Peru

Overview

Peru had a rich cultural life thousands of years before Pizarro turned up in funny clothing. Wander around colonial cities that echo the legacy of Spanish conquistadors, explore the ancient Inca capital of Cuzco, visit the lost city of Machu Picchu and ponder the enigma of the Nazca Lines.

Before you go

When to go

Peru's climate can be divided into two seasons - wet and dry - though this can vary depending on the region. Temperature is mostly influenced by elevation: the higher you climb, the cooler it becomes.

Peru's peak tourist season is from June to August, which is the dry season in the Andean highlands. It's also the best time to go if you're interested in hiking or mountain climbing. While travelers visit the highlands year-round, the wettest months, December to March, make trekking a muddy proposition. Many of the major occur around this time and continue undiminished in spite of heavy rain.

On the coast, Peruvians visit the beach during the sunny, humid months from late December through March. The rest of the year, the coast is clothed in mist. In the eastern rain forests, it naturally rains a lot. The wettest months are December to May, but travelers visit year-round; it rarely rains for more than a few hours at a time and there's plenty of sunshine to enjoy.

Visas overview

With few exceptions (namely citizens of some Asian, African and communist countries), most travelers do not need visas when entering Peru. Tourists are permitted a 30- to 90-day stay, which is stamped into their passports and onto a tourist card, called a Tarjeta Andina de Migración (Andean Immigration Card), that must be returned upon leaving the country. The actual length of stay is determined by the immigration officer at the port of entry. If you lose your tourist card, you'll have to queue up at an (immigration office) for a replacement. Carry your passport and tourist card on your person at all times, especially when traveling in remote areas (it's required by law on the Inca Trail). Extensions of 30 days cost about and can be obtained at immigration offices in Lima, Arequipa, Cuzco, Iquitos Puerto Maldonado, Puno and Trujillo, as well as near the Chilean and Ecuadorian borders. You can keep extending your stay up to 180 days total. When your time is up, you can leave the country overland and return a day later to begin the process again.

Anyone who plans to work, attend school or reside in Peru for any length of time must obtain a visa in advance. Do this through the Peruvian embassy or consulate in your home country.

Factoids

A Wee Fact

Don't pee in jungle rivers - a tiny barbed fish, the , swims upstream and can become lodged in your urethra. Yikes!

Weather

The coastal region of Peru is cool for its latitude, and quite dry year-round. Temperatures are warmest during the summer months (January to March), with hot and humid days of around 29°C (84°F) and cool nights of just below 20°C (68°F). Winters are not too cold, but frequent low cloud may cause some to pine for sunshine. Inland, the temperature drops substantially, with less seasonal variation during the day - average highs are about 21°C (70°F) throughout the year and winter nights are chilly, particularly at higher elevations. There is also a moderate wet season here from December until May.

Geography

Peru is in western South America and shares borders with Chile to the south, Bolivia to the southeast, Brazil to the northeast, Colombia to the north and Ecuador to the northwest. It has three major regions: the Pacific coastal strip, the wide Andean mountains and the Amazonian lowlands.

The narrow coastal strip is mainly desert, merging at its southern end into Chile's Atacama Desert. It includes Lima, the capital, and several major cities - oases watered by dozens of rivers. The country's best road, the Carretera Panamericana (Pan-American Hwy), slices through coastal Peru from border to border.

The Andes, the world's second-greatest mountain chain, rises rapidly from the coast to reach spectacular heights of over 6000m (19,685ft) just 100km (62mi) inland. Peru's highest peak, Huascarán (6768m/22,205ft), is the world's highest tropical summit and the sixth highest peak in the Americas. Tropical they may be, but the Andes have year-round glaciers above 5000m (16,404ft). Between 3000m (9843ft) and 4000m (13,123ft) lie the agricultural Andean highlands supporting half of Peru's population. The spectacular landscape brims with jagged ranges separated by deep, vertiginous canyons.

The eastern Andean slopes receive much more rainfall than the dry western slopes and are clothed in lush cloud forests as they drop into the fabled rain forests of the Amazon Basin. The low-lying Amazon Basin contains varied tributary systems, all feeding into the mighty Río Amazonas. Roads in this region are few; travelers typically venture via river, or fly.

Getting around

getting there and away

Lima's international airport, Jorge Chavez, has direct flights to and from cities all over the Americas, as well as continental Europe. Other locations require a connection. Cuzco has the only other airport with international service, to La Paz, Bolivia. There is a departure tax of US$31 on international flights.

There are overland border crossings between Peru and Bolivia at Desaguadero and nearby Yunguyo on the shores of Lake Titicaca; between Peru and Chile at Tacna; and between Peru and Ecuador at Tumbes. It is possible to travel by river from Colombia and Brazil to Iquitos.

getting around

Domestic flight schedules and ticket prices change frequently. New airlines open every year, as those with poor safety records close (check out ). Most cities are served by modern jets, while some smaller towns are served by propeller aircraft. A useful website is , which details flight schedules and fare quotes between major cities.

The major drawback to cycling in Peru is the country's kamikaze motorists. Cycling is more enjoyable and safer, though very challenging, off paved roads. Rent one here or bring your own.

While there's no passenger service along the coast, boat travel is an important mode of travel around the Amazon Basin and in the Andean highlands on Lake Titicaca.

Driving can be a hassle in Peru and it's a long way to get anywhere from Lima, so it's better to take a bus or fly to wherever you want to go and rent a car from there. Major car-rental companies have offices in major cities.

Bus fares are cheap and services are frequent on the major long-distance routes.

In most towns and cities, it's usually easy to walk or take a taxi. Using local buses, and , can be tricky, but is less expensive than taxis.

