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Last modified May 20, 2007. Photographs Copyright 2000, 2003 by Tom
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Peru Index 1 ~ 2 ~ 3
~ 4
:
Page 1: Cuzco Area; this page): Overview
/ Cuzco / The Wari People / Inca
Conquest / Moray / Salt
Pans at Salinas / Lares Trek / Fujimori,
Toledo, & the Economy
Page
2: Inca Trail to Machu Picchu
~ Page 3: Cordillera Blanca:
Trekking
Season & Climate / Chavin
/ Santa Cruz Trek / Inca
Legacies
Page 4: Cordillera Huayhuash:
Altitude
Acclimatization / Climate/ Touching
the Void / Amazon
Source
2000: From May 19 - June 12, our Seattle-based group of friends trekked the following three areas. We avoided altitude sickness by ascending gradually with each trek, walking a total of 85 miles over 12 days, eventually hiking to 15,600 feet in the spectacular Cordillera Blanca mountain range:
 Page 1 (below) covers the Cuzco Area: Overview / Cuzco / The Wari People / Conquest of the Inca / Moray / Salt Pans at Salinas / Lares Trek |
 Page 2: The Inca Trail to Machu Picchu |
 Page 3: Cordillera Blanca |
 Page 4: Cordillera Huayhuash |
Left: The dry air of coastal Peru preserved this ancient
mummy for perhaps
1000 years. Museo Nacional de Antropologia y Arqueologia, Lima.
Above: Flying out of Peru's capital, Lima, to mountainous Cuzco
gives you
a good look at the coastal desert. Coastal Peru is one of the driest
deserts
on earth, watered only by rivers descending from the Andes Mountains.
The
coast has a short summer of sunny, humid days from January to March,
followed
by 9 months of gray mist called the garua. [This image was
published
in a poster addressing altitude
sickness, by a medical student at USC, for use at an international
health conference.]
Above: "Inca alphabet" or "calendar" rug, commonly woven
from wool of
alpaca
and sheep. You can buy many wonderful high-quality crafts in Peru.
Left: Cuzco, the longest continuously
occupied city in the
Americas, is built upon the foundations of the Incas
and several previous cultures. Many of the buildings incorporate Inca
walls
as a footing several feet high, as shown here. Francisco Pizarro
officially
founded Spanish Cuzco in 1534.
Above: Santo Domingo Church was built on top of Coricancha
("Golden
Courtyard"
in Quechua language), Cuzco's major Inca temple, and was twice
destroyed
by earthquakes, in 1650 and 1950. Francisco Pizarro officially founded
Spanish Cuzco in 1534.
The attractive town of Cuzco (or Cusco)
nestles
in a valley at 11,000 feet, and offers impressive Inca
history,
Spanish colonial architecture,
high-quality handicrafts, comfortable lodging, and a pleasant
year-round
climate. The Spanish name "Cuzco" comes from qosqo,
or "the earth's navel," in the Quechua language. In 1983,
UNESCO
listed the city of Cuzco as a World Heritage Site.
Although restaurant touts and craft venders
can be annoyingly assertive around the main tourist areas of Cuzco, I
can't
blame them for wanting to make a living. More importantly, I found
their
products to be of high quality for a small price: fresh food, Cusquena
beer, woven rugs, decorated ceramic plates, and various handicrafts. As
of 2003, the city has improved the situation by banning roving venders
in the central square, moving them to a new covered market building
several
blocks West. You do need to hang on to your valuables -- one woman in
our
group lost a loosely secured small camera to a mother with children who
distracted her and pressed closely. Petty crime is high, but your your
body is safer from harm in Peru than in the United States. As long as
you
watch out for the frequent petty crime in cities, Peru is very safe and
enjoyable for touring. Urban problems are not unique to Peru, and you
can
easily escape them by visiting the fascinating rural country, as we did
by trekking. The campesinos are friendly, conservative, and colorfully
dressed.
Above: The last rays of sunset highlight turbulent clouds
over the finely
crafted Inca walls of Sacsayhuaman, built on a hill above Cuzco. (This
is all natural light captured on standard Fujichrome Velvia film,
without
any colored filters.)
