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PERU: the last great adventure
Written and photographed by Juliet Highet

Peru is not for the faint-hearted – it’s remote, risky and expensive, and the majority of its inhabitants are distressingly poor. That said, it has to be one of the peak experiences in travel. Nowhere else on earth is there such an wide range of spectacular scenery, nor such a triumph of survival of the human spirit, despite brutal colonisation. Peru is frequently referred to as ‘the land of the Incas’ – but the Incas were the last in a long line of Peruvian civilisations spanning several thousand years, and the country is unrivalled in South America for its archaeological wealth. Even compared with other magnificent ruins, the city of Machu Picchu is in a class of its own, hidden in the midst of mountain ranges, clouds swirling around the peaks.

Most people visualise Peru as mountainous, but the vast desert coastline, at the north of which is located the largest ancient adobe city in the world, Chan Chan (capital of the Chimu empire), often comes as a complete surprise. And then there are the huge tracts of tropical rainforest, part of the Amazon basin, covering half of Peru.

Let us dispose of the downside first. I was affected for months after my visit to Peru by the memory of the grinding poverty and disease that I saw there. Yet I also recall my first night in the country, rising up in the lift of Lima’s Crillon Hotel, alone with the lift attendant. His face indicated that he was a campesino, a descendant of the Inca people (non-Spanish Peruvians resent being called ‘Indian’, which is not only inaccurate but considered to be insulting). He and the other campesinos in the rooftop restaurant were as usual cast in serving roles, while the gilded youth of Lima (predominantly of Spanish descent) and a few intrepid travellers danced the night away to marinera music (local and lively). The impassive, granite-cut faces of these original Peruvians resembled the massive stone sculptures of their ancient civilisation. Their mask-like faces gave nothing away, preserving their dignity, covering the inestimable sufferings of a serene and gentle people.

The Shining Path guerrillas no longer constitute an active threat to lone travellers. Still, it is wise to find out which parts of Peru are safe, if you propose straying off the beaten track on your own. Inflation rose by 25 per cent during the two weeks we were there, and we found everything very expensive. It is unwise to convert more than a day’s supply of the local currency – expect to pay a million soles for a glass of juice. In urban areas robbery is rife, so watch out for your wallet and camera bag at all times, particularly in crowded situations. A challenge Peru certainly is, and if you remember your Paddington Bear books, Lima is the capital of “darkest Peru”, which conjures up images of an exotic city in the heart of a tropical jungle, a vision very far from the truth. Mainly modern, its shantytowns sprawl untidily along a coastal desert beneath what seems to be a permanently grey blanket of mist and pollution. Lima is both the gateway to Peru and somewhere from which to escape pretty fast. This is not to say that there is not a certain sombre magnificence about its old Spanish colonial centre; and one of the best ways of visualising the overall cultural chronology of Peru is to take in the National Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology. In fact, if you do have a day or two to spend in Lima, the wealth of excellent museums will set you up splendidly for later visits to the major archaeological sites. Another unmissable experience is the Gold Museum, housing thousands of gold pieces which the Spanish failed to remove, ranging from highly covetable earrings to huge golden discs representing the sun.

Called the City of Kings by Francisco Pizarro who founded it in 1535, Lima nowadays seems to operate at an appalling pace, what with the traffic, pickpockets, inflation, political uncertainties and so on. Yet the Limeños are charming and hospitable, and once you have broken the ice, the spirit of mañana takes over, and there’s always time to talk and partake of some ceviche (the seafood is terrific). And you sense all the time that the elegant colonial villas and smart shops in the elite area of Milleflores are little more than a thin veneer on a country whose roots lie firmly in its Inca traditions.

It was time to head for Machu Picchu, the great jewel in the crown of Inca architecture and once a spiritual community. The point of arrival from Lima and departure to Machu Picchu is the town of Cuzco, the actual capital of the once mighty Inca empire. Cuzco is the oldest continuously inhabited city on the South American continent. Though the city is steeped in history, tradition and legend, and visitors arrive longing to explore the spectacular Inca ruins in the vicinity, most people totter around on their first day, owing to altitude sickness. Cuzco is 3,500m above sea level, so it is advisable to take it very easy, drink plenty, and saunter about the cobbled streets of the city itself, which is a Spanish settlement built on the remains of Inca temples and palaces. Massive, ornate Baroque churches and monasteries are grafted on to the foundations and lower walls of immaculately fitting Inca stonework.

