6, but was put on hold to await government guidance.
Broads Authority members will meet to discuss whether the Authority should go ahead with its bid this Friday (14th).
Broads Authority chief executive John Packman said: "The Broads is a very special area and we believe merits this international recognition.
"Our preliminary view suggests that the Broads would meet the UK criteria in three of the ten categories under which sites can be nominated. As a member of the UK’s family of National Parks we are some distance there already."
There are 28 World Heritage Sites in the UK including Durham Cathedral and Castle, Canterbury Cathedral, Ironbridge Gorge, Stonehenge, Blenheim Palace, the City of Bath, Tower of London, Palace of Westminister, Dorset and East Devon Coast, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape.
The decision to bid for recognition of the Broads as a cultural landscape under the World Heritage Convention, was first mooted in 2005/6, but was put on hold to await government guidance.
Broads Authority members will meet to discuss whether the Authority should go ahead with its bid this Friday (14th).
Broads Authority chief executive John Packman said: "The Broads is a very special area and we believe merits this international recognition.
"Our preliminary view suggests that the Broads would meet the UK criteria in three of the ten categories under which sites can be nominated. As a member of the UK’s family of National Parks we are some distance there already."
There are 28 World Heritage Sites in the UK including Durham Cathedral and Castle, Canterbury Cathedral, Ironbridge Gorge, Stonehenge, Blenheim Palace, the City of Bath, Tower of London, Palace of Westminister, Dorset and East Devon Coast, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape.
Peru; Machu Picchu received more than 38,400 tourists in April
More than 38,400 tourists visited Inca citadel of Machu Picchu, one month after its official reopening to tourism, reports the National Institute of Culture, or INC.
The citadel remain closed for almost two months, due to the severe damage that last January's rainfalls and floods caused to the railways, which is the only access.
According to Andina news agency, more than 33,000 of those visitors were foreigners, which indicates that the place still draws lots of attention.
Machu Picchu was officially reopened on April 1, with a special ceremony with the presence of the American actress Susan Sarandon; that day the citadel had 1,688 visitors.
The average number of daily visitors was higher than 1,000 during all April.
The citadel remain closed for almost two months, due to the severe damage that last January's rainfalls and floods caused to the railways, which is the only access.
According to Andina news agency, more than 33,000 of those visitors were foreigners, which indicates that the place still draws lots of attention.
Machu Picchu was officially reopened on April 1, with a special ceremony with the presence of the American actress Susan Sarandon; that day the citadel had 1,688 visitors.
The average number of daily visitors was higher than 1,000 during all April.
Ruisn of Machupicchu
The ruins of Machu Picchu, rediscovered in 1911 by Yale archaeologist Hiram Bingham, are one of the most beautiful and enigmatic ancient sites in the world. While the Inca people certainly used the Andean mountain top (9060 feet elevation), erecting many hundreds of stone structures from the early 1400's, legends and myths indicate that Machu Picchu (meaning 'Old Peak' in the Quechua language) was revered as a sacred place from a far earlier time. Whatever its origins, the Inca turned the site into a small (5 square miles) but extraordinary city. Invisible from below and completely self-contained, surrounded by agricultural terraces sufficient to feed the population, and watered by natural springs, Machu Picchu seems to have been utilized by the Inca as a secret ceremonial city. Two thousand feet above the rumbling Urubamba river, the cloud shrouded ruins have palaces, baths, temples, storage rooms and some 150 houses, all in a remarkable state of preservation. These structures, carved from the gray granite of the mountain top are wonders of both architectural and aesthetic genius. Many of the building blocks weigh 50 tons or more yet are so precisely sculpted and fitted together with such exactitude that the mortarless joints will not permit the insertion of even a thin knife blade. Little is known of the social or religious use of the site during Inca times. The skeletal remains of ten females to one male had led to the casual assumption that the site may have been a sanctuary for the training of priestesses and /or brides for the Inca nobility. However, subsequent osteological examination of the bones revealed an equal number of male bones, thereby indicating that Machu Picchu was not exclusively a temple or dwelling place of women.
One of Machu Picchu's primary functions was that of astronomical observatory. The Intihuatana stone (meaning 'Hitching Post of the Sun') has been shown to be a precise indicator of the date of the two equinoxes and other significant celestial periods. The Intihuatana (also called the Saywa or Sukhanka stone) is designed to hitch the sun at the two equinoxes, not at the solstice (as is stated in some tourist literature and new-age books). At midday on March 21st and September 21st, the sun stands almost directly above the pillar, creating no shadow at all. At this precise moment the sun "sits with all his might upon the pillar" and is for a moment "tied" to the rock. At these periods, the Incas held ceremonies at the stone in which they "tied the sun" to halt its northward movement in the sky. There is also an Intihuatana alignment with the December solstice (the summer solstice of the southern hemisphere), when at sunset the sun sinks behind Pumasillo (the Puma's claw), the most sacred mountain of the western Vilcabamba range, but the shrine itself is primarily equinoctial.
Shamanic legends say that when sensitive persons touch their foreheads to the stone, the Intihuatana opens one's vision to the spirit world (the author had such an experience, which is described in detail in Chapter one of Places of Peace and Power, on the web site, www.sacredsites.com). Intihuatana stones were the supremely sacred objects of the Inca people and were systematically searched for and destroyed by the Spaniards. When the Intihuatana stone was broken at an Inca shrine, the Inca believed that the deities of the place died or departed. The Spaniards never found Machu Picchu, even though they suspected its existence, thus the Intihuatana stone and its resident spirits remain in their original position. The mountain top sanctuary fell into disuse and was abandoned some forty years after the Spanish took Cuzco in 1533. Supply lines linking the many Inca social centers were disrupted and the great empire came to an end. The photograph shows the ruins of Machu Picchu in the foreground with the sacred peak of Wayna Picchu towering behind. Partway down the northern side of Wayna Picchu is the so-called "Temple of the Moon" inside a cavern. As with the ruins of Machu Picchu, there is no archaeological or iconographical evidence to substantiate the 'new-age' assumption that this cave was a goddess site.
One of Machu Picchu's primary functions was that of astronomical observatory. The Intihuatana stone (meaning 'Hitching Post of the Sun') has been shown to be a precise indicator of the date of the two equinoxes and other significant celestial periods. The Intihuatana (also called the Saywa or Sukhanka stone) is designed to hitch the sun at the two equinoxes, not at the solstice (as is stated in some tourist literature and new-age books). At midday on March 21st and September 21st, the sun stands almost directly above the pillar, creating no shadow at all. At this precise moment the sun "sits with all his might upon the pillar" and is for a moment "tied" to the rock. At these periods, the Incas held ceremonies at the stone in which they "tied the sun" to halt its northward movement in the sky. There is also an Intihuatana alignment with the December solstice (the summer solstice of the southern hemisphere), when at sunset the sun sinks behind Pumasillo (the Puma's claw), the most sacred mountain of the western Vilcabamba range, but the shrine itself is primarily equinoctial.
Shamanic legends say that when sensitive persons touch their foreheads to the stone, the Intihuatana opens one's vision to the spirit world (the author had such an experience, which is described in detail in Chapter one of Places of Peace and Power, on the web site, www.sacredsites.com). Intihuatana stones were the supremely sacred objects of the Inca people and were systematically searched for and destroyed by the Spaniards. When the Intihuatana stone was broken at an Inca shrine, the Inca believed that the deities of the place died or departed. The Spaniards never found Machu Picchu, even though they suspected its existence, thus the Intihuatana stone and its resident spirits remain in their original position. The mountain top sanctuary fell into disuse and was abandoned some forty years after the Spanish took Cuzco in 1533. Supply lines linking the many Inca social centers were disrupted and the great empire came to an end. The photograph shows the ruins of Machu Picchu in the foreground with the sacred peak of Wayna Picchu towering behind. Partway down the northern side of Wayna Picchu is the so-called "Temple of the Moon" inside a cavern. As with the ruins of Machu Picchu, there is no archaeological or iconographical evidence to substantiate the 'new-age' assumption that this cave was a goddess site.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands: The perfect equation for a South American break
Water fights belong to my schooldays - or so I thought. Because there were my guide and I sheltering under the ornate balconies of one of South America's most beautiful colonial cities, Cuenca, as a gang of giggling children did their best to drench us with their arsenal of waterbombs.
Independence Day: The Plaza de la Independencia sits at the heart of Quito, Ecuador's charming capital
We had left our flank unguarded, and I felt a damp 'splat', followed by a whoop of triumph. another pair of damp trousers.
Fortunately, Ecuador's children do not normally run riot, and nor are they waging a vendetta against English tourists. I'd walked into a countrywide ambush, also known as Carnival, the four-day pre-Lent holiday during which children here have carte blanche to douse grown-ups.
Leo, my guide and a fahttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-1210470/More-Machu-Picchu-Condorther himself, had warned me to wind up my window whenever we drove past a ten-year-old, but he couldn't protect me from the odd soaking.
More...Feature: Condors and canyons in unseen Peru
Feature: Ecuador, where the wildlife rivals the Galapagos
More on Ecuador in our South America section
It proved an unforgettably intimate introduction to this Latin American country. Though the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth has focused attention on the Galapagos Islands whose unique wildlife inspired his revolutionary ideas. But as extraordinary a destination as they undoubtedly are, tiny Ecuador, which owns the archipelago, is far more than just a stop on the way.
It is also truly a journey to the centre of the earth - for Ecuador means 'equator' in Spanish. Finding the actual spot where north becomes south is not as easy as you might think.
My search started off well enough - an imposing 100ft stone monument topped with a five-ton globe proclaimed I had reached the equator, the centre of an entertainingly kitsch theme park called Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the World). this was where an 18th-century French expedition first pinpointed the spot - the parallel ranks of Andean peaks were supposedly vital for calibrating their instruments.
Here, demonstrations suggest water does indeed swirl down a plughole in opposite directions depending which side of the equator you're on. And you can have your picture taken with a foot in either hemisphere. But then a bombshell - satellite technology has demonstrated that the French team got it wrong by about 800ft. So, with impressively entrepreneurial spirit, rival spots have sprung up.
Brooding: Ecuador is a country dotted with volcanoes, notably the huge - and active - Tungurahua
For a more intriguing - not to mention calmer - place to contemplate the earth, we headed for Quitsato, 40 miles north of Quito. Ringed by imposing volcanoes, a giant sundial has been constructed with a 30ft orange cylinder as its pointer, on a spot confirmed by GPS to be exactly 0 degrees latitude. There is next to no development here, only a guide who explained how archaeological finds suggest the Incas worked out where the equator ran several centuries before we managed to.
The enthusiasm of Ecuadorians to share their unique place in the world is infectious. Street vendors selling beautiful scarves and blankets congregate wherever there are tourists. But for a true Ecuadorian shopping experience, I headed to Otavalo market, a short drive beyond Quitsato. An entire square of the pretty town was thronged with all manner of stalls selling bright textiles, leather-work, Andean musical instruments and ornaments.
Just as fascinating was the food market, boasting such exotic fruits as tree tomatoes, red bananas, melting custard apples and flowers.
My trip had begun in the capital, Quito, overshadowed by another immense volcano and renowned for having South America's largest colonial-era centre. With its network of narrow streets and beautiful churches, in particular the all-gold interior of the Jesuits' Compania, it was quite dazzling.
Stalls roasting entire pigs poke out from the pavements, while candyfloss-style taffy is squirted directly out of taps. all Ecuadorian life is focused on Quito's Plaza Grande. While we were there, the tall, blonde finalists for this year's Miss Ecuador paraded through the square, just as disgruntled gas workers were politely demonstrating outside the President's palace.
