Peru Machu Picchu
It has been 100 years since Yale archaeologist Hiram Bingham bushwhacked his way up a crude mule trail and stumbled upon one of history’s biggest unveilings: Machu Picchu. And with his 1911 discovery, Inca history would be rewritten as explorers came to realize that the Incan civilization had not vanished as completely as they had thought. The mystery of the construction behind flush-fitting colossal stones was one thing. The advanced purposes of structures here and elsewhere in the Sacred Valley – astronomical clock, aqueduct – was quite another. The Inca, it appeared, were alive and well. And 500 years after their downfall, they are still fulfilling one of their Quechua decrees, “yachay” – teach and learn.
Indeed, all of Peruvian culture has much to teach. In Cusco, evidence of the Inca lies literally in the city’s foundations. After Pizarro’s conquest, Spaniards wasted no time in razing the city to erect baroque buildings in the Spanish tradition. But they made no effort to conceal old Inca underpinnings. Quechua locals, themselves a foundation of Peruvian culture, don multi-hued alpaca ponchos as they cart their harvests – quinoa, the “lost crop of the Incas,” and wild zarzamora, blackberries–to city-plaza markets. When you’re ready to get off your feet for a spell, duck into a cozy bar for a pisco sour or some chicha, locally brewed corn beer, alongside Inca descendants. At mealtime, keep your taste buds open: today’s Peruvian cuisine may be infused with that of China, Italy, West Africa, and Japan – thanks to waves of immigration from these countries.
But many things remain purely Peruvian. You’ll witness deep respect for Inca heritage in farming terraces that step up Andean slopes … in traditional back-strap looming that survives in rural villages … and in the precious gold and silver jewelry glimmering in glass cases at Lima’s Lorca Museum. And you’ll be astonished by Peru’s natural beauty, from soaring Andean peaks and river-fed valleys to lush Amazon jungles.
Be astonished by Peru: Machu Picchu & the Sacred Valley during VBT’s Walking Vacation.
