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2 July, 2008 11:00:00 | in Chavín de Huantar

Do Peru’s Mysterious Chavín de Huantar Ruins Provide Hints As to Why Some Civilizations Disappear?

My family recently visited a place in Peru that we had wanted to visit for a long time. While not as famous as Machu Picchu, the Chavín de Huantar Ruins are quite fascinating in their own right. Most visitors after reading their guidebooks want to see a carved stone obelisk that sits at the center of underground passages in the “Old Chavín Temple.” Known as the “Lanzón,” the obelisk has various animal features, and is thought to have been worshiped as something of a nature god, or treated as an oracle by the people using Chavín. The outside of the Chavín Temple was decorated with carved stone heads, that likewise were anthropomorphic.

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24 June, 2008 13:52:25 | in Peru

On the tracks: Lima to Huancayo

By Ian
My Travels in South America

Here are some notes of the rail trip to Huancayo that I took the last weekend of September 1998. ENAFER, the Rail Company had just started passenger services again after years of inactivity and was now running the last weekend of every month during the tourist season, usually departing Lima on Saturday morning and returning from Huancayo on Monday morning (at last update the service has been suspended again). This journey was featured in the BBC series "Great Rail Journeys of the World" some years back. It is also described (rather fancifully) by Paul Theroux in Chapter 16 of his book "The Old Patagonian Express" (bear in mind the book was written 20 years ago).

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18 June, 2008 13:00:13 | in Cusco

Peru - Cusco Tales: The Stone Wheel of Kachiqhata (Part 1)

By Richard Nisbet
Cusco Tales

In the short span of one century, we are told, the Incas created an empire that rivaled in extent and governance that of the Romans. They supposedly built 20,000 miles of roads over rugged, mountainous terrain. They built innumerable rope bridges spanning impossibly deep gorges. And they built stone walls of such magnitude and perfection that they defy our understanding, even in this day of such marvelous invention and construction.

They did all this without iron tools, without beasts of burden, without writing.... and they did it without the wheel.

“I know where there’s a stone wheel,” the guide said. “An Inca wheel.”

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11 June, 2008 12:00:25 | in Cusco

Peru: Introduction to Cusco Tales

By Richard Nisbet
Cusco Tales

An introduction to mostly true stories by a gringo who has had an ongoing love affair with the town for 28 years. Laced throughout with interesting and little-known tidbits of Inca history, as well as views of contemporary and ancient Cusco culture.

Cusco is not just a town; it is a place of God and man-made beauty. It is a crossroads, an experience. It is even a time machine of sorts. If you don’t know Cusco, you’re missing something. There’s no other place like it.

Ask anyone who’s been there. It is the oldest inhabited city in the Western Hemisphere. They now call it “The archaeological capital of America.” In Inca times they called Cusco “The Navel of the World.”

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4 June, 2008 12:30:46 | in Arequipa

Arequipa, Peru: Get thee to a nunnery

By Diana McAdam
Telegraph.co.uk

The convent of Santa Catalina, in Arequipa, is still home to 24 nuns

In Arequipa, Peru's second city, a convent is now a tourist attraction. Diana McAdam discovers why.

For nearly four centuries, the citizens of Arequipa believed that the streets of the Convent of Santa Catalina were paved with gold. While none had ever seen inside the high white walls of this city within their city, they had all heard stories of the priceless treasures and huge dowries paid by the wealthy families of the young women who joined the order at the age of 12.

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28 May, 2008 11:30:18 | in Cajamarca

Peru: Cajamarca - The warmth of a town

Information provided by
Orgullo del Peru

Text and photos: Walter H. Wust

In spite of its Quechua name, Cajamarca is not – under any circumstances – a cold land. On the contrary, the hospitality of its inhabitants and the beauty of its impressive landscapes make it a forced destination for those who love to travel throughout Peru. And the imminent summer is the ideal time to enjoy its countryside showing off its maximum green splendor.

Cajamarca is one of those places to which many people do not arrive. It is not due to lack of attractions, but because it is located in an independent route, far from the majority of conventional destinations.

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21 May, 2008 11:45:58 | in Cusco

Paying homage to the sun in Peru

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The emperor addresses his people in triumph as Inti Raymi draws to an end.

© JEREMY FERGUSON PHOTO

Inti Raymi - the annual Festival of the Sun - is a spectacular way of saying Happy New Year

Jeremy Ferguson
Special to the Star

Every June 24, Peru's pre-Columbian past springs to life for Inti Raymi, Inca Festival of the Sun. It's the most spectacular historical pageant in South America. Ask Bill Gates or actress Cameron Diaz, who were among last year's throng of international guests.

Inti Raymi recreates the celebration of the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, the beginning of the Sun God's new cycle: Happy Inca New Year.

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14 May, 2008 07:00:48 | in Lima

Peru: Volunteer vacations - More than just a great trip

Judi Lees found herself falling in love over and over again while volunteering with friends at a South American orphanage

Judi Lees
Special to The Sun

It has been a long time since I've fallen in love. However, I am smitten by Anthony as we shoot baskets together on an outdoor court in Lima. His dark eyes gleam as he does enthusiastic high-fives when he makes a shot -- and he doesn't laugh when I miss. Anthony is 10.

I also fall for John, a five-year-old with a smile that would melt the hardest heart. And my motherly instincts kick in when I convince sulky Carmelita to jump rope and then see the joy on her face.

When two friends and I decided to add the element of volunteering to a trip, we opened a cornucopia of opportunities.

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7 May, 2008 12:00:31 | in Cusco

Is it OK to visit Machu Picchu?

The Guardian
By Rory Carroll

The headlines from Peru look bleak. Tourist hordes overwhelming Inca sites. Huge new hotels endangering Machu Picchu. A wonder of the world cracking at the seams.

The news is not as bad as it looks. Globalisation has not scalped another victim, not yet anyway, and concealed in these tidings of woe are reasons to cheer.

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29 April, 2008 22:00:59 | in Amazon

Peru: Splendour of a hotel with a heart

The Independent
By Rory Ross

One entrepreneur has set up a not-for-profit hotel chain in order to help preserve the wildlife and culture of Peru. Rory Ross is suitably impressed

Jose "Joey" Koechlin von Stein, a Peruvian entrepreneur, waved a paperback at me. "This book," he says, "took 25 years to compile." The cover features a picture of a tropical plant. "It contains descriptions of 1,266 species." Silence fell, as he let this nugget sink in. "For 30 years," he continued, "we have been collecting information on what is out there in the Amazonian rainforest, in order to understand how it relates to each other... and not only to preserve it, but also to provide jobs."

We were dining at Joey's villa, a beautiful, candlelit museum of Peruvian art, silverware and pre-Columbian artefacts in Monterrico, an upmarket suburb of Lima. Running an eye over Joey's mounted collections of Incan huacos (clay funereal figurines), stone carvings from the pre-Incan Chavin cult and wooden doors salvaged from the old presidential palace in Lima, I was not surprised to learn that his glamorous wife, Denise, is an interior designer.