No prizes for guessing who got more attention.
I was travelling with Saga tours, rightly renowned for its friendly, well-informed local guides and selection of high-quality hotels and restaurants.
Lion's roar: The Galapagos Islands are a wildlife wonderland where residents include sea lions
In Quito, the culinary highlight was rincon La ronda, the perfect opportunity to hear the haunting music of panpipes.
Food is one of the unexpected joys of Ecuador - every meal or snack seemed to feature bananas or corn, while fried pork, grilled fish, and, if you're feeling brave, guinea pig cooked on a spit, are all popular delicacies.
From Quito we headed south along the evocatively-named Avenue of the Volcanoes, where snow covers the peaks of those which tower over the 5,000m (16,400ft) mark.
While the area hasn't witnessed a major eruption in living memory, many of these gigantic cones are by no means extinct. One, a mouthful named Tungurahua, put on a show, belching out enormous clouds of ash as I watched from a safe distance. The delightful subtropical spa town of Banos, on the edge of the Amazon basin, is en-route. Also unmissable is Ingapirca, a miniature Machu Picchu built by the Incas as a staging post and now run by the Canari, a people who predate even them.
But Cuenca was the highlight, its restored colonial houses overlooking a tumbling, tree-lined river. Fortunately, Carnival only comes once a year, and otherwise Ecuador is pretty safe - although the roads aren't for the faint-hearted.
Cuenca also has a permanent claim to fame - it is considered to be home to the Panama hat despite its name. The inaccurate title was popularised because the hats first spread to Europe after being worn by workers digging the Panama Canal. After a tour of the factory of Hermanos Ortega, where they bleach, mould and finish the hand-woven hats in traditional fashion, I duly bought my own.
After avoiding the odd watery ambush, it was onwards to the Galapagos - and seldom can there have been a place so guaranteed to exceed your expectations. After an hour-and-a-half flight from the wealthy port city of Guayaquil, I was transferred to my luxury yacht, the 90ft M/C Anahi.
I marvelled at the huge sealions basking in the hot sunshine on the decks of unoccupied neighbouring boats, then it was back onto the island of Santa Cruz, in search of the world-famous giant tortoises. There they were - mountainous, creatures, munching through the lush grass or wallowing in refreshing mud pools.
After an overnight sail, it was on to the lava island of Chinese Hat. The moment we stepped ashore from our dinghy, baby sealions came shuffling up to us, mewing curiously. It was during moments like these that I realised why the islands inspired Darwin so much.
Shell suit: The famous tortoises of the Galapagos were among the animals that enthralled Charles Darwin
Well-managed tourism - my funny, engaging, locally-born guide, Johanna, ensured none of our party got too close - means once-in-a-lifetime experiences can happen almost hourly. Just when we thought we couldn't top snorkelling with Galapagos penguins - tiny, black-and-white torpedoes zipping through shoals of tropical fish - we were astounded again. After getting up at six on our last morning, we were lucky enough to see a female green turtle waddling back to the waves after laying her precious eggs on a magnificent white sand beach. Even as we reluctantly made our way back to the airport, we were treated to the surreal sight of a bus stop where every bench was occupied by a slumbering sealion.
There's no need to leave South America to the backpackers. Ecuador gives you the chance to experience this magical continent in miniature, with one of the world's ultimate destinations as a bonus.
Travel Facts
Independence Day: The Plaza de la Independencia sits at the heart of Quito, Ecuador's charming capital
We had left our flank unguarded, and I felt a damp 'splat', followed by a whoop of triumph. another pair of damp trousers.
Fortunately, Ecuador's children do not normally run riot, and nor are they waging a vendetta against English tourists. I'd walked into a countrywide ambush, also known as Carnival, the four-day pre-Lent holiday during which children here have carte blanche to douse grown-ups.
Leo, my guide and a fahttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-1210470/More-Machu-Picchu-Condorther himself, had warned me to wind up my window whenever we drove past a ten-year-old, but he couldn't protect me from the odd soaking.
More...Feature: Condors and canyons in unseen Peru
Feature: Ecuador, where the wildlife rivals the Galapagos
More on Ecuador in our South America section
It proved an unforgettably intimate introduction to this Latin American country. Though the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth has focused attention on the Galapagos Islands whose unique wildlife inspired his revolutionary ideas. But as extraordinary a destination as they undoubtedly are, tiny Ecuador, which owns the archipelago, is far more than just a stop on the way.
It is also truly a journey to the centre of the earth - for Ecuador means 'equator' in Spanish. Finding the actual spot where north becomes south is not as easy as you might think.
My search started off well enough - an imposing 100ft stone monument topped with a five-ton globe proclaimed I had reached the equator, the centre of an entertainingly kitsch theme park called Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the World). this was where an 18th-century French expedition first pinpointed the spot - the parallel ranks of Andean peaks were supposedly vital for calibrating their instruments.
Here, demonstrations suggest water does indeed swirl down a plughole in opposite directions depending which side of the equator you're on. And you can have your picture taken with a foot in either hemisphere. But then a bombshell - satellite technology has demonstrated that the French team got it wrong by about 800ft. So, with impressively entrepreneurial spirit, rival spots have sprung up.
Brooding: Ecuador is a country dotted with volcanoes, notably the huge - and active - Tungurahua
For a more intriguing - not to mention calmer - place to contemplate the earth, we headed for Quitsato, 40 miles north of Quito. Ringed by imposing volcanoes, a giant sundial has been constructed with a 30ft orange cylinder as its pointer, on a spot confirmed by GPS to be exactly 0 degrees latitude. There is next to no development here, only a guide who explained how archaeological finds suggest the Incas worked out where the equator ran several centuries before we managed to.
The enthusiasm of Ecuadorians to share their unique place in the world is infectious. Street vendors selling beautiful scarves and blankets congregate wherever there are tourists. But for a true Ecuadorian shopping experience, I headed to Otavalo market, a short drive beyond Quitsato. An entire square of the pretty town was thronged with all manner of stalls selling bright textiles, leather-work, Andean musical instruments and ornaments.
Just as fascinating was the food market, boasting such exotic fruits as tree tomatoes, red bananas, melting custard apples and flowers.
My trip had begun in the capital, Quito, overshadowed by another immense volcano and renowned for having South America's largest colonial-era centre. With its network of narrow streets and beautiful churches, in particular the all-gold interior of the Jesuits' Compania, it was quite dazzling.
Stalls roasting entire pigs poke out from the pavements, while candyfloss-style taffy is squirted directly out of taps. all Ecuadorian life is focused on Quito's Plaza Grande. While we were there, the tall, blonde finalists for this year's Miss Ecuador paraded through the square, just as disgruntled gas workers were politely demonstrating outside the President's palace.
No prizes for guessing who got more attention.
I was travelling with Saga tours, rightly renowned for its friendly, well-informed local guides and selection of high-quality hotels and restaurants.
Lion's roar: The Galapagos Islands are a wildlife wonderland where residents include sea lions
In Quito, the culinary highlight was rincon La ronda, the perfect opportunity to hear the haunting music of panpipes.
Food is one of the unexpected joys of Ecuador - every meal or snack seemed to feature bananas or corn, while fried pork, grilled fish, and, if you're feeling brave, guinea pig cooked on a spit, are all popular delicacies.
From Quito we headed south along the evocatively-named Avenue of the Volcanoes, where snow covers the peaks of those which tower over the 5,000m (16,400ft) mark.
While the area hasn't witnessed a major eruption in living memory, many of these gigantic cones are by no means extinct. One, a mouthful named Tungurahua, put on a show, belching out enormous clouds of ash as I watched from a safe distance. The delightful subtropical spa town of Banos, on the edge of the Amazon basin, is en-route. Also unmissable is Ingapirca, a miniature Machu Picchu built by the Incas as a staging post and now run by the Canari, a people who predate even them.
But Cuenca was the highlight, its restored colonial houses overlooking a tumbling, tree-lined river. Fortunately, Carnival only comes once a year, and otherwise Ecuador is pretty safe - although the roads aren't for the faint-hearted.
Cuenca also has a permanent claim to fame - it is considered to be home to the Panama hat despite its name. The inaccurate title was popularised because the hats first spread to Europe after being worn by workers digging the Panama Canal. After a tour of the factory of Hermanos Ortega, where they bleach, mould and finish the hand-woven hats in traditional fashion, I duly bought my own.
After avoiding the odd watery ambush, it was onwards to the Galapagos - and seldom can there have been a place so guaranteed to exceed your expectations. After an hour-and-a-half flight from the wealthy port city of Guayaquil, I was transferred to my luxury yacht, the 90ft M/C Anahi.
I marvelled at the huge sealions basking in the hot sunshine on the decks of unoccupied neighbouring boats, then it was back onto the island of Santa Cruz, in search of the world-famous giant tortoises. There they were - mountainous, creatures, munching through the lush grass or wallowing in refreshing mud pools.
After an overnight sail, it was on to the lava island of Chinese Hat. The moment we stepped ashore from our dinghy, baby sealions came shuffling up to us, mewing curiously. It was during moments like these that I realised why the islands inspired Darwin so much.
Shell suit: The famous tortoises of the Galapagos were among the animals that enthralled Charles Darwin
Well-managed tourism - my funny, engaging, locally-born guide, Johanna, ensured none of our party got too close - means once-in-a-lifetime experiences can happen almost hourly. Just when we thought we couldn't top snorkelling with Galapagos penguins - tiny, black-and-white torpedoes zipping through shoals of tropical fish - we were astounded again. After getting up at six on our last morning, we were lucky enough to see a female green turtle waddling back to the waves after laying her precious eggs on a magnificent white sand beach. Even as we reluctantly made our way back to the airport, we were treated to the surreal sight of a bus stop where every bench was occupied by a slumbering sealion.
There's no need to leave South America to the backpackers. Ecuador gives you the chance to experience this magical continent in miniature, with one of the world's ultimate destinations as a bonus.
Travel Facts
Destinations You Didn't Know You Could Reach By Cruise
If you think cruises are all about fun in the sun in the Caribbean, think again. These days your ship could take you to a desert location like the pyramids in Egypt, or Peru's mountainside destination of Machu Picchu. It's not about where you dock, it's about what inland sights are accessible from there. And as cruise companies add to their itineraries to tempt you on board, excursions are going ever further, according to Terry Dale, President and CEO of Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA). "With the globalization of cruise destinations and itineraries that often include extended, even multi-day, shore excursions, a cruise vacation today can be the easiest way to explore some of the world's most remote, exotic and culturally significant places." Even better, you can book your whole trip, including those far-flung tours, through your cruise line.
The View from Peru
I really meant to stick to the formula of at least two postings a month. But right after my first I took a long trip around South America, starting in Lima, Peru. From what I'd heard, Lima was a sprawling, grungy city, your typical third-world hell-hole, infested with thieves and beggars.
Sprawling it surely is; no-one could say whether it had eight million or nine million inhabitants. But you can drive several miles, from the upscale district of Miraflores almost to the pompously-edificed center, and see little but broad tree-lined boulevards and bourgeois homes with leafy gardens.
Peru's middle class is growing. This was borne forcefully in on us our first evening, when Yvonne and I walked down from our hotel to the five-hundred foot cliff--not rock but clay and pebbles, detritus borne down from the Andes--that separates the city from the sea. There we found an enormous food-court, on several levels, linked by escalators, seething with smartly-dressed young people. The economy is booming, the mineral wealth that drew Pizarro supplemented by recent oil and natural-gas finds and managed with an efficiency that defies Latin stereotypes (Peru recovered from the recession well ahead of the U.S.). We dined in a large glass-enclosed restaurant while a full moon sank towards the Pacific. There wasn't an empty table in sight.