Above: Wari People:
This
image shows a wall built by the Wari people at Willkahuain, near
Huaraz.
From
600 to 1000 AD, the Wari (or Huari) people conquered their
neighbors in the central Andes. They imposed their way of life on local
cultures, and also fashioned strong stone buildings with good
ventilation
and earthquake resistance. Wari influence gradually wained as local
groups
regained control. The militaristic and urban culture of the Wari
may
have influenced the remarkable expansion of the
Inca from Cuzco Valley in 1430.
Left: Here at Tambomachay, the Incas diverted a spring
through impressive
stone work. The Incas perfected stonecraft to a degree which amazes us
today. Not even a piece of paper can fit between stones in the finer
temples.
While Lake Titicaca (on the border with Bolivia) is an earlier and more important cradle of Andean civilizations, Cuzco Valley gave birth to the powerful Inca Empire. Archeology suggests that in a 700-800 AD military expansion, the Wari people may have settled the Cuzco Valley and become the Inca's ancestors. Quechua oral history says that the first Inca, Manco Capac, the son of the sun god (inti), founded the city of Cuzco in the 1100's AD. After 1430 AD, the Incas burst out of Cuzco and quickly imposed their culture from southern Colombia to central Chile. The Incas used their absolute rule and organizational genius to build vast terraces for growing food on the steep Andes mountains in a moderate climate, away from the dry desert coast and above the mosquito-filled Amazon Basin. The Incas developed textiles, pottery, metals, architecture, amazingly fitted rock walls, empire-wide roads, bridges, and irrigation, but never discovered the wheel, arch, or writing. Despite their amazing accomplishments, the Inca Empire lasted barely a century.The Inca Empire and Spanish Conquest
Left: Corn, or maize, is native to the Americas, and Peru
grows cobs with
especially large kernels.
Above: Quinua, a plant native to the Andes, has been a staple grain since before Inca times.
Above: Andes highland village & fields near the
Vilcabamba Range.
Chinchero is a town
built on the ruins of the summer palace of one of the great Inca
rulers, located in the Sacred Valley of the Incas (Urubabamba
Valley). An historic
Spanish church is integrated into ancient Inca stonework.
Above: We walk past agave plants and farmland on our way
from Moray to
Salinas, in the Urubamba Valley (also known as the Sacred Valley).
Above: We contemplate the ancient experimental agricultural
terraces of Moray.
Above: Salinas salt mines above the Urubamba River.
Left: Since Inca times, workers have redirected a salt-laden
spring onto
these extensive terraces for evaporation into salt. At a small mill,
workers
add iodine to the salt and package it into different grades of purity.
Above: Salt bags produced at Salinas.
Above: A woman in a red dress follows a many carrying a bag of salt
at Salinas.
Left: stairstep terraces of the salt pans of Salinas.
Above: Salt terraces at Salinas.
Above: Workers are dwarfed by the scale of the salt terraces
at Salinas.
Left: School girls in the mountains of Peru.
Left: We met school children who walked 6 miles each way to
school.
Above: This woman said she weaves for a month on a rug which
she sells
for only $35 US. Her village is too many miles up into the mountains
for
the government to extend electric lines, and she subsists on raising
alpacas
much as did her Inca ancesters.
Left: Domesticated alpacas in a village at 12,000 feet.
Above: We climbed towards a pass beneath Nevado Terihuay
(17,500 feet).
Left: Nevado Terihuay rose 4000 feet above us.
Above: A flock of 30 wild Ibis birds flew over the pass.
Left: Some remaining alpine swamps still support native mound plants
and
nourish migrating birds. However, I noticed several places where locals
were ripping out the native asters and mound plants to allow grass to
grow
for their alpacas and sheep. Humans have lived in and modified these
summer
pastures for generations, changing the character of the fragile land.
As
a result, trekking in Peru (as in Nepal) is more of a cultural
exploration
than a wilderness odyssey, except for the views of magnificent wild
peaks.
Above: Descending through the puna, the high alpine
grasslands (an
ecological
niche like the alps, the high pastures of Switzerland).
Left: Young alpaca shorn with a mohawk.
Above: Young women in their colorful everyday clothes.
