Destination attractions things to do in peru

Posted: 02/09/2007--25/11/2008 || Rate this Article: 3 || Views|| Sign In || Register ||Hello Guest

Back in 1939, Dr. Paul Kosok, an archeologist from New York's Long Island University, was visiting the Nazca Desert coastal region, studying what he originally believed to be an ancient irrigation system. That is, until the day he hitched a flight over the area and noticed that the lines he had previously presumed to be merely irrigation were in the shape of a bird. Further examinations of the site from the air revealed that the angle of the days sunset coincided exactly with the direction of one of those linesas the date was June 21st, the winter solstice, Dr. Kosok concluded that he had found the worlds largest astronomy textbook. Since then, the site of his initial discovery has grown to include dozens of gigantic ground drawings that cover over four hundred square miles of southern Peru. They were left around two thousand years ago by a Pre-Inca civilization that traced them by means of the careful removal of desert rocks to reveal the pale pink sands beneath, and a complete view of their scope and proportion can only be obtained from the air. Even if they were all alone on the landscape, their presence would make Peru a must-see for every would-be adventure traveler or amateur student of the wonders of our worlds past, but they are honestly only the beginning.

The Republic of Peru is bounded to the west by the Pacific Ocean, to the northwest by Ecuador, to the north by Columbia, to the northeast by Brazil, to the southeast by Bolivia and to the south by Chile. Topographically, the nation is dominated by dual Andes Mountain rangesthe Cordillera Occidental and Oriental, its narrow desert coastal region and the tropical lowland thats the Amazon Basin. While not a wildlife haven on the level of some of its South American neighbors, Peru is nonetheless inhabited and sometimes haunted by sea lions, flamingos, Humboldt Penguins, llamas, alpaca, tapirs, spectacled bears and jaguars that certain zoology minded travelers might want to seek out with their cameras. But primarily what visitors can expected to be treated to, are the physical remains of a history that dates back to well before 900BC and the founding of fabulous archaeological sites such as Chavin de Huantar, to the lost Inca cities exemplified by Machu Picchu, to the Spanish colonial era cities left behind by conquistadors.

Unless youre heading in overland from elsewhere in the region, youll be arriving in country via the capital city of Limas Jorge Chavez international airport. Once-called The City of Kings, Lima was founded by the conquistador Francisco Pizarro in 1535. It is a hazy metropolis of fine museumsfeaturing magnificent pre-Columbian collections, often mist-shrouded beaches and flowered colonial buildings and boulevards. Before you indulge in a day trip out to the important pre-Inca citadel of Pachacamac youll want to spent some time visiting both the National Archaeology and Anthropology Museums, the Amaro Museum of textiles, the National Museum, Silver Collection and Enrico Poli for their collections of pottery, colonial artifacts and oil paintings and especially the Larco Herrera Museum of pre-Columbian art.

Once youve finally manage to tear yourself away from the above for a trek out into the hinterland, youll want to head strait for Cuzco. The continent's oldest continuously inhabited city, Cuzco is widely considered to be the archaeological capital of the Americas. Located over nine thousand feet above sea level, its pre-colonial legacy is immediately apparent. Inca built stone walls still line most of Cuzco's often steep, narrow, and thronged with their Quechua-speaking descendants streets. Plazas, archaeological sites, churches, museums, coffee shops, markets, artist communities such as San Blas, are just a few of its native attractions. Archaeology buffs will definitely want to check out surrounding Inca ruins such as Sacsayhuaman, Puca Pucara, Tambo Machay, the nearby Pisac ruins and market, and the fortress and Inca village of Ollantaytambo and its Sacred Valleythe birthplace of the Inca civilization.

Backpackers, climbers and hikers alike will definitely want to pay a visit to the area around the town of Huaraz. Situated in a perfect jumping-off point in the Valley of Callejon de Huaylas, a nearly forty by two hundred mile stretch of ruin-speckled wilderness nestled between the Cordillera Blanca and Negra mountains, not quite four hundred miles north of Lima. Huarez more often than not plays the part of a base-camp for treks down along the Santa River into the picturesque chain of villages hidden along its banks or up through the quartz and feldspar juts and perpetual snowcaps of the highest tropical mountain range in the world. Trekkers will be able to drop in on pristine hot springs, dazzling glacial lakes such as the Llanganuco, the aforementioned pre-Inca archaeological site of Chavin de Huantar, a sprinkling of Inca sites and the Pastoruri Glacier.

Of course, you shouldnt even think about leaving Peru before youve made the trip forty three miles northwest from Cuzco to see the glorious remains known as Machu Picchu (ancient peak) the old Inca sanctuary-city that was re-discovered by an American explorer named Hiram Bingham in 1911, in an almost unreachable and remote place in the mountainshigh above the Urubamba River canyon cloud forest at a height of around eight thousand feet above sea level. Some believe that Machu Picchu is actually the legendary last capital of the Incas Vilcabamba la Vieja, but this has never been proven and many other potential sites have been identified throughout Peru and Ecuador. Comprised of approximately two hundred buildings, Machu Picchu was constructed sometime between 1460 and 1470 AD by the Inca ruler Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui at the top of a ridge, hiding it from the gorge below, in area covered in thickets of jungle and was most likely a royal estate and religious retreat. Today, it is one of most popular tourist destinations on earth, and deservedly so. Especially in the early morning, the ruins are a place of magicthe surrounding mountains cover themselves in the kind of dense fog that can convince you of anything.

Head out during the June to August highland dry season to land in the best weather to hike through. And be careful, as even though the Shining Path guerilla movement has essentially dried-up, the government is still conducting counter-insurgency operations in various designated emergency areas and the guerillas are still launching occasional strikes at targets in the Junin, San Martin, Huanuco, Ayacucho and Huancavelica regions.