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But, as an English expat we met in a bar told us, "Peru is still fifteen years behind Chile". The wealth hasn't spread much beyond urban Lima--not to the poor in the shanty-towns that circle the city, nor to the high plateaus of the Andes, nor to the slice of Amazon basin that constitutes more than half the country. That was one of the themes in Peru's very first Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Film.
Its title was La Teta Asustada--literally "The Startled Nipple", an expression as meaningless to English speakers as a literal translation of its Oscarized version, The Milk of Sorrow ("La Leche de la Tristeza") would be for speakers of Spanish . We watched it on TV right before the Oscars came on. During commercial breaks they showed footage of the crowds already packing Lima's squares, reporters thrusting mikes under their noses so they could say just how thrilled and happy they were. It was a shame--they really believed they had a chance to nail their first Oscar. Half an hour into the movie, we knew they hadn't.
The title derives from the fact that the heroine attributes her physical and psychological problems to having been breast-fed by a mother who was gang-raped and brutalized during vicious warfare between security forces and the Maoist guerrilla movement known incongruously as Sendero Luminoso-- "The Shining Path" (the film carefully refrains from saying which side was responsible, yet was hailed as courageous by some for even mentioning events that many Peruvians are still unwilling to confront).
That internecine strife is one reason why you can't make an honest film about working-class life in Greater Lima without using subtitles (another first for this movie). Refugees from the Andean areas where the worst fighting took place often have Quechua as their primary language. Imagine a contemporary American movie set in Chicago or New York where half the dialog is in Navaho and you'll glimpse one of the differences between there and here. But perhaps because of this, or because it was altogether too dark for an audience that reveled in Life is Beautiful, Peru's first Oscar nomination never had a chance.
Peru's interaction with the U.S. is subtle and complex, perhaps best symbolized by Cholo Potter and Los Cholimpsons--t-shirts and comic postcards showing Harry Potter and the Simpsons kitted out in full Andean-peasant gear ("cholo" in Peru is a pejorative term for highland people of mixed or indigenous descent). Or by Peru's response to the outposts of economic imperialism that cluster round major intersections, the McDonalds, KFCs, Burger Kings: a homegrown fast-food chain called Bembo's. I didn't find this edgy mix of fascination and mockery in Chile or Argentina. Maybe it's history. Chile and Argentina are countries with a shallow past, large parts of them settled only in the last century. Peru has a past as deep as Southern Europe's--the U.S. is but a pup beside it. That, given our current dominance. is bound to produce mixed feelings.
Think Peru, and you think Inca. Yet the Incas only occupied Lima for about seventy years. Romans of the continent, they did little beyond superimposing military might and bureaucratic organization on layers of civilization millennia thick. You get some sense of that in the Larco museum. with its tens of thousands of pieces dating back 4,000 years--jewelry, ceramics, textiles, almost all of an astonishing beauty and sophistication (http://catalogmuseolarco.perucultural. org.pe). The museum's overall impact is stunning, and raises questions about the relationship between utility and beauty that I'd like to explore at a later date.
And had you ever heard of Huaca Pucllana? I hadn't, but there it is, in the heart of Miraflores, a pre-Hispanic temple-cum-city-hall that predates Machu Picchu by almost a millennium. Lima has been almost totally destroyed by earthquakes three times. but the walls of Huaca Pucllana still stand. Imagine a library stack. Take out a book or two from each shelf. Push the books so that they lean a fraction to the left or to the right, alternate shelves in alternate directions. Replace each book with an adobe brick. Instead of fracturing, buildings like this roll smoothly with the tremors, surviving countless shocks. So much for "primitive" architecture.
So, all in all, Peru's very different from its stereotypes. But then, so are most countries, even after waves of globalization have washed over them--different from their stereotypes and also, for all the resemblances globalization brings, different in subtle ways from one another. We all badly need, from time to time, to be reminded of tha
Sprawling it surely is; no-one could say whether it had eight million or nine million inhabitants. But you can drive several miles, from the upscale district of Miraflores almost to the pompously-edificed center, and see little but broad tree-lined boulevards and bourgeois homes with leafy gardens.
Peru's middle class is growing. This was borne forcefully in on us our first evening, when Yvonne and I walked down from our hotel to the five-hundred foot cliff--not rock but clay and pebbles, detritus borne down from the Andes--that separates the city from the sea. There we found an enormous food-court, on several levels, linked by escalators, seething with smartly-dressed young people. The economy is booming, the mineral wealth that drew Pizarro supplemented by recent oil and natural-gas finds and managed with an efficiency that defies Latin stereotypes (Peru recovered from the recession well ahead of the U.S.). We dined in a large glass-enclosed restaurant while a full moon sank towards the Pacific. There wasn't an empty table in sight.
Related Articles
Global Psyche: On Their Own Time
An Introduction
"Have the Rules Changed?"
Nancy Grace on Endurance
Hillary Schadenfreude
Find a Therapist
Search for a mental health professional near you.
Find Local:
Acupuncturists
Chiropractors
Massage Therapists
Dentists
and more!
But, as an English expat we met in a bar told us, "Peru is still fifteen years behind Chile". The wealth hasn't spread much beyond urban Lima--not to the poor in the shanty-towns that circle the city, nor to the high plateaus of the Andes, nor to the slice of Amazon basin that constitutes more than half the country. That was one of the themes in Peru's very first Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Film.
Its title was La Teta Asustada--literally "The Startled Nipple", an expression as meaningless to English speakers as a literal translation of its Oscarized version, The Milk of Sorrow ("La Leche de la Tristeza") would be for speakers of Spanish . We watched it on TV right before the Oscars came on. During commercial breaks they showed footage of the crowds already packing Lima's squares, reporters thrusting mikes under their noses so they could say just how thrilled and happy they were. It was a shame--they really believed they had a chance to nail their first Oscar. Half an hour into the movie, we knew they hadn't.
The title derives from the fact that the heroine attributes her physical and psychological problems to having been breast-fed by a mother who was gang-raped and brutalized during vicious warfare between security forces and the Maoist guerrilla movement known incongruously as Sendero Luminoso-- "The Shining Path" (the film carefully refrains from saying which side was responsible, yet was hailed as courageous by some for even mentioning events that many Peruvians are still unwilling to confront).
That internecine strife is one reason why you can't make an honest film about working-class life in Greater Lima without using subtitles (another first for this movie). Refugees from the Andean areas where the worst fighting took place often have Quechua as their primary language. Imagine a contemporary American movie set in Chicago or New York where half the dialog is in Navaho and you'll glimpse one of the differences between there and here. But perhaps because of this, or because it was altogether too dark for an audience that reveled in Life is Beautiful, Peru's first Oscar nomination never had a chance.
Peru's interaction with the U.S. is subtle and complex, perhaps best symbolized by Cholo Potter and Los Cholimpsons--t-shirts and comic postcards showing Harry Potter and the Simpsons kitted out in full Andean-peasant gear ("cholo" in Peru is a pejorative term for highland people of mixed or indigenous descent). Or by Peru's response to the outposts of economic imperialism that cluster round major intersections, the McDonalds, KFCs, Burger Kings: a homegrown fast-food chain called Bembo's. I didn't find this edgy mix of fascination and mockery in Chile or Argentina. Maybe it's history. Chile and Argentina are countries with a shallow past, large parts of them settled only in the last century. Peru has a past as deep as Southern Europe's--the U.S. is but a pup beside it. That, given our current dominance. is bound to produce mixed feelings.
Think Peru, and you think Inca. Yet the Incas only occupied Lima for about seventy years. Romans of the continent, they did little beyond superimposing military might and bureaucratic organization on layers of civilization millennia thick. You get some sense of that in the Larco museum. with its tens of thousands of pieces dating back 4,000 years--jewelry, ceramics, textiles, almost all of an astonishing beauty and sophistication (http://catalogmuseolarco.perucultural. org.pe). The museum's overall impact is stunning, and raises questions about the relationship between utility and beauty that I'd like to explore at a later date.
And had you ever heard of Huaca Pucllana? I hadn't, but there it is, in the heart of Miraflores, a pre-Hispanic temple-cum-city-hall that predates Machu Picchu by almost a millennium. Lima has been almost totally destroyed by earthquakes three times. but the walls of Huaca Pucllana still stand. Imagine a library stack. Take out a book or two from each shelf. Push the books so that they lean a fraction to the left or to the right, alternate shelves in alternate directions. Replace each book with an adobe brick. Instead of fracturing, buildings like this roll smoothly with the tremors, surviving countless shocks. So much for "primitive" architecture.
So, all in all, Peru's very different from its stereotypes. But then, so are most countries, even after waves of globalization have washed over them--different from their stereotypes and also, for all the resemblances globalization brings, different in subtle ways from one another. We all badly need, from time to time, to be reminded of tha
Sting and Spielberg have also been invited to visit Machu Picchu
Peru's minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism, Martín Pérez, confirmed that Infanta Maria Cristina of Spain; former frontsinger of English rock band The Police, Sting; and US filmmaker Steven Spielberg; were formally invited to visit Peru's top attraction Machu Picchu.
Latin American singer Juan Luis Guerra has also been included on the list of celebrities invited to visit the Inca citadel.
" I can't tell whether they're coming or not or when, but we have sent them invitations-, I hope they can come", Perez said.
The government of Peru has committed itself not to unveil the visit of those celebrities who accept to come.
He said that Oscar award winner Susan Sarandon, “has had an unforgettable experience”, preceding today the reopening ceremony of the Inca citadel.
Latin American singer Juan Luis Guerra has also been included on the list of celebrities invited to visit the Inca citadel.
" I can't tell whether they're coming or not or when, but we have sent them invitations-, I hope they can come", Perez said.
The government of Peru has committed itself not to unveil the visit of those celebrities who accept to come.
He said that Oscar award winner Susan Sarandon, “has had an unforgettable experience”, preceding today the reopening ceremony of the Inca citadel.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Cusco , City Tour and Machupicchu in 3dyas / 2 nights
VISIT TO MACHU PICCHU, THE CITY OF CUSCO AND 04 RUINS AROUND
DURATION: 3 DAYS 2 NIGHTS
DAILY DEPARTURES
INCLUDES:- Transfers In / Out Cusco.
- 02 Nights of Hotel in Cusco.
- 02 Breakfasts in the hotel.
- City Tour Cusco visiting The Cathedral, Koricancha and 4 Archaeological Ruins: Sacsayhuaman, Quenko, Pucapucara and Tambomachay.
- Tourist Partial Ticket + Entrances to the Catedral and Korikancha.
- Visit to Machu Picchu (Includes Round Trip with Backpacker Train / Bus up and down / Entrance and Guided Visit).
- 01 Tourist Lunch in Aguas Calientes.
- Entrances and Professional Tourist Guides.
- Hotel Taxes.
- Permanent Assistance.
:: ITINERARYDAY 01: CUSCO - Pick up from the airport. Transfer to the Hotel. Free morning to rest.
- In the afternoon we start the City Tour Cusco. Visit to the Main Square, Koricancha Palace and the 4 archaeological rests: Sacsayhuaman, where we observ the Inti Raymi every year. The amphitheater Quenko, Pucapucara and the bains of Tambomachay.
- Overnight in Cusco.
DAY 02: MACHU PICCHU- Breakfast in the hotel.
FULL DAY TO MACHU PICCHU- 06:00 AM. Breakfast in the hotel.