Left: Our visit to Peru coincided with its presidential election on May
28,
2000,
and election signs seem to cover the brick walls everywhere.
President Fujimori, Three-Term
President
On election eve in May 2000, my wife Carol and I joined the thriving
crowds of Cuzco's night life who bustled without incident around the
intimidating
police clad in full riot gear who surrounded the main square. Although
Peru is officially democratic, the sole opposition candidate, Toledo,
protested alleged poll-rigging by dropping out of the presidential
race,
leaving Fujimori for a third term, making him the most senior
leader
in the Americas after Cuba's Fidel Castro. Corruption allegations
heightened
after Fujimori's intelligence chief Montesinos was caught red
handed
on video, and in November 2000 Fujimori resigned from office and fled
to
Japan. Although he ruled more autocratically than democratically, the
United
States plus many Peruvians appreciated Fujimori for eliminating the Maoist
"Shining Path" terrorist organization, improving Peru's economy,
building
schools, and expanding electricity to rural areas. However, Peru's campesinos
(country people) felt more hurt than helped by Fujimori's austerity
programs,
and would have voted for Toledo.
President Toledo, as of 2003
Toledo rose from poverty to become a Stanford-trained economist, and
in 2001 proudly became Peru’s first democratically elected President of
Andean descent. Unfortunately, his campaign promises to reduce poverty
and create jobs failed to bear fruit. When I returned in May 2003,
campesinos,
teachers, truck drivers, and health workers were striking (peacefully)
every week. One day I witnessed the main Avenue del Sol in Cuzco fill
with
thousands of peacefully striking teachers (maestros) plus another
group.
On day 7 of our 8-day Huayhuash Trek, we
heard
on the radio that campesinos had blocked most major highways with rocks
and felled trees for the past 2 days, which might block our bus
returning
us to Lima. Upon learning this, our energetic guide Koki ran for 9
hours
round trip to the nearest phone to confirm that our bus had already
driven
to our meeting point 2 days early to avoid strikers! Toledo declared a
national emergency on May 27 and reopened the roads, allowing us to
keep
our original schedule. This national emergency put about half of the
country
under the control of the military and weakened many civil rights,
allowing
the government to detain protesters and enter homes without search
warrants.
President Toledo desperately reshuffled his cabinet in June 2003, which
did nothing to help his minimal control over Congress. Our three
different
guides in Cuzco, Machu Picchu, and Huaraz all yearned again for the
strong,
effective hand of Fujimori.
Peru's Economy as of 2003
Today, the upper classes in Peru mainly earn their income from exports
of gold, copper, zinc, natural gas, textiles, and agricultural
products.
Strong exports in 2002 gave Peru a trade surplus for the first time in
over ten years. From 2001 to 2003, Peru has experienced low inflation,
good economic growth, and a thriving black market, at the expense of
heavy
regulation, worker dislocation, and social unrest. There is a large
disparity
between rich and poor, and half the country lives on less than $2 a
day.
The "Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act" gives Peru
preferential
tariffs to the U.S. market and boosts agricultural and textile exports,
but also suppresses the livelihood of poor Coca leaf farmers, whose
traditional
product dates from pre-Inca times.
Despite the ever changing situation in Peru, I highly recommend travelling there as long as you allow a couple of extra days for possible scheduling delays in transportation.
Copyright 2000, 2003 by Tom
Dempsey. Photographs or text may not be copied without permission.
(If some images fail to load or are marked with an X,
click REFRESH or RELOAD in your internet browser.)
Peru Index 1 ~ 2 ~ 3
~ 4
:
Page 1: Cuzco Area; this page): Overview
/ Cuzco / The
Wari People / Inca
Conquest / Moray / Salt
Pans at Salinas / Lares Trek / Fujimori,
Toledo, & the Economy
Page
2: Inca Trail to Machu Picchu
~ Page 3: Cordillera Blanca:
Trekking
Season & Climate / Chavin
/ Santa Cruz Trek / Inca
Legacies
Page 4: Cordillera Huayhuash:
Altitude
Acclimatization / Climate/ Touching
the Void / Amazon
Source
(If some images fail to load, click REFRESH or
RELOAD in your internet browser.)