There are limited train services available in Peru. Train buffs should get themselves onto the historic railway between Lima and Huancayo.

Culture

Pre 20th century

The first inhabitants of Peru were nomadic hunter-gatherers who lived in caves in the coastal regions. The oldest site, Pikimachay cave, dates from 12,000 BC. Crops such as cotton, beans, squash and pepper chilis were planted around 4000 BC. Later, advanced cultures such as the Chavín introduced weaving, agriculture and religion to the country before inexplicably disappearing around 300 BC. Over the centuries, several other cultures - including the Salinar, Nazca, Paracas Necropolis and Wari (Huari) - became locally important. By the early 15th century, the Incan empire had control of much of the area, even extending its influence into Colombia and Chile.

Between 1526-28, the Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro explored Peru's coastal regions and, drawn by the riches of the Incan empire, returned to Spain to raise money and recruit men for another expedition. Return he did, marching into Cajamarca, in northern Peru, before capturing, ransoming and executing the Inca emperor, Atahualpa, in 1533. Pizarro subsequently founded the city of Lima in 1535, but was assassinated six years later. The rebellion of the last Inca leader, Manco Inca, ended ingloriously, with his beheading in 1572.

The next 200 years proved peaceful, with Lima becoming the major political, social and commercial center of the Andean nations. However, the exploitation of indigenous Peruvians by their colonial masters led to an uprising in 1780 under the self-styled Inca Tupac Amaru II. The rebellion was shortlived and most of the leaders were rounded up and executed. Peru remained loyal to Spain until 1824, when the country was liberated by two 'outsiders': the Venezuelan, Simón Bolívar, and the Argentinian, José de San Martín. In 1866, Peru won a brief war with Spain but was humiliated by Chile in the War of the Pacific (1879-83), which resulted in the loss of lucrative nitrate fields in the northern Atacama Desert.

Modern

In 1941, Peru went to war with Ecuador over a border dispute. The 1942 treaty of Río de Janeiro ceded the area north of the Río Marañón to Peru, but the decision was contested by Ecuador.

Cuban-inspired guerrilla uprisings in 1965 were unsuccessful. In the 1980s, however, nationwide strikes and a violent insurgency by Maoist Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso) guerrillas caused political instability.

Alberto Fujimori's 1990 presidential election victory over Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa, and the 1992 capture of MRTA and Sendero Luminoso leaders, buoyed hopes for peace.

Unemployment and poverty remained the main threat to domestic stability, despite Peru's fast-growing economy. Fujimori was re-elected in 1995, beating former UN secretary general, Javier Pérez de Cuéllar. A treaty was signed with Ecuador in 1998, resolving the 57-year-old border dispute and paving the way for increased foreign investment in both countries. However, much of the unexploded ordinance (UXO) along the border has yet to be cleaned up. In November 1999, Peru and Chile settled a territorial dispute over Arica.

In 2000, Alejandro Toledo, an indigenous Andean who became a World Bank economist, gave Fujimori the election run of his life. Though Fujimori was ultimately victorious he resigned in November and fled to Japan following charges of human rights violations and corruption made against his intelligence advisor.

Toledo became the country's first indigenous president in 2001, but the path to bringing Fujimori to justice was torturous. It was revealed that some 69,000 Peruvians died during decades of fighting between rebel and government forces.

In 2002, a car bomb exploded near the US Embassy in Lima, killing 10 people. It was thought to have been detonated by the Shining Path guerrilla group.

Recent

By 2003, the currency was strong but Peruvians faced unemployment, stagnant wages and a higher cost of living - and Toledo's popularity was at an all-time low. In November 2005, Fujimori returned to South America, announcing plans to run for the presidency once again. He was quickly arrested in Chile on an extradition warrant. With Fujimori out of the way, the 2006 presidential elections narrowed to a face-off between the populist nationalist Ollanta Humala, and ex-president lan García. Voters elected the more conservative García.

However, though Peruvians may be better off now than they were under Fujimori, the seemingly intractable problems of poverty and unemployment remain.

Labor strikes for higher wages and political
protests happen quite often. This unrest can be tiresome for travelers, who may find their trip suddenly delayed. It's not really a big deal to Peruvians, though, who are used to accepting such disturbances as facts of life.

Events

Many of Peru's festivals are based around the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar. These are often celebrated with great pageantry, especially in indigenous highland villages where Catholic feast days are often linked with traditional agricultural festivals, such as the harvest. Some of the major events include Carnaval, which is particularly popular in the highlands and features boisterous water fights; Inti Raymi, the greatest of the Incan festivals with spectacular dances and parades; All Souls Day, celebrated with gifts of food, drink and flowers taken to family graves; and Puno Day, which features flamboyant costumes and street dancing in the Lake Titicaca region.

Books

Letter to a King Huamán Poma de Ayala

Death in the Andes Mario Vargas Llosa

The White Rock: An Exploration of the Inca Heartland Hugh Thomson

The Conquest of the Incas John Hemming

Eight Feet in the Andes: Travels with a Donkey from Ecuador to Cuzco Dervla Murphy

At Play in the Fields of the Lord Peter Matthiessen

The Peru Reader: History, Culture, Politics Orin Starn, Carlos Ivan Degregori & Robin Kirk (Eds)

Activities

Andean mountaineering is popular in Peru, while the Inca Trail is the most patronized hike on the continent. The Peninsula de Paracas and nearby Islas Ballestas have brilliant bird and marine sanctuaries on the coast, plus some fine secluded beaches. Watersports of all kinds are embraced with gusto.

Points of interest