- Transfer to the train station San Pedro to take the train to go to Aguas Calientes. Visit to the Historic Sanctuary of Machupicchu. It is Well-known universally for their imposing and original remains of the Inca culture for its incomparable location on the edge of the abyss in whose bottom the waters of the Urubamba run.
We will visit the main staggered constructions, perrons, Temples, Turrets, the Solar Clock or Intiwatana, Platforms, etc.
Tourist Lunch. Return to the City of Cusco.
Overnight in Cusco.
DAY 03: CUSCO OUT
AM Breakfast in the hotel.
Free morning for personal activities.
Transfer to the airport to take the plane.
PRICES PER PERSON (IN AMERICAN DOLLARS) FOREIGNERS
HOTEL IN CUSCO DBL TPL SWB
:: Amanecer del Sol $318 $310 $350
:: Prisma / Buho's Inn $338 $323 $381
:: Casa Don Ignacio 3* $342 $330 $379
:: Samay 3* $351 $341 $407
:: San Agustín International 3* $370 $354 $459
:: BW Los Andes de America 3* / Del Prado Inn 3* Sup $381 $365 $480
:: Casa Andina Classics 3* Sup $394 $390 $506
:: Eco Inn Cusco 4* $404 $389 $527
:: Casa Andina Private Collection 4* $456 $452 $631
:: Libertador Palacio del Inka 5* $771 $685 $1133
DWB = Price per person based on a double twin or full size bed.
TPL = Price per person based on a triple room.
SWB = Price for 1 only person in a single room.
CMT-TV5%-TMC5%
:: ADDITIONAL SERVICES- Up-Grade Vistadome Train: USD$50 per person.
- Up-Grade Lunch in Machu Picchu Sanctuary Lodge: USD$20 per person.
- Cena Show in Cusco: USD$20 per person.
- Flight Tickets Lima / Cusco / Lima: Consult.
- Travel Insurance: USD$2.00 per person per day.
Children Policy- Children shares room with a minimun of two adults.
- Children under 3 years old do not pay services, share room with their parents and does not include additional bed nor breakfast.
- Children from 3 to 9 years old have a disscount of 20% in a double room (Bed & Breakfast). Maximum one child per room.
:: ADDITIONAL NOTES- Not includes Tickets Lima / Cusco / Lima.
- Not includes beberages and food not mentioned (lunches and dinners).
- Not includes hotels, excursions and visits not mentioned.
- Prices Valid until December 15Th, 2009.
BOOKINGSTo book this tour, write us to reservasmapi@gmail.com or call us, indicating:- Program Charming Cusco 3 days 2 nights.
- Name of the choosen hotel and kind of room.
- Arrival Date.
- Departure Date.
- Names of Passengers.
- Document Number of Passengers.
- Nationality.
- Arrival Information to Cusco.
- Additional solicited services: Bus tickets, air tickets.
- Contact telephone number.
DURATION: 3 DAYS 2 NIGHTS
DAILY DEPARTURES
INCLUDES:- Transfers In / Out Cusco.
- 02 Nights of Hotel in Cusco.
- 02 Breakfasts in the hotel.
- City Tour Cusco visiting The Cathedral, Koricancha and 4 Archaeological Ruins: Sacsayhuaman, Quenko, Pucapucara and Tambomachay.
- Tourist Partial Ticket + Entrances to the Catedral and Korikancha.
- Visit to Machu Picchu (Includes Round Trip with Backpacker Train / Bus up and down / Entrance and Guided Visit).
- 01 Tourist Lunch in Aguas Calientes.
- Entrances and Professional Tourist Guides.
- Hotel Taxes.
- Permanent Assistance.
:: ITINERARYDAY 01: CUSCO - Pick up from the airport. Transfer to the Hotel. Free morning to rest.
- In the afternoon we start the City Tour Cusco. Visit to the Main Square, Koricancha Palace and the 4 archaeological rests: Sacsayhuaman, where we observ the Inti Raymi every year. The amphitheater Quenko, Pucapucara and the bains of Tambomachay.
- Overnight in Cusco.
DAY 02: MACHU PICCHU- Breakfast in the hotel.
FULL DAY TO MACHU PICCHU- 06:00 AM. Breakfast in the hotel.
- Transfer to the train station San Pedro to take the train to go to Aguas Calientes. Visit to the Historic Sanctuary of Machupicchu. It is Well-known universally for their imposing and original remains of the Inca culture for its incomparable location on the edge of the abyss in whose bottom the waters of the Urubamba run.
We will visit the main staggered constructions, perrons, Temples, Turrets, the Solar Clock or Intiwatana, Platforms, etc.
Tourist Lunch. Return to the City of Cusco.
Overnight in Cusco.
DAY 03: CUSCO OUT
AM Breakfast in the hotel.
Free morning for personal activities.
Transfer to the airport to take the plane.
PRICES PER PERSON (IN AMERICAN DOLLARS) FOREIGNERS
HOTEL IN CUSCO DBL TPL SWB
:: Amanecer del Sol $318 $310 $350
:: Prisma / Buho's Inn $338 $323 $381
:: Casa Don Ignacio 3* $342 $330 $379
:: Samay 3* $351 $341 $407
:: San Agustín International 3* $370 $354 $459
:: BW Los Andes de America 3* / Del Prado Inn 3* Sup $381 $365 $480
:: Casa Andina Classics 3* Sup $394 $390 $506
:: Eco Inn Cusco 4* $404 $389 $527
:: Casa Andina Private Collection 4* $456 $452 $631
:: Libertador Palacio del Inka 5* $771 $685 $1133
DWB = Price per person based on a double twin or full size bed.
TPL = Price per person based on a triple room.
SWB = Price for 1 only person in a single room.
CMT-TV5%-TMC5%
:: ADDITIONAL SERVICES- Up-Grade Vistadome Train: USD$50 per person.
- Up-Grade Lunch in Machu Picchu Sanctuary Lodge: USD$20 per person.
- Cena Show in Cusco: USD$20 per person.
- Flight Tickets Lima / Cusco / Lima: Consult.
- Travel Insurance: USD$2.00 per person per day.
Children Policy- Children shares room with a minimun of two adults.
- Children under 3 years old do not pay services, share room with their parents and does not include additional bed nor breakfast.
- Children from 3 to 9 years old have a disscount of 20% in a double room (Bed & Breakfast). Maximum one child per room.
:: ADDITIONAL NOTES- Not includes Tickets Lima / Cusco / Lima.
- Not includes beberages and food not mentioned (lunches and dinners).
- Not includes hotels, excursions and visits not mentioned.
- Prices Valid until December 15Th, 2009.
BOOKINGSTo book this tour, write us to reservasmapi@gmail.com or call us, indicating:- Program Charming Cusco 3 days 2 nights.
- Name of the choosen hotel and kind of room.
- Arrival Date.
- Departure Date.
- Names of Passengers.
- Document Number of Passengers.
- Nationality.
- Arrival Information to Cusco.
- Additional solicited services: Bus tickets, air tickets.
- Contact telephone number.
Cusco and Machupicchu 3days / 2 nights
VISIT TO MACHU PICCHU
DURATION: 3 DAYS 2 NIGHTS
DAILY DEPARTURES
INCLUDES:- Transfers In / Out Cusco.
- 02 Nights of Hotel in Cusco.
- 02 Breakfasts in the hotel.
- Visit to Machu Picchu (Includes Round Trip with Backpacker Train / Bus up and down / Entrance and Guided Visit).
- 01 Tourist Lunch in Aguas Calientes.
- Entrances and Professional Tourist Guides.
- Hotel Taxes.
- Permanent Assistance.
:: ITINERARYDAY 01: CUSCO
- Pick up from the airport. Transfer to the Hotel. Free morning to rest.
- Overnight in Cusco.
DAY 02: MACHU PICCHU- Breakfast in the hotel.
FULL DAY TO MACHU PICCHU
- 06:00 AM. Breakfast in the hotel.
- Transfer to the train station San Pedro to take the train to go to Aguas Calientes. Visit to the Historic Sanctuary of Machupicchu. It is Well-known universally for their imposing and original remains of the Inca culture for its incomparable location on the edge of the abyss in whose bottom the waters of the Urubamba run.
We will visit the main staggered constructions, perrons, Temples, Turrets, the Solar Clock or Intiwatana, Platforms, etc.
Tourist Lunch. Return to the City of Cusco.
Overnight in Cusco.
DAY 03: CUSCO OUT
AM Breakfast in the hotel.
Free morning for personal activities.
Transfer to the airport to take the plane.
PRICES PER PERSON (IN AMERICAN DOLLARS) FOREIGNERS HOTEL IN CUSCO DBL TPL SWB
:: Amanecer del Sol $264 $256 $295
:: Prisma / Buho's Inn $283 $269 $326
:: Casa Don Ignacio 3* $287 $275 $324
:: Samay 3* $296 $286 $352
:: San Agustín International 3* $316 $299 $404
:: BW Los Andes de America 3* / Del Prado Inn 3* Sup $326 $311 $425
:: Casa Andina Classics 3* Sup $339 $336 $451
:: Eco Inn Cusco 4* $350 $335 $472
:: Casa Andina Private Collection 4* $402 $398 $576
DWB = Price per person based on a double twin or full size bed.
TPL = Price per person based on a triple room.
SWB = Price for 1 only person in a single room.
CMT-TV5%-TMC5%
:: ADDITIONAL SERVICES- Up-Grade Vistadome Train: USD$50 per person.
- Up-Grade Lunch in Machu Picchu Sanctuary Lodge: USD$20 per person.
- Cena Show in Cusco: USD$20 per person.
- Flight Tickets Lima / Cusco / Lima: Consult.
- Travel Insurance: USD$2.00 per person per day.
Children Policy- Children shares room with a minimun of two adults.
- Children under 3 years old do not pay services, share room with their parents and does not include additional bed nor breakfast.
- Children from 3 to 9 years old have a disscount of 20% in a double room (Bed & Breakfast). Maximum one child per room.
:: ADDITIONAL NOTES- Not includes Tickets Lima / Cusco / Lima.
- Not includes beberages and food not mentioned (lunches and dinners).
- Not includes hotels, excursions and visits not mentioned.
- Prices Valid until December 15Th, 2010.
BOOKINGSTo book this tour, write us to reservasmapi@gmail.com
call us, indicating:
- Program Basic Cusco 3 days 2 nights.
- Name of the choosen hotel and kind of room.
- Arrival Date.
- Departure Date.
- Names of Passengers.
- Document Number of Passengers.
- Nationality.
- Arrival Information to Cusco.
- Additional solicited services: Bus tickets, air tickets.
- Contact telephone number.
DURATION: 3 DAYS 2 NIGHTS
DAILY DEPARTURES
INCLUDES:- Transfers In / Out Cusco.
- 02 Nights of Hotel in Cusco.
- 02 Breakfasts in the hotel.
- Visit to Machu Picchu (Includes Round Trip with Backpacker Train / Bus up and down / Entrance and Guided Visit).
- 01 Tourist Lunch in Aguas Calientes.
- Entrances and Professional Tourist Guides.
- Hotel Taxes.
- Permanent Assistance.
:: ITINERARYDAY 01: CUSCO
- Pick up from the airport. Transfer to the Hotel. Free morning to rest.
- Overnight in Cusco.
DAY 02: MACHU PICCHU- Breakfast in the hotel.
FULL DAY TO MACHU PICCHU
- 06:00 AM. Breakfast in the hotel.
- Transfer to the train station San Pedro to take the train to go to Aguas Calientes. Visit to the Historic Sanctuary of Machupicchu. It is Well-known universally for their imposing and original remains of the Inca culture for its incomparable location on the edge of the abyss in whose bottom the waters of the Urubamba run.
