Camino Salcantay, among the best trips in the world

The National Geographic Adventure Magazine included the trek Camino Salcantay to Machu Picchu among the 25 best new trips in the world for the year 2008. Camino Salcantay was also considered one of the most spectacular trips on Earth. This 4-day trek offers an integral experience where hikers enjoy a diverse geography, hiking through jungles, glaciers and high Andean mountains. It is an alternative trek to Machu Picchu without the crowds of the Inca Trail; trekkers have the option to stay in luxurious lodges to rest at the end of each day.

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/adventure-travel/latin-america/machu-picchu-adventure-guide.html

New discovery may be the oldest temple in the Americas

A religious sanctuary that could be the birthplace of northern cultures in Peru has been discovered in the region of Lambayeque. According to Archaeologist Walter Alva, the results of a carbon-14 test determined that the sanctuary is more than 4,000 years old. Within the site, the first findings yield unique artistic expressions.

An altar for the cult of fire has been found in the middle of the temple, where the ancient population may have done offerings to their gods and kept their sacred fire on. As well, several multicolor mural-paintings have been discovered with images and religious icons not found in other sites; one of them could be the oldest in the Americas.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/11/071112-peru-temple.html

Birdwatchers’ paradise

Peru’s 1,800 bird species, including 120 that are unique to its regions, have turned the country into an important birdwatchers’ destination in Latin America. Protected birding routes take the visitors through natural areas where many bird species could be spot, including the most sought after Peruvian endemics. . For more information about Peru's Birding Routes, please visit: http://www.perubirdingroutes.com/NewWebsiteBirds/Site/English/home.htm

More luxury lodges will be built high in the Andes

Mountain Lodges of Peru plans to build more hotels during the next seven years to cover more routes to the Inca sites. It will invest in building a resort network of twelve lodges in the region around Machu Picchu, which will add more alternative trek routes to the Inca site. A first in its kind in the country, Mountain Lodges of Peru offers a luxurious alternative for trekkers planning to hike the Inca trail to Machu Picchu. Their strategically located lodges offer the comfort to rest in luxury after a long day hiking through the Andes.

http://mountainlodgesofperu.com/

Enigmas discovered in Choquequirao

A Spanish team from Cenit Expeditions came to Peru in order to investigate the Inca site of Choquequirao (Cradle of Gold), in the region of Cusco. Recently, 33 geometrical figures of llamas, made with white stones, have been uncovered from the dense vegetation that covers most of the walls and buildings in the site. These figures are not found in other Inca constructions but in earlier cultures, as is the case with the Chachapoyas that flourished in northern Peru.

Choquequirao is referred as Machu Picchu’s sister city because of its similarity in terms of location and architecture. It takes a hike of 2 to 5 days, depending on the weather, to reach Choquequirao (3058m) from Cachora, a small town in the region of Apurimac about 30km from the Inca site. Cachora is the starting point for expedition groups and many trekkers in their way to the archaeological site.

http://www.rpp.com.pe/
http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/06/03/travel/03inca.html

Project Ukhupacha

The Peruvian government and the Spanish University Jaume I of Castellon signed an agreement for the diffusion and set up of the Project Ukhupacha, which means in Quechua “Inside World.” Ukhupacha, make up of a group of Spanish firemen and speleologists, use new ways to explore the Andean archaeological sites: vertical progression techniques.

The last expedition took the members of Ukhupacha to Kuelap, a citadel built in the XIV century by the Chachapoyas on a ridge overlooking the Utcubamba valley, in northern Peru at 3000m above sea level. The explorers reached areas unvisited for centuries, where they found human remains and polychromatic ceramics.

The members’ technique allows them to get to places where no explorers have gone before. Besides reaching inaccessible places, Ukhupacha develops workshops to help archaeologists continue the exploration of the new discoveries.

http://www.ukhupacha.uji.es/

Uncovering the secrets of Cahuachi

Since 1982, the Italian archaeologist Giuseppe Orefici and his team members have been excavating in Cahuachi, a site 28 kilometers far from Nasca, in the region of Ica. The team of archaeologists has found a walled building complex with four groups of large constructions. Among the buildings that stand out are the Great Pyramid, the Great Temple, and the Stepped Temple. In 1998, a deposit with 200 textiles was discovered, some depicting unknown myths; these cloth are ceremonial garments for children and adults.

Cahuachi is the largest mud ceremonial center in the world, covering an area of 24 square kilometers. The site was an important center for the Nasca culture (400 BC to 400 AD) and it was mostly used to make agricultural offerings.

http://www.caretas.com.pe/2003/1758/articulos/cahuachi.phtml

http://www.rpp.com.pe/

Inti Raymi in New York

The Abya Yala Foundation organized the Inti Raymi ceremony in New York last Sunday, honoring the traditional event that is celebrated in Cusco every June 24th, on the winter solstice of the southern hemisphere, a cultural festival that is performed to honor Inti, the Incas’ sun god.

The event in New York was held near the San Marcos church at 2nd Avenue and 10th Street where attendants enjoyed traditional dances and music from Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Mexico and American natives.