Living in Peru : your everyday companion

By Simon Calder
Belfast Telegraph

By the ninth hour of being stranded on a high Andean pass, some of my 52 fellow passengers began to look really rather tasty.

The film Missing depicts the true story of a plane crash on the mountainous spine of South America, in which the survivors could remain alive only by eating the remains of passengers who had perished in the accident.

My chosen form of trans-Andean transport was a bus, not an aircraft. But with the on-board supplies of food exhausted and no immediate sign of rescue, the Hannibal Lecter cookbook began to seem like a good investment

By Richard Nisbet

I first came to Peru in 1975. I was brought here by a mystery. How could people who were supposedly primitive, Bronze-age people…. have made walls that look like this?
 
Later I read Thor Heyerdahl’s books on Easter Island and discovered that there was one remaining wall (and evidence of others that had fallen into the ocean) like those in and around Cusco.   And there were other commonalities between Easter Island and the Andean highlands. They both had the totora reed, the bottle gourd and the sweet potato.

by Venetia Rainey
Nouse - York University


Unable to reach Machu Picchu by the conventional route, Venetia Rainey explores the former Inca capital of Cusco, where history fuses with South American vibrancy

One of the world’s most spectacular treks is the Peru’s Capaq Nan trail, otherwise known as the Inca trail. The classic route covers 70km and reaches heights of over 4,200m above sea. It takes about four days to reach the legendary lost Inca city of Machu Picchu, officially named one of the Seven Wonders of the World last year. The sense of victory after such a hike makes for a once in a lifetime (and fairly costly) experience. At least, so I have been told.

I had the misfortune of suffering what all travellers must endure at one point or another: food poisoning. After drinking impure water whilst staying on an island in Lake Titicaca, I was crippled by the illness and utterly unable to keep food or water down. On the third day, I found myself being roughly pulled out of bed, and my pyjamas swapped for hiking boots, shorts and a t-shirt. Three hours from the starting point of the trail, I had to admit defeat. My family went on without me, and a rather put-out porter travelled back the five hour journey with me to the nearest town, Cusco.

Kelly Hearn
National Geographic News


Ruins recently discovered in southern Peru could be the ancient "lost city" of Paititi, according to claims that are drawing serious but cautious response from experts.

The presumptive lost city, described in written records as a stone settlement adorned with gold statues, has long been a grail for explorers—as well as a lure for local tourism businesses.

A commonly cited legend claims that Paititi was built by the Inca hero Inkarri, who founded the city of Cusco before retreating into the jungle after Spanish conquerors arrived.

The broken skeletons were scattered like random pottery shards, rediscovered where they had fallen centuries ago.

Were these ancient people cut down in some long-forgotten battle? Did European-introduced diseases cause their demise? Were they casualties of some apocalyptic reckoning at this great walled citadel?

The "cloud warriors" of ancient Peru are slowly offering up their secrets -- and more questions.

Recent digs at this majestic site, once a stronghold of the Chachapoya civilization, have turned up scores of skeletons and thousands of artifacts, shedding new light on these myth-shrouded early Americans and one of the most remarkable, if least understood, of Peru's pre-Columbian cultures.

miamiherald.com

Everyone here, it seems, has a theory about the Nasca Lines.

The mysterious markings on the desert floor are a massive astronomical calendar. That's a popular one.

Or maybe they point to hidden reserves of water, the source of life in the desert.

Then there's my favorite: UFO landing site. Forty years ago, Danish writer Erich Von Daniken popularized that theory with his best-selling book Chariots of the Gods?

Now, strapped into a four-passenger Cessna circling over a figure called the astronaut, I'm not sure what to think. One of its hands points to the sky, another to the ground. His owlish eyes stare into mine.

Look at me, the 1,500-year-old seems to say. Can you solve my mystery?

Here's what's known:

As we advance through this strange landscape we seem to go back in time. Our minds go back to a prehistoric age, enveloping us in a sense of mystery and the unknown.

It is a strange sensation. We walk among red hills speckled with the contrasting green of the bushes. In the distance, eucalyptus groves sway in a dance generated by the highland wind. The remains of the trunks lie everywhere.

We first learned of the existence of this unique place a few years ago. A brief report broadcast late at night informed us that it was located in northern Peru.

In a period now lost in time our region bore no resemblance to the landscape we see today. Dinosaurs ruled and great, luxuriant forests covered every inch of the territory.

Over millions of years great changes occurred. At some point, the dinosaurs and the enormous forests disappeared, giving way to new species of animals and plants. The causes of this extraordinary event have been lost to us and are wreathed in mystery.

Flags representing Peru and the Tahuantinsuyo flutter at the head of hordes of pilgrims who have flocked from the Cuzco highlands to the Sinakara Valley near Mount Ausangate, to take part in one of the largest religious festivals in South America: the Festival of the Lord of Qoyllur Rit’i or the Snowstar.

We press on at dawn. The track rises and falls, a bone-jarring hike that has us sweating despite temperatures hovering below 5°C. The trail runs for a stiff 8 km, four hours of exhausting trudging from the village of Mahuayani to Qolquepunco, near Mount Ausangate.

It is the land of soaring peaks, biting winds and glacial highland plains dotted with the odd clump of spiky ichu grass. The trail winds past wayside crosses and stone cairns, until we reach the natural basin of Sinakara, at 4,800 meters. Our hearts are pounding. Time for one last sip of coca tea, and it’s up to the top.

Perched on top of an imposing plateau in the province of La Convención, lie the remains of a priceless and strategic stone citadel (*).

Choquequirao lies at an altitude of over 3,000 meters, on top of a plateau which looks out at Mount Salcantay. Just getting to this archaeological complex is an adventure in itself which demands physical fitness and the right gear. The diversity of climates throughout the hike and the jagged terrain along the way make it a bruising, although rewarding experience.

As Choquequirao gets few visitors, travelers can experience the feeling of visiting this remote and enigmatic spot where time seems to have stopped.

The Tambopata-Candamo reserved zone teems with plants, insects, reptiles, amphibians, birds and mammals. There, in the heart of the Amazon jungle, in the southeastern corner of Peru, scientists have notched up records in biological bio-diversity. Thanks to backing from the Dutch Embassy, Conservation International and state natural resources entity Inrena have been able to launch a project to conserve eco-systems and ensure the sustainable use of natural resources in this stunning area.

Wedged between the departments of Madre de Dios and Puno, the Tambopata-Candamo reserved zone stretches across some 1.5 million hectares. To reach the area, there are good roads, river routes and constant air links. The zone borders the Bahuaja-Sonene Natural Park, an area which features three eco-systems: the yunga or cloud forest; the Amazon rainforest; and the palm-studded savanna, confirming the bewildering variety of existing eco-systems.