We will visit the main staggered constructions, perrons, Temples, Turrets, the Solar Clock or Intiwatana, Platforms, etc.
Tourist Lunch. Return to the City of Cusco.
Overnight in Cusco.
DAY 03: CUSCO OUT
AM Breakfast in the hotel.
Free morning for personal activities.
Transfer to the airport to take the plane.
PRICES PER PERSON (IN AMERICAN DOLLARS) FOREIGNERS HOTEL IN CUSCO DBL TPL SWB
:: Amanecer del Sol $264 $256 $295
:: Prisma / Buho's Inn $283 $269 $326
:: Casa Don Ignacio 3* $287 $275 $324
:: Samay 3* $296 $286 $352
:: San Agustín International 3* $316 $299 $404
:: BW Los Andes de America 3* / Del Prado Inn 3* Sup $326 $311 $425
:: Casa Andina Classics 3* Sup $339 $336 $451
:: Eco Inn Cusco 4* $350 $335 $472
:: Casa Andina Private Collection 4* $402 $398 $576
DWB = Price per person based on a double twin or full size bed.
TPL = Price per person based on a triple room.
SWB = Price for 1 only person in a single room.
CMT-TV5%-TMC5%
:: ADDITIONAL SERVICES- Up-Grade Vistadome Train: USD$50 per person.
- Up-Grade Lunch in Machu Picchu Sanctuary Lodge: USD$20 per person.
- Cena Show in Cusco: USD$20 per person.
- Flight Tickets Lima / Cusco / Lima: Consult.
- Travel Insurance: USD$2.00 per person per day.
Children Policy- Children shares room with a minimun of two adults.
- Children under 3 years old do not pay services, share room with their parents and does not include additional bed nor breakfast.
- Children from 3 to 9 years old have a disscount of 20% in a double room (Bed & Breakfast). Maximum one child per room.
:: ADDITIONAL NOTES- Not includes Tickets Lima / Cusco / Lima.
- Not includes beberages and food not mentioned (lunches and dinners).
- Not includes hotels, excursions and visits not mentioned.
- Prices Valid until December 15Th, 2010.
BOOKINGSTo book this tour, write us to reservasmapi@gmail.com
call us, indicating:
- Program Basic Cusco 3 days 2 nights.
- Name of the choosen hotel and kind of room.
- Arrival Date.
- Departure Date.
- Names of Passengers.
- Document Number of Passengers.
- Nationality.
- Arrival Information to Cusco.
- Additional solicited services: Bus tickets, air tickets.
- Contact telephone number.
Cusco Machupicchu
Capital: City of Cusco
Altitud: 3.399 m.a.s.l.
Distancias:
· Cusco to Lima 1.153 kilometers
· Cusco to Ayacucho 597 kilometers
· Cusco to Arequipa 623 kilometers
· Cusco to Puno 389 kilometers
The province of Cuzco is in the Oriental region of Peru, passing through the oriental and central mountain ranges of the Andes.
The city of Cuzco, known as the archeological capital of America contends with Mexico for the honor of being the oldest city of America.
Economical and military capital of the Peruvian vice-royalty received the name of "La Muy Noble, Muy Leal Cabeza de los Reinos del Perú, Santiago del Cuzco" (The very noble, very loyal head of the Peruvian royalties). In the 20th., century it was honored as the Archeological Capital of South-America and Cultural Patrimony of Humanity.
The city of Cuzco is a living museum of America's history.
In Cusco we have the next tourist destinations:
:: CITY TOUR CUSCO
Sightseeing of Cusco visiting the Main Square, the Cathedral, and the Temple of the Sun or Korikancha. Take a pleasant walk in the bohemian District of San Blas, home of the best known craftsmen of Cusco. Visit its beautiful church, to admire its impressive carved wooden pulpit, with images of local fruits carved into it in filigree. Pop into some of the craft shops in its small Main Square. On your way back to Cusco centre, go through Hatunrumiyoc Street with its famous Twelve-angled Stone. Then, we drive out of the City to visit the Inca sites of Kenko, Tambomachay, Puca Pucara and the impressive Fortress of Sacsayhuaman. The latter site is strategically built on a hill overlooking Cusco and is famous for its enormous carved stones, some of them standing over 9m / 30ft tall, and weighing over 350 tons, set together with astounding precision to form the outer walls.
:: SACRED VALLEY OF THE INKAS
The Sacred Valley of the Incas is located by the Vilcanota River. We will have the opportunity to share closely the peasants customs and bargain with vendors at the typical indian market of Pisac, held on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.
In the afternoon we will pass through the Towns of Calca and Urubamba, we visit the Inca Fortress and Citadel of Ollantaytambo, built to guard the entrance to this part of the Valley, and protect it from possible invasion from the tribes in the Lower jungle. The Fortress consists of a series of stepped carved stone terraces accessed by long staircases. Later on you can walk through the quaint streets of the nearby Town, and get a good idea of what this Strategic Military, Religious, and Agricultural Centre was like during the era of the Inca Empire. On our way back to Cusco we stop of at the picturesque Andean Village of Chincheros where the ruins of the Royal Hacienda of Tupac Inca Yupanqui lie. You can admire the well preserved Inca Wall in the Main Square, and visit the beautiful Colonial temple built on Inca foundations, with interesting paintings in the entrance.
:: MACHU PICCHU
Since Machu Picchu discovery on July 24, 1911, by north american Hiram Bingham, it has been considered oneof the world's greatest architectural and archaeological monuments, due to its extraordinary magnificence and harmonious structure.
At 2,400 meters above sea level (m.a.s.l), in the province of Urubamba, department of Cusco, Machu Picchu surprises us because of the way its stone constructions are spread over a narrow and uneven mountain top, bordering a sheer 400 meter cliff side of the Urubamba River canyon.
Machu Picchu is a citadel shrouded in mystery, and to this day archaeologists have not uncovered the history andpurpose of this city of stone. The site has an area of about one square kilometer, and stands in a region that the Incas considered to be magical, due to the meeting of the Andes mountains with the mighty Amazon river.
Perhaps, Machu Picchu mystery may never be fully explained as, so far, there are only hypothesis and conjectures. For some, it may have been an advance settlement for planned further expansions by the Incas. Others believe Machu Picchu have been a monastery where young girls (acllas) were trained to serve the Inca and the Willac Uno (High Priest). Support for this theory comes from the fact that of the 135 bodies discovered while exploring the site, 109 were female.
The surprising perfection and beauty of Machu Picchu's walls, built by joining stone to stone without using any cement or adhesive whatsoever, has led to many myths developing around how the city was constructed.
It is said that a bird by the name of Kak'aqllu knew the formula for softening rock but by command, perhaps, of the ancient Inca gods, had its tongue torn out. It is also said that there was a magic plant which could dissolve and compress stone.
Nonetheless, mysteries and myths aside, the real attractiveness of Machu Picchu, a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site, lies in its squares, aqueducts and watchtowers, its observatories and in its sun clock, evidence of the wisdom and skill of the city's Andean builders.
The excursion to Machu Picchu starts very early in the morning; we transfer the passengers to Cusco train Station for a three hour train journey to the famous Inca Citadel of Machu Picchu, also known as "The Lost City of the Incas", one of the best known examples of surviving Inca architecture. We will arrive in Aguas Calientes Station followed by a 30-minute bus drive, climbing 6km of winding road, to the marvellous Citadel. Upon arrival, you will participate in a guided tour of the Citadel, visiting the Main Plaza, the Circular Tower, the Sacred Sun Dial (the most important preserved Intihuatana), the Royal Quarters, the Temple of the Three Windows and several burial grounds. After the tour you'll have time to stroll around the Archaeological Site at your leisure. In the afternoon we return to Cusco and tranfer passengers to their hotels.
When the excursion is developed with an overnight in Aguas Calientes, you have time the next day to make a new visit to Machu Picchu, perform maditation and absorb the enegy that surround this sacred place, having the opportunity to walk up until the intipinku, the entrance to Machu Picchu when you walk the Inka Trail or climb the Huayna Picchu, mountain where the temple of the moon is located. After, in the afternoon you return to Cusco.
Altitud: 3.399 m.a.s.l.
Distancias:
· Cusco to Lima 1.153 kilometers
· Cusco to Ayacucho 597 kilometers
· Cusco to Arequipa 623 kilometers
· Cusco to Puno 389 kilometers
The province of Cuzco is in the Oriental region of Peru, passing through the oriental and central mountain ranges of the Andes.
The city of Cuzco, known as the archeological capital of America contends with Mexico for the honor of being the oldest city of America.
Economical and military capital of the Peruvian vice-royalty received the name of "La Muy Noble, Muy Leal Cabeza de los Reinos del Perú, Santiago del Cuzco" (The very noble, very loyal head of the Peruvian royalties). In the 20th., century it was honored as the Archeological Capital of South-America and Cultural Patrimony of Humanity.
The city of Cuzco is a living museum of America's history.
In Cusco we have the next tourist destinations:
:: CITY TOUR CUSCO
Sightseeing of Cusco visiting the Main Square, the Cathedral, and the Temple of the Sun or Korikancha. Take a pleasant walk in the bohemian District of San Blas, home of the best known craftsmen of Cusco. Visit its beautiful church, to admire its impressive carved wooden pulpit, with images of local fruits carved into it in filigree. Pop into some of the craft shops in its small Main Square. On your way back to Cusco centre, go through Hatunrumiyoc Street with its famous Twelve-angled Stone. Then, we drive out of the City to visit the Inca sites of Kenko, Tambomachay, Puca Pucara and the impressive Fortress of Sacsayhuaman. The latter site is strategically built on a hill overlooking Cusco and is famous for its enormous carved stones, some of them standing over 9m / 30ft tall, and weighing over 350 tons, set together with astounding precision to form the outer walls.
:: SACRED VALLEY OF THE INKAS
The Sacred Valley of the Incas is located by the Vilcanota River. We will have the opportunity to share closely the peasants customs and bargain with vendors at the typical indian market of Pisac, held on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.
In the afternoon we will pass through the Towns of Calca and Urubamba, we visit the Inca Fortress and Citadel of Ollantaytambo, built to guard the entrance to this part of the Valley, and protect it from possible invasion from the tribes in the Lower jungle. The Fortress consists of a series of stepped carved stone terraces accessed by long staircases. Later on you can walk through the quaint streets of the nearby Town, and get a good idea of what this Strategic Military, Religious, and Agricultural Centre was like during the era of the Inca Empire. On our way back to Cusco we stop of at the picturesque Andean Village of Chincheros where the ruins of the Royal Hacienda of Tupac Inca Yupanqui lie. You can admire the well preserved Inca Wall in the Main Square, and visit the beautiful Colonial temple built on Inca foundations, with interesting paintings in the entrance.
:: MACHU PICCHU
Since Machu Picchu discovery on July 24, 1911, by north american Hiram Bingham, it has been considered oneof the world's greatest architectural and archaeological monuments, due to its extraordinary magnificence and harmonious structure.
At 2,400 meters above sea level (m.a.s.l), in the province of Urubamba, department of Cusco, Machu Picchu surprises us because of the way its stone constructions are spread over a narrow and uneven mountain top, bordering a sheer 400 meter cliff side of the Urubamba River canyon.
Machu Picchu is a citadel shrouded in mystery, and to this day archaeologists have not uncovered the history andpurpose of this city of stone. The site has an area of about one square kilometer, and stands in a region that the Incas considered to be magical, due to the meeting of the Andes mountains with the mighty Amazon river.
