Living in Peru : your everyday companion

Cornell professor and wife find beauty, history in their travels
By Daniel R. Schwarz
Special to The Journal

After visiting Argentina and Brazil last December, my wife and I wanted to continue our exploration of South America. While our primary goal as travelers is learning about history and culture, other incentives were South America's warm summer weather and long hours of daylight during our dark glacial Ithaca winter.

When possible, we try to avoid organized tours. Using some suggestions from tour brochures and friends, we booked our trip ourselves and made arrangements with hotels by e-mail. LAN, the Chilean International airline, served us well throughout our trip. We arrived early Dec. 17 in Lima, Peru where, as we descended, I had my first sighting of the magnificent Andes. From beginning to ending, including flights, our trip lasted 18 days.

My top 10 reasons to visit Peru:

1) Machu Picchu; 2) Lake Titicaca; 3) the Andes; 4) warm weather ; 5) the buzz of Lima; 6) hiking, climbing, and trekking; 7) Excellent food; 8) wonderful crafts and alpaca products; 9) strong dollar in relation to the Peso; 10) hospitable host population who want to please tourists.

Lima is not the glamour city of the world, but it does have some splendid sites which can be seen in a few days. Essential sites: Plaza Mayer—the heart of Central Lima — and in addition to the main cathedral, three significant churches: the Franciscan Church and Catacombs, San Pedro, and Iglesia de la Merced.

The archeological collection in Museo Larco will give visitors an education in the many civilizations that preceded the Incas. With descriptions in Spanish, English, French, and Italian, it is beautifully organized and housed in an elegant 16th century colonial residence. A second museum is the Central Reserve Bank Museum of Peru. Most museums are free or have minimal admission charges.

The somewhat upscale area known as Miraflores is worth a visit, particularly the new area known as Larcomar—really a kind of upscale mall — on the cliffs of Miraflores, with stunning views of the Pacific Ocean. The area also contains an impressively large ancient pre-Inca storage site, Huaca Pullana, in the shape of a pyramid. In Miraflores, we had a wonderful simple fresh fish dinner at Café & Canela for $11 for 2.

Cusco, the Inca capitol, and its surroundings have many fine Inca sites. A half-day tour, including the Dominican monastery and the colonial Cathedral is recommended. We stayed at the Hotel Libertador built on the site of Inca ruins; the hotel offers impeccable service.

The highlight of our entire trip was a visit to Machu Picchu, the famous Inca ruin in the Andes that is thought to have been built in the 15th century by Emperor Pachacuti. We took a 6 a.m. train to the town of Machu Picchu Pueblo—formerly known as Aguas Calientes — and then a half hour bus ride to the actual site. The scenery as you approach the site is spectacular.

While all visitors need to be in shape for some climbing, younger and older ambitious travelers can approach Machu Picchu as part of a four-day, three-night trek on the Inca trail from Cusco and/or do a good deal of climbing within the Machu Picchu site.

We overnighted in Machu Picchu Pueblo where an unexpected highlight was an exquisite lunch at a French Peruvian restaurant, El Indio Feliz, that was among the best meals of our trip.

After another night in Cusco, we flew to Juliaca and were driven to Puno where we stayed at Hotel Libertador, which had a splendid view of Lake Titicaca. We took an all-day boat tour to the Uros Floating Islands, where we were rowed from one island to another in a reed canoe, and then to the island of Taquile, where we hiked up to the main square at 13,000 feet. We also visited the Pre-Inca Sillustani burial sites between Puno and Juliaca.

Rapid changes in altitude from sea level to 11,000 or even 13,000 feet may be difficult for some. Some tourists take prescription drugs to adjust to the heights and avoid headaches and nausea.