The Peruvian experience repays a lengthy visit, but since for us two weeks seemed far too compressed, we did stumble around the huge Inca site of Sacsayhuaman on that first day. Despite feeling faint with altitude sickness, it was hard not to admire the massive polished stones in the gigantic parallel walls that zigzagged around the buildings looking like jagged cats’ teeth. The Incas envisioned Cuzco as having the shape of a puma, of which the fortress of Sacsayhuaman formed the head (although its name translates as ‘Satisfied Falcon’). What today seems a truly gigantic site is actually only 20 per cent of the original structure.

Taking the early-morning train to Machu Picchu from Cuzco was another memorable experience. The landscape in what is called the Sacred Valley is sensational – snow-capped mountain peaks, terraced slopes and fertile plains. On occasions one could see the famous Inca Trail, which truly intrepid travellers trudge on foot, the journey from Cuzco to Macchu Picchu taking four days. An habitué of the route gleefully informed us that right now we were in a canyon where Shining Path guerillas had been known to highjack the train in the past.

Machu Picchu does not disappoint. It is worth travelling to the ends of the earth for this masterpiece of the Inca empire to reveal itself. It is impossible to conceive of a more spectacular setting for the worship of the Inca gods; and of a more perfect union of the work of man and the natural environment. The city is perched on top of a narrow mountain crest high above the Urubamba River gorge, with its Inca terracing neatly dissecting the steep ravines, and surrounded by the intense green of the rugged mountains piercing the Amazonian cloud forest.

Founded by the Inca emperor Pachacutec in the 15th century, Machu Picchu was no ordinary city. It was essentially a sanctuary where a small number of priests, high officials, artisans and slaves lived; although judging by the fact that 80 per cent of the skulls unearthed were female, its chief inhabitants seemed to have been selected women who were at the service of the ‘houses of the chosen’ all their lives. Of all the white granite buildings, the most affecting was the Intihuatana, which translates as the ‘hitching post of the sun’. It is a carved rock pillar, standing alone at the top of a hill, whose function appears to have been a type of calendar. The Inca astronomers predicted the solstices using the angles of the pillar; and thus the Inca emperor, the son of the sun, was able to claim control over the return of the lengthening days of summer.

On the banks of the Amazon is Iquitos, its main port. Formerly the citadel of Spanish rubber barons, this delightful, crumbling town, with its somewhat raffish atmosphere, is accessible only by air or water. Arriving at night, we took a slow boat from Iquitos up the Amazon, chugging gently past river banks rustling in the dark, stirring with goodness knows what – piranhas and cayman alligators, and freshwater dolphins at the very least. The Amazonas Sinchicuy Lodge, down a tributary of the Amazon, is no five-star hotel; indeed, it has no electricity, and my bathroom lacked running water. But it did have mosquito netting, as well as tangible rainforest atmosphere. Tame, brilliantly plumed toucans, cockatoos, condors and a loving pair of tapirs squarked and leapt about the wooden lodge, which is built on stilts.

The city of Iquitos was the hub of the 19th-century rubber boom. Such was the wealth for some, and exploitation of others, that the rubber-rich families used to send their laundry back to Spain by ship in a two-week turnaround system. Grand crumbling mansions and once noble public buildings are extravagantly covered with beautiful but cracking tiles imported from Andalusia, showing elegant geometric Moorish inspiration.
Iquitos lives up to all expectations of a formerly splendid colonial outpost – its opera house is gradually returning to nature, for instance. Its current inhabitants live in ramshackle wooden homes on stilts on the banks of the Amazon. There can be few sights as magnificent as the Amazon River seen from Iquitos. Surrounded in all directions by brilliant green forest, it is quite the most immense and awe-inspiring stretch of river water imaginable – yet another of the peak experiences Peru has to offer.