Perhaps, Machu Picchu mystery may never be fully explained as, so far, there are only hypothesis and conjectures. For some, it may have been an advance settlement for planned further expansions by the Incas. Others believe Machu Picchu have been a monastery where young girls (acllas) were trained to serve the Inca and the Willac Uno (High Priest). Support for this theory comes from the fact that of the 135 bodies discovered while exploring the site, 109 were female.
The surprising perfection and beauty of Machu Picchu's walls, built by joining stone to stone without using any cement or adhesive whatsoever, has led to many myths developing around how the city was constructed.
It is said that a bird by the name of Kak'aqllu knew the formula for softening rock but by command, perhaps, of the ancient Inca gods, had its tongue torn out. It is also said that there was a magic plant which could dissolve and compress stone.
Nonetheless, mysteries and myths aside, the real attractiveness of Machu Picchu, a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site, lies in its squares, aqueducts and watchtowers, its observatories and in its sun clock, evidence of the wisdom and skill of the city's Andean builders.
The excursion to Machu Picchu starts very early in the morning; we transfer the passengers to Cusco train Station for a three hour train journey to the famous Inca Citadel of Machu Picchu, also known as "The Lost City of the Incas", one of the best known examples of surviving Inca architecture. We will arrive in Aguas Calientes Station followed by a 30-minute bus drive, climbing 6km of winding road, to the marvellous Citadel. Upon arrival, you will participate in a guided tour of the Citadel, visiting the Main Plaza, the Circular Tower, the Sacred Sun Dial (the most important preserved Intihuatana), the Royal Quarters, the Temple of the Three Windows and several burial grounds. After the tour you'll have time to stroll around the Archaeological Site at your leisure. In the afternoon we return to Cusco and tranfer passengers to their hotels.
When the excursion is developed with an overnight in Aguas Calientes, you have time the next day to make a new visit to Machu Picchu, perform maditation and absorb the enegy that surround this sacred place, having the opportunity to walk up until the intipinku, the entrance to Machu Picchu when you walk the Inka Trail or climb the Huayna Picchu, mountain where the temple of the moon is located. After, in the afternoon you return to Cusco.
JUNGLE TRAVELS IN PERU: MANU, IQUITOS
National Park of Manu, located at 650 kilometers from Puerto Maldonado. It has a surface extension of 1.532.806 hectares.
Visit the Zone of Manu (apt to eco-tourism). - Cultural Zone in Bajo Manu (with a native population of 41.394 habitants).
Jungle Tours in Iquitos visiting the magical Reserve of Pacaya Samiria, an open destine all year long...
Visit the Zone of Manu (apt to eco-tourism). - Cultural Zone in Bajo Manu (with a native population of 41.394 habitants).
Jungle Tours in Iquitos visiting the magical Reserve of Pacaya Samiria, an open destine all year long...
SEASON TRAVELS IN PERU
We have a special section with Season Travels in Peru. Travel with us to Cusco, Machu Picchu, peruvian special festivities like Inti Raymi, North beaches of Peru, Mancora, Punta Sal, Iquitos, Tarapoto, Chanchamayo and a lot of other destinations with special season promotions for low season and also in easter and New Year Eve. You can organize your vacations in advance taking advantage of our fixed departures for domestic and travels.
Hotels In Peru
We offer a Free Peru Hotel Reservation Service for most of the important destinations in the country. In addition, it's important to know that you can add airport assistance and transfer to your hotel.
Travels in Peru Machupicchu
Travel to Cusco, have a marvellows experience visiting the amazing sites of Machu Picchu, make the trekking catalogued as one of the top 10 adventure trekking of the world: The Inka Trail, walk in the archaeological complex and last Manco Inka refuge Choquequirao, fly over the Nazca Lines, explore the Manu rainforest, navigate the Titicaca Lake, visit the andean comunities in Uros and Taquile islands, be part of the inkas world. Experience the back to the ancestral costumers of the past of the Inkas in the Inti Raymi.
Practice your favorite adventure sport on our rivers or mountains, treek in the Huayhuash mountains in Huaraz, enjoy the variety of our Jungle in Iquitos inside of Pacaya Samiria Reservation or visit the wild jungle of Manu.
Have a vacation in our marvellous beaches of the north of Perú, the beaches of Mancora in Piura, Punta Sal and Zorritos in Tumbes are a destine that offers relax, sun and hot water beaches all the year long.
Let us organize your trip and choose one of our Travels in Peru to experience the fascinant experiences that Perú "Country of the Inkas" can offer to you. Travel to Peru with us!.
Machupicchu Magico Travels
Welcome to Machupicchu Magico Travels in Peru. We are a Peruvian Travel Agency and Operators whose operations are based on internet and local sales for peruvians and international tourist and travelers that want to visit Peru and the world.
Our mision is to give the most complete Peru Travel & Vacation Guide offering our visitors the opportunity to visit the principal tourist destinations of Peru through the most solicited and elaborated Tours in Peru itineraries, tailored with your needs with a personalized attention, nice treatment and security. Our objective is to guarrantee our customers that your travel will be pleasure looking forward the total satisfaction of our guests with a top level service. Read what our satisfied customers say in our Testimonials, and give us the opportunity to prove you that our assistance and services make the real difference. We welcome your inquiries and look forward to have you as our future guest.
Peru: a guide for beginners
Lima was the trading hub and nearby Callao the key port in South America for Spain. Uprisings in the name of independence began in 1809 but were suppressed. After helping to liberate Chile, San Martín continued to Peru and tried to negotiate a peaceful settlement with the colonial authorities, suggesting the establishment of a wholly independent constitutional monarch of Spanish descent. But the royalists were divided and a military coup deposed the viceroy. San Martín entered Lima and independence was declared on July 28 1821.
Top five attractions
Machu Picchu (reopening in April, after recent floods), whether by train, trek or bus; Iquitos and the Upper Amazon river; Arequipa, known as the ciudad blanca for its buildings made from pearly white volcanic material, and a Unesco World Heritage site; the archaeological site of Chan Chan, including the ruins of the largest adobe city in the world; the high peaks of the Cordillera Blanca to see tropical glaciers and turquoise lakes on off-the-beaten-track hikes; and the mysterious, geometrical Nazca Lines, thought to have been etched into the stony desert as far back as 900BC.
Best city
Cuzco, because, despite being backpackers-ville, it has many impressive monasteries, churches and pre-Columbian buildings and is, as Che Guevara recorded in The Motorcycle Diaries, tangibly "the navel of the [Inca] world".
Top five attractions
Machu Picchu (reopening in April, after recent floods), whether by train, trek or bus; Iquitos and the Upper Amazon river; Arequipa, known as the ciudad blanca for its buildings made from pearly white volcanic material, and a Unesco World Heritage site; the archaeological site of Chan Chan, including the ruins of the largest adobe city in the world; the high peaks of the Cordillera Blanca to see tropical glaciers and turquoise lakes on off-the-beaten-track hikes; and the mysterious, geometrical Nazca Lines, thought to have been etched into the stony desert as far back as 900BC.
Best city
Cuzco, because, despite being backpackers-ville, it has many impressive monasteries, churches and pre-Columbian buildings and is, as Che Guevara recorded in The Motorcycle Diaries, tangibly "the navel of the [Inca] world".
The Sacred Valley: Paradise on Earth
Following is the second in a series of articles written by Barb Osterholz about her family's visit to Peru where a son had served as a Peace Corps volunteer.
The Sacred Valley is a special place deemed "paradise on earth" by the Incas, the native South American people who once ruled one of the largest and richest empires in the Americas. The valley is a place of breathtaking beauty; snowcapped mountains, red granite cliffs, the wild Urubamba River and lush green terraces. Inca palaces, fortresses, and temples are dotted throughout this valley, along with charming Andean villages.
Leaving Cusco on a meandering bus ride up into the Andes Mountains and down again into the Sacred Valley, we arrived at one of those small villages, Pisaq. Our bus was filled with many local people dressed in their colorful native clothing as well as pieces of furniture and crates of chickens. Once in Pisaq we wandered through the market and cattle auction where we were immersed in the sights and sounds of the countryside. Stalls tended by local farmers were selling everything from a hundred varieties of corn, wooden farming tools, sheep and llamas, to fluffy guinea pigs with their beady little eyes and deep fried guinea pigs ready for the tasting.
The next morning we attended Mass at San Pedro Apostol de Pisac (St. Peter the Apostle) Catholic Church. The tiny church was filled with beautiful fresh flowers and glowing candles. Though the Mass was said in a mix of Quechua, the native Indian dialect, and Spanish, we found it to be surprisingly similar to our Masses in Menominee. There was one exception. At the end of the service several people presented items for the priest to bless -- holy cards and food, as well as a wedding dress and shoes presented by the bride herself. After Mass we again felt the warm hospitality of the Andean people who offered us a slice of cake and a cup of warm sweetened coffee as we stepped outside.
From Pisaq we rented a taxi to further explore the Sacred Valley. Our first stop was at Moray, once a gigantic crop laboratory. Enormous sinkholes, 500 feet deep and wide, harbor a cluster of microclimates. More than 500 years ago, the Incas terraced and irrigated the huge depressions in order to experiment growing corn and potatoes in a variety of elevations to mirror the various climates of the Andean empire that stretched 2,500 miles from present day Columbia to Chile.
After Moray we travelled to the Salinas Salt Mines. Here the Incas once again transformed nature with their brilliant engineering methods. A spring of warm, salty water coming straight out of the mountain is diverted into 5,740 small pools hugging the mountainside where sunlight evaporates the water and leaves a thin crust of salt. Each pool can yield 331 lbs. of salt a year. The mines are owned and worked by local farmers and have been in use for over 500 years.
Our last stop in the Sacred Valley before our final destination, Machu Picchu, was Ollantaytambo, the best preserved Inca village in Peru, with its narrow alleys, street water canals, and trapezoidal doorways. The Inca temple and fortress above town were the sight of a 1537 battle in which the Incas defeated a Spanish army led by Hernando Pizarro. One morning at dawn, Pizarro arrived at Ollantaytambo with 70 cavalry and 30 foot soldiers. But Manco Inca's men were waiting on the terraces of the sun temple. From high on the upper terraces, Manco Inca commanded his troops to fire slingshots, roll boulders, and shoot arrows at the advancing Spanish army. The Spaniards retreated, but Manco Inca pulled a final surprise. On cue, he diverted the Urubamba River and flooded the plains below Ollantaytambo, causing the Spaniards' horses to founder in the mud. The Incas fought the Spanish all the way to Cusco. However, this was only a temporary victory, for in time the Spaniards destroyed the entire Inca Empire, leaving little in their wake.
In every battle the Spanish were greatly outnumbered, however, the Inca could not match guns and cannons. Most of the Inca destruction was due to disease brought to them by the Spanish. Nearly two-thirds of the inhabitants of the Sacred Valley died of disease. The Spanish conquistadors stole the bulk of Inca gold, silver, and precious stones. The native people that were not rubbed out were reduced to slavery. They worked on Spanish plantations and in gold and silver mines that the Spanish stole from the Inca people.
One Andean jewel the Spanish never found remains beautifully intact, Machu Picchu. That was our final destination in the Sacred Valley and the subject of my next article.
The Sacred Valley is a special place deemed "paradise on earth" by the Incas, the native South American people who once ruled one of the largest and richest empires in the Americas. The valley is a place of breathtaking beauty; snowcapped mountains, red granite cliffs, the wild Urubamba River and lush green terraces. Inca palaces, fortresses, and temples are dotted throughout this valley, along with charming Andean villages.
