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 The land of gold and of the sun-worshipping
Incas, Peru was sixteenth-century Europe's major
source of treasure, and once the home of the
largest empire in the world. Since then the
riches of the Incas have fuelled the European
imagination, although in many ways the country's
real appeal lies in the sheer beauty of its
various landscapes, the abundance of its
wildlife, and the strong and colourful character
of the people - newly recovered after a period
of political upheaval, from the 1980s until the
early 1990s, that was as bloody and
unpredictable as any during the country's
history.
Above all, Peru is the most varied and
exciting of all the South American nations. Most
people visualize the country as mountainous, and
are aware of the great Inca relics, but many are
unaware of the splendour of the immense
desert coastline and the vast tracts of
tropical rainforest . Dividing these
contrasting environments, chain after chain of
breathtaking peaks, the Andes , over
seven thousand metres high and four hundred
kilometres wide in places, ripple the entire
length of the nation. So distinct are these
three regions that it is very difficult to
generalize about the country, but one thing for
sure is that Peru offers a unique opportunity to
experience an incredibly wide range of
spectacular scenery, a wealth of heritage, and a
vibrant living culture.
The Incas and their native allies were unable
to resist the mounted and fire-armed conquerors,
and following the Spanish Conquest in the
sixteenth century the colony developed by
exploiting its Inca treasures, vast mineral
deposits and the essentially slave labour which
the colonists extracted from the indigenous
people. After achieving independence from the
Spanish in the early nineteenth century, Peru
became a republic in traditional South American
style, and although it is still very much
dominated by the Spanish and mestizo
descendants of Pizarro, some ten million
Peruvians (more than half the population) are of
pure Indian blood. In the country, native life
can have changed little in the last four
centuries. However, "progress" is gradually
transforming much of Peru - already the cities
wear a distinctly Western aspect, and roads and
tracks now connect almost every corner of the
Republic with the industrial urbanizaciones
that dominate the few fertile valleys along the
coast. Only the Amazon jungle - nearly two-thirds
of Peru's landmass but with a mere fraction of
its population - remains beyond its reach, and
even here oil and lumber companies, cattle
ranchers, cocaine producers and settlers, are
taking an increasing toll.
Always an exciting place to visit, and
frantic as it sometimes appears on the surface,
the laid-back calmness of the Peruvian
temperament continues to underpin life even in
the cities. Lima may operate at a terrifying
pace at times - the traffic, the money-grabbers,
the political situation - but there always seems
to be time to talk, for a ceviche,
another drink & It's a country where the
resourceful and open traveller can break through
complex barriers of class, race, and language
far more easily than most of its inhabitants
can; and also one in which the limousines and
villas of the elite remain little more than a
thin veneer on a nation whose roots lie firmly,
and increasingly consciously, in its ethnic
traditions and the earth itself.
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