Leaving Cusco on a meandering bus ride up into the Andes Mountains and down again into the Sacred Valley, we arrived at one of those small villages, Pisaq. Our bus was filled with many local people dressed in their colorful native clothing as well as pieces of furniture and crates of chickens. Once in Pisaq we wandered through the market and cattle auction where we were immersed in the sights and sounds of the countryside. Stalls tended by local farmers were selling everything from a hundred varieties of corn, wooden farming tools, sheep and llamas, to fluffy guinea pigs with their beady little eyes and deep fried guinea pigs ready for the tasting.
The next morning we attended Mass at San Pedro Apostol de Pisac (St. Peter the Apostle) Catholic Church. The tiny church was filled with beautiful fresh flowers and glowing candles. Though the Mass was said in a mix of Quechua, the native Indian dialect, and Spanish, we found it to be surprisingly similar to our Masses in Menominee. There was one exception. At the end of the service several people presented items for the priest to bless -- holy cards and food, as well as a wedding dress and shoes presented by the bride herself. After Mass we again felt the warm hospitality of the Andean people who offered us a slice of cake and a cup of warm sweetened coffee as we stepped outside.
From Pisaq we rented a taxi to further explore the Sacred Valley. Our first stop was at Moray, once a gigantic crop laboratory. Enormous sinkholes, 500 feet deep and wide, harbor a cluster of microclimates. More than 500 years ago, the Incas terraced and irrigated the huge depressions in order to experiment growing corn and potatoes in a variety of elevations to mirror the various climates of the Andean empire that stretched 2,500 miles from present day Columbia to Chile.
After Moray we travelled to the Salinas Salt Mines. Here the Incas once again transformed nature with their brilliant engineering methods. A spring of warm, salty water coming straight out of the mountain is diverted into 5,740 small pools hugging the mountainside where sunlight evaporates the water and leaves a thin crust of salt. Each pool can yield 331 lbs. of salt a year. The mines are owned and worked by local farmers and have been in use for over 500 years.
Our last stop in the Sacred Valley before our final destination, Machu Picchu, was Ollantaytambo, the best preserved Inca village in Peru, with its narrow alleys, street water canals, and trapezoidal doorways. The Inca temple and fortress above town were the sight of a 1537 battle in which the Incas defeated a Spanish army led by Hernando Pizarro. One morning at dawn, Pizarro arrived at Ollantaytambo with 70 cavalry and 30 foot soldiers. But Manco Inca's men were waiting on the terraces of the sun temple. From high on the upper terraces, Manco Inca commanded his troops to fire slingshots, roll boulders, and shoot arrows at the advancing Spanish army. The Spaniards retreated, but Manco Inca pulled a final surprise. On cue, he diverted the Urubamba River and flooded the plains below Ollantaytambo, causing the Spaniards' horses to founder in the mud. The Incas fought the Spanish all the way to Cusco. However, this was only a temporary victory, for in time the Spaniards destroyed the entire Inca Empire, leaving little in their wake.
In every battle the Spanish were greatly outnumbered, however, the Inca could not match guns and cannons. Most of the Inca destruction was due to disease brought to them by the Spanish. Nearly two-thirds of the inhabitants of the Sacred Valley died of disease. The Spanish conquistadors stole the bulk of Inca gold, silver, and precious stones. The native people that were not rubbed out were reduced to slavery. They worked on Spanish plantations and in gold and silver mines that the Spanish stole from the Inca people.
One Andean jewel the Spanish never found remains beautifully intact, Machu Picchu. That was our final destination in the Sacred Valley and the subject of my next article.
Machu Picchu train: Stay awake and enjoy the ride
After the February floods in the region of Cusco and the recent reopening of Machu Picchu, I started thinking about my visit to this beautiful city and the train ride I took to visit Inca citadel. Much has been written about both Cusco and Machu Picchu but I have yet to read much about the trip between these two beautiful areas except for articles on the Inca Trail.
There are three trains that will take you from Cusco to Aguas Calientes: the Backpacker, the Vistadome and the Hiram Bingham. The Hiram Bingham is a luxury train ($588 round trip) with sit down dining and a club car, whereas the Backpacker ($96) and the Vistadome ($142) are more for those on a budget. On my visit to Machu Picchu I took the Backpacker. It is a comfortable train and they do sell food and drinks on the four-plus hour trip from Cusco to Machu Picchu.
(Note: As of this writing, the train is running between Ollantaytambo and Agua Calientes. See map here. Authorities say the full train service should be ready on June 1.)
I was prepared for a long, boring train ride, but much to my delight I was stunned at the beautiful and wide range of vistas that we passed through. Leaving Cusco it was still dark but the train ride up the side of the mountain using switch backs was a pleasant surprise and provided some nice views of Cusco in the pre dawn hours as we left the city. As we passed through the edge of the city we came into an area of farmland with large areas of freshly planted crops. Quaint farm houses dotted the countryside with creeks and small rivers meandering through the fields. Milk cows and other livestock grazed peacefully, ignoring the sounds of the train as it passed by. Small unnamed villages appeared and passed suddenly as the train kept its steady pace.
The idyllic farm scenes eventually passed as the ride brought us into cattle country. Suddenly we were surrounded by large cattle ranches with herds of beef cattle grazing contentedly in the large open grasslands. These large ranches butted up against the foothills of the mountains we were rapidly approaching.
http://filer.livinginperu.com/travel/machu-picchu-train2.JPG612816
Urubamba river. click to enlarge
As we passed into the foothills of the Andes the train tracks took us next to the Urubamba River which flowed gently through the valley from the mountains. Bridges made of stone crossed the river at several points providing the ranchers a way to safely cross. Stops were made at a few small towns to pick up more passengers.
Poroy and Ollantaytambo are a couple worth noting, as locals lined the tracks to sell handmade Peruvian crafts and food to people through the windows of the train. Not long after coming into the foot hills you could see signs of the ancient Inca and the terraced land they built to grow their crops on. As we passed further up into the mountains ruins of small Inca villages could be seen along the river also. The vegetation also changed with the elevation. Shrubs and small trees started showing along the edge of the river. The water in the river flowed more swiftly and rapids started showing up along the rivers course with large boulders that had washed down from the mountains in previous rainy seasons.
The higher into the mountains we went the more verdant the vegetation became. Soon we were surrounded by lush green forests as the train continued to ramble along the tracks, snaking its way into the mountains. Occasionally you would be able to see the ancient Inca Trail and hikers who had chosen the more difficult way to reach Machu Picchu. Wooden suspension bridges crossed the river to aid the hikers in their quest. As the train curved inward on the tracks when it rounded bends you would get nice views of the train itself against this magnificent backdrop.
Finally as the train rolled into Aguas Calientes I couldn’t help but reflect on this truly spectacular train ride and how it enabled me to see a part of Peru and its life that would have remained hidden to me had I chosen to sleep as did most of my companions that shared the train car with me. So my advice is to get a good night’s sleep before taking the train to see Machu Picchu. The views and insight into Peruvian life outside the cities are well worth it.
Sarandon at Macchu Pichu reopening
Machu Picchu reopened on the April 1st 2010 with the presence from Hollywood star Susan Sarandon and saw more than 1,200 visitors on its first day.
The Inca fortress has been closed to tourists since the end of January 2010 due to flooding restricting access.
Peru’s Department of Foreign Trade and Tourism and the City Hall of Cusco hosted a big celebration on the terrace of Qorikancha (Temple of the Sun) in Cusco included fireworks, music, dancing and a tribute ceremony ritual to the Mother Earth (Pachamama Raymi).
Oscar winning actress Susan Sarandon joined in the reopening festivities and was given the title of ‘godmother’ to Machu Picchu. This celebrity trip to Lima, Cusco and Puno was supported by PromPeru and Susan was impressed throughout by the friendliness of the people, gastronomy and cultural sights of the country.
To reach Machu Picchu, visitors should currently take road transportation from Cusco to a train station at Piscacucho at km 82 (a station beyond Ollantaytambo) and from there can board the train to Aguas Calientes. The entire railroad from Cusco is expected to open in June 2010.
Machu Picchu is one of South America’s major tourist attractions and was given the title of one of the new Seven Wonders of the World in 2007. Next year (2011) will mark 100 years since the rediscovery of Machu Picchu when the American explorer and politician, Hiram Bingham, found the lost city of the Incas in 1911 and brought its attention to the rest of the world.
Disney may consider exhibiting a replica of Machu Picchu in Epcot Center
A replica of Machu Picchu citadel may be exhibited at Disney World Epcot Center, according to local businessman and former congresman Raul Diez Canseco.
Diez Canseco has told local press that Kristi Breen, Disney World Wide Service Manager, was thrilled and “amazed” after visiting Machu Picchu, and they both spoke about that possibility.
Brent arrived in Cusco to sign an agreement with the University San Ignacio de Loyola, to allow Disney cooks to visit Cusco to share experiences and learn from Peruvian gastronomy.
Epcot Center is Disney's second part, and was built to share knowledge with children and adults as well: it has two divisions, World ShowCase and Future World.
Diez Canseco has told local press that Kristi Breen, Disney World Wide Service Manager, was thrilled and “amazed” after visiting Machu Picchu, and they both spoke about that possibility.
Brent arrived in Cusco to sign an agreement with the University San Ignacio de Loyola, to allow Disney cooks to visit Cusco to share experiences and learn from Peruvian gastronomy.
Epcot Center is Disney's second part, and was built to share knowledge with children and adults as well: it has two divisions, World ShowCase and Future World.
Call Him Andean Jones
George Lucas won't tell us if he based Indiana Jones on Hiram Bingham III, the swashbuckling, fedora-topped explorer who in 1911 (re)discovered Machu Picchu, an Inca citadel in Peru. But it is hard to find anyone other than Bingham who would make a more suitable model.
National Geographic
Hiram Bingham III in 1912, on an artifact-gathering trip to Machu Picchu the year after the American explorer found the ruins of the Inca fortress in Peru.
.The grandson and son of Protestant missionaries, Bingham broke out of his Puritan constraints to became a professor, explorer, photographer, writer, World War I pilot and U.S. senator. His character was so complex that not even his closest family members felt that they fully understood him. Referring to Bingham's marriage to Alfreda Mitchell, an heiress to the Tiffany jewelry fortune, his son wrote that one "never could be sure how much his love forAlfredawas for herself and how much for her family's money." Nakedly ambitious, Bingham was a man of his age—an era when fortune-hunters ventured into remote parts of the world in search of "lost cities" and when the U.S. was making ever more inroads into Latin America.
Hiram Bingham and the Machu Picchu saga deserve no less than "Cradle of Gold," Christopher Heaney's thorough, engrossing portrait of a mercurial figure at a crucial juncture of his life. In the end, Mr. Heaney pronounces harsh judgments on Bingham's very real flaws—the author, for one thing, sides with detractors who regard Bingham as a terrible archaeologist, even if he was an effective publicist for the profession. But it is a tribute to Mr. Heaney's sense of fairness that different conclusions can be reached through a careful weighing of the material he presents.
Bingham made a total of five expeditions to Latin America. The objective of the third and most important trip was to find Peru's lost Inca city of Vilcabamba. Its existence— along with that of another town, Vitcos—was mentioned by 16th-century Spanish chroniclers. Vilcabamba and Vitcos, in the eastern foothills of the Peruvian Andes, were once part of an empire that stretched as far as Colombia, Chile and northern Argentina. But Inca power, already weakened by political infighting during the 16th century, was no match for the Spanish conquistadores. The beleaguered Incas sought refuge in the forested towns of Vilcabamba and Vitcos.
In the centuries that followed, haciendas and the infamous rubber trade spread across the Cuzco region where Vilcabamba and Vitcos had once hosted the remnants of the Inca empire. The Peruvian state had scant presence there. The few natives who lived near the Inca ruins were not aware of their historical importance. Then, in 1911, Hiram Bingham—a tall, handsome, world-traveling Yale University history lecturer—made his foray in search of Vilcabamba. He embarked on the trip with the backing of Yale, private companies, a few friends and even President William Howard Taft, a fellow Yalie, who assigned a government topographer to accompany the expedition.
When he arrived again in the region, Bingham gathered tips and local lore from a German prospector, a local prefect and others and then set off into the foothills above the jungle. He encountered a Peruvian who suggested that he investigate a ridge leading to a mountain in the distance. Guided by the young son of a local farmer, Bingham climbed to the ridge-top and found, as he later wrote, "a jungle-covered maze of small and large walls, the ruins of buildings made of blocks of white granite, most carefully cut and beautifully fitted together without cement. Surprise followed surprise until there came the realization that we were in the midst of as wonderful ruins as any ever found in Peru."
The peak near the site was called Machu Picchu ("Old Mountain" in the Indians' Quechua language), and so the name was applied to Bingham's extraordinary find. The expedition pushed on the next day as Bingham continued his quest to find Vitcos and Vilcabamba. Several days later Bingham came across hilltop ruins that he recognized as Vitcos. The site was less spectacular than Machu Picchu, but its discovery confirmed the accuracy of the 16th-century Spanish records. "By marrying the historian's archival tools to the explorer's compass and his own magnificent enthusiasm," Mr. Heaney writes, "Bingham had proved that the chronicles could be trusted, and that Inca history was real, not the stuff of myth."
Axiom Photographic Agency/Getty Images
Machu Picchu
.The uncovering of Vitcos encouraged Bingham to keep on looking for Vilcabamba. He traversed a jungle area peopled by the Machiguenga and Asháninka tribes, eventually finding more ruins—but they did not appear promising, and Bingham failed to take them for what they were: Vilcabamba.
The American was initially celebrated in Peru for helping to resurrect Inca history—but the good feelings did not last long. On an expedition in 1912 funded by Yale and National Geographic magazine, Bingham set out to collect Inca artifacts and bring them back to America. Successfully eluding a Peruvian government monitor and resentful locals, his team amassed 5,415 pieces, including human bones, from Machu Picchu and Vitcos. But the price for Bingham's reputation was heavy: He became a pariah in Peru, a country he professed to love, and he was excoriated by his peers for his hasty, haphazard collecting.
Bingham would hide some of the treasure for years because he hadn't obtained Peru's permission to export it, and even the objects he legally sent home to Yale would prove hard to classify because they had been jumbled together and arrived with little information from the site. Yet Bingham gained widespread fame for his Machu Picchu discovery, which he recounted with photographs and articles in National Geographic and in books, including a "runaway best seller" published in 1948, "Lost City of the Incas."
The battle over ownership of the materials Bingham collected has lasted nearly a century, and Mr. Heaney devotes the latter part of his account to the battle's details. At the time of Bingham's expeditions, Peruvian laws covering artifact-collecting were murky. He negotiated complex deals with the government and with land owners, and he made promises to return the artifacts and bones; but he didn't inform Yale of some of his arrangements. Even now a lawsuit is wending its way through a Connecticut court as Peru attempts to force Yale to give up the Bingham material held by the university's Peabody Museum of Natural History. The suit comes at a time when there is increasing pressure on former colonial powers to repatriate historically significant holdings taken from other lands. Some governments, including the U.S., have cooperated with the affected countries. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles have returned artifacts.
Absent from the discussion, however, are the rights of those who own the land on which the discoveries were made or of their ancestors, who may have owned the land lawfully and had it expropriated by their own governments. Very little effort has been given to sorting out the confusing laws prevailing at the time of most long-ago excavations—laws that, in the case of Bingham, were not credibly enforced in any case.
There is little doubt that Bingham bent the rules. But Peru also bore much blame. During the 1912 expedition that produced the bulk of Bingham's collection, the monitor appointed by the government did a dismal job. The monitor's final inventory has never been found, so we don't know what Bingham was cleared to collect. That the material was easily exported required an authorization that the Peruvian government actually gave, despite protests from members of a burgeoning movement to protect the country's cultural heritage. Still, Peru's actions do not excuse Bingham for hiding from his American sponsors his obligation to return much of what he had carted away should the Peruvian government want the pieces back.
.Cradle of Gold
By Christopher Heaney
Palgrave Macmillan, 285 pages, $27
Read an excerpt
.Mr. Heaney praises Bingham for opening up the entire field of Inca studies but otherwise seems to find little to admire in the man. He deplores Bingham's plundering of the ruins, but that's just one of several indictments. Mr. Heaney also chastises Bingham for not recognizing Vilcabamba and instead calling the site Espiritu Pampa. The attack is lame: Espíritu Pampa was confirmed to be Vilcabamba only much later, in the 1960s. Bingham also comes under attack for pumping up Machu Picchu as the "lost city" of the Incas. Maybe Machu Picchu isn't as important as Vilcabamba, but it was certainly a magnificent citadel, an architectural treasure that—aside from a few rumors, a couple of references in obscure maps and perhaps a visit by one or two foreigners over the centuries—was indeed "lost." It was not even mentioned in the Spanish chronicles.
'Cradle of Gold" argues that Bingham, in early accounts of his expeditions, shamefully played down the assistance he received from Peruvians and failed to give sufficient credit to the research on the Incas that had already been done by scholars within the country. The criticism is well-founded—but Bingham corrected some of those omissions in "Lost City of the Incas." Mr. Heaney also criticizes him for using "forced Indian labor." Bingham did indeed operate as something of an autocrat, particularly when recruiting natives who were reluctant to go rooting around in what they regarded as sacred places. But often the Indians willingly set aside their qualms if the money was right.
Mr. Heaney even seems put off by Bingham´s flamboyance, by his ability to reinvent himself as a pilot and a politician after his relationship with Peru soured and his sloppiness as a self-taught archaeologist was exposed. With America on the cusp of entering World War I in 1917, Bingham enrolled in a flying school—partly out of a patriotic spirit but partly, Mr. Heaney says, out of a need for personal grandeur. "Flight reflected the guiding premise of his life: to escape and soar above the crowd." In 1922, Bingham was elected lieutenant governor of Connecticut; two years later he ran for governor, won that race, but then a short time later also won a special election for an open seat in the U.S. Senate. Mr. Heaney says that Bingham "landed in Washington with a splash," wearing "Tiffany-bought finery"—at that point he had been married to Alfreda for more than two decades—and arranging "fabulous photo ops." Bingham once arrived at a committee meeting, we learn, "by landing a blimp on the steps of the Capitol."
As a spouse, a friend and a colleague, Bingham must have been insufferable. He showed little care for his wife, he hogged credit and tended to correct people's pronunciation of foreign words. But his revelation of Machu Picchu's existence has been a cultural and economic blessing for countless Peruvians over the years. The site is "a great engine of identity and prosperity for Cuzco," Mr. Heaney concedes. More than 800,000 tourists visit every year. "Where the family of Bingham's young guide once lived, there is now an $800-a-night hotel." And a luxury train now runs between the city of Cuzco and the town below Machu Picchu. The name of the train? The Hiram Bingham.
Tourists return to Machu Picchu after two month closure due to flooding
MACHU PICCHU, Peru — Tourists are back at Machu Picchu, which reopened after a two-month closure due to floods that washed out the rail link to the mountaintop ruins.
But officials say the entire route is not expected to reopen until June. Until then, tourists can travel by bus from Cuzco to Piscachuco and from there by train to Machu Picchu Pueblo at the base of the ruins.
Peru's No. 1 tourist site had been shut down since late January, when heavy rains disrupted the rail link from the city of Cuzco and trapped some 4,000 tourists, many of whom had to be rescued with helicopters.
Workers have now finished rehabilitating the last 27 kilometres of track, though service has not been restored all the way to Cuzco.
The train is the only form of transportation to the fortress, though hardier tourists can also hike there along the steep Inca Trail.
Machu Picchu, nestled atop a verdant mountain in the Andes, averages 1,500 to 2,000 visitors a day.
But officials say the entire route is not expected to reopen until June. Until then, tourists can travel by bus from Cuzco to Piscachuco and from there by train to Machu Picchu Pueblo at the base of the ruins.
Peru's No. 1 tourist site had been shut down since late January, when heavy rains disrupted the rail link from the city of Cuzco and trapped some 4,000 tourists, many of whom had to be rescued with helicopters.
Workers have now finished rehabilitating the last 27 kilometres of track, though service has not been restored all the way to Cuzco.
The train is the only form of transportation to the fortress, though hardier tourists can also hike there along the steep Inca Trail.
Machu Picchu, nestled atop a verdant mountain in the Andes, averages 1,500 to 2,000 visitors a day.
Machu Picchu reopens to visitors
Peru's Machu Picchu reopened to visitors this week, two months after torrential rains disrupted access to the famous archaeological site.
Though the Andean citadel itself escaped damage, the January landslides and flooding destroyed the rail line that takes most tourists from Cusco to Aguas Calientes, a town at the base of the ancient Inca stronghold and UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The rains also closed the Inca Trail, a four-day trek to Machu Picchu that's considered one of the world's most iconic hiking routes.
While track repairs continue through June, visitors must travel about two hours from Cusco to Piscacucho by bus, then continue by train for another hour and a half to the Aguas Calientes station. (Luggage will be limited to one small bag or backpack per person.)
Hikers can again access the Inca Trail, though they must have a return train ticket and "it will be a little more challenging than usual" because of storm-related debris, says Peru tourism spokeswoman Amalia Meliti.
Machu Picchu, rediscovered by the outside world after U.S. explorer Hiram Bingham's 1911 visit, is one of South America's top tourism attractions. Access is normally limited to 2,500 visitors per day; a maximum of 500 hikers per day can use the Inca Trail. But for an unspecified period, Peru's National Institute of Culture will also ration the number of entrance tickets to the citadel and Inca Trail; reservations for the trail are sold out through May.
For more information and updates, visit Prom Peru (peru.info), the South American Explorers Club (saexplorers.org) or the English-language Peruvian Times
Though the Andean citadel itself escaped damage, the January landslides and flooding destroyed the rail line that takes most tourists from Cusco to Aguas Calientes, a town at the base of the ancient Inca stronghold and UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The rains also closed the Inca Trail, a four-day trek to Machu Picchu that's considered one of the world's most iconic hiking routes.
While track repairs continue through June, visitors must travel about two hours from Cusco to Piscacucho by bus, then continue by train for another hour and a half to the Aguas Calientes station. (Luggage will be limited to one small bag or backpack per person.)
Hikers can again access the Inca Trail, though they must have a return train ticket and "it will be a little more challenging than usual" because of storm-related debris, says Peru tourism spokeswoman Amalia Meliti.
Machu Picchu, rediscovered by the outside world after U.S. explorer Hiram Bingham's 1911 visit, is one of South America's top tourism attractions. Access is normally limited to 2,500 visitors per day; a maximum of 500 hikers per day can use the Inca Trail. But for an unspecified period, Peru's National Institute of Culture will also ration the number of entrance tickets to the citadel and Inca Trail; reservations for the trail are sold out through May.
For more information and updates, visit Prom Peru (peru.info), the South American Explorers Club (saexplorers.org) or the English-language Peruvian Times
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