Observations on Peru Trip (Most Serious, Some
Lighthearted)
1.
Peru is a land of contrasts. (We always say that about a country!) Again it is poverty
vs. wealth. The shacks on the hillsides
around Lima and Cuzco are over shadowed by the amazing Inca stonework.
2.
Peru is the third largest country in South America - 24 million people
with 8 million located in the capital, Lima.
a. Languages: Spanish, Quechau
b. Religion: 80% to 90% Roman
Catholic
c. Monetary unit: SOL – 3.4
SOLAS to $1 US
d. 24 Departments (States)
e. Mining main industry
(copper, silver, gold, lead).
3.
Geographic regions include the Pacific coastal plain, Andes mountains,
eastern slope valley of the Andes, and the tropical Amazon River Basin. The
climate is marked by wet and dry seasons rather than temperature changes. The Andian
year-round avg. temperature is 68 degrees.
4.
Location of people: ½ Pacific Coast (wealth in cosmopolitan coastal
cities), ½ Andes (subsistence agriculture and poverty).
5.
Ethic make-up of people: ½ Native American, 1/3 Mestizo (Native and
European mix ancestry), 1/10 European, 1/14 African and Asian minorities.
6.
Comparative Statistics:
Item |
Peru |
Congo |
U.S. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Life
expectancy |
|
|
|
|
Men |
68 |
47 |
73 |
|
Women |
73 |
52 |
80 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
%
of population (age) |
|
|
|
|
Less than 15 |
35 |
42 |
22 |
|
65 and over |
5 |
3 |
13 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Per
Capita Gross Domestic Product |
$ 4,400 |
$ 400 |
$ 30,200 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Literacy
(%) |
89% |
77% |
97% |
7.
Lima was established in 1535 by Pizarro on the Rio Rimac
(river). It is in the coastal desert
region; not a very nice city – hot and humid January to March, cooled
the rest of year by fog from ocean known as La Garua.
The Miraflora neighborhood is an exclusive
residential district in Lima.
8.
The city of Cuzco (population 300,000) is at an elevation of 10,909
ft.; considered by the Incas as the Sacred City of the Sun (the source of all
life, the “belly button” of the world.)
9.
Security is necessary in Peru particularly in the big cities (Lima and
Cuzco). Security guards wear different
colored uniforms: national police,
green;
local police, blue; and private security, brown.
10.
The car horn is used as a means of communication in the cities!! (particularly Cuzco)
11.
Political History: The Inca civilization and its demise by the Spanish
invaders is fascinating. How could 150
Spaniard conquistadors under Francisco Pizarro defeat the Incas? (Probably
deception as well as horses and cannons.)
a.
The Spanish replaced Pacha Mama with the
Virgin Mary and erected crosses on the hillsides.
b.
They destroyed many structures the Incas had built or built on top of
the Inca wall after destroying the top of building. They added colonial balconies and doorways.
c.
The Spanish killed the Inca rulers including Atahualpa, who were the
knowledge holders.
12.
Jose de San martin of Argentina, and Simon Bolivar of Venezuela
liberated Peru from Spanish control in the 1820’s. Recent Peruan
history has been a dramatic alteration between democratic and dictatorial
governments; including the Shining Path (1990’s), President Alberto Fujimori
(1990and now in exile in Japan), and current President Alejandro Toledo (2001)
13.
The Inca Empire, a civilization in the Andes from Argentina to
Columbia, lasted from roughly 1400’s to 1532 AD , was
2200 miles long, 320 miles wide (Pasto, Columbia to Rio Maule, Chile);
comparable to the Roman Empire
14.
The capital of the Inca Empire was Cuzco.
15.
The Incas build on the cultures and absorbed the people that preceded
them: Chavin, Mochica, Chimu,
Tiahuanaco, Pucara, Paraas, and Nazco
(from 1200 BC to 2500 BC). They had a knack
for assimilating the best features and knowledge of the people they conquered –
all though an oral communication system.
They took ideas and improved on them (plagiarism?)
16.
The Incas were astronomers and engineers. To maintain order, they provide food and
clothing to their subjects. They built
precisely cut stone temples and terraces without mortar; Spanish buildings used
mortar. Their Bronze Age technology did
not include the aid of the wheel or steel.
We don’t know how they cut their stone!
17.
The Inca credo was: Don’t steal, don’t be lazy, don’t lie
18.
Inca rituals featured the threes (3):
a.
3 coca leaves
b.
condor, puma, snake
c.
sun, earth, water
d.
Inca King, royalty, common people
19.
Machu Picchu – the “lost city of the Incas” (8040 ft. elevation). It was never really lost!!
a.
Discovered by Hiram Brigham (a Yalie from Connecticut) in 1911; it was overgrown.
b. No road to MP; access by train, hiking, helicopter. The train ride is through the Urubamba River gorge.
c.
One of the seven wonders of the world?
d.
The three mountains were aligned
e.
Incas did not have furniture
20.
Inca Fortress of Ollantaytambo
a. Site of grain storage
b. Terraces
21.
Sacred valley of the Incas (Rio Urubamba)
Beautiful agricultural land
22.
Chinchero (12000 feet)
Quechua artisans weaving workshop using backstrap
looms and drop
spindles. Alpaca wool has a longer fiber
than sheep wool.
23.
Incan Temple of the Sacred Waters (Spring of Tambo Machay
in Cuzco, the Incan Sun Temple, walls with 700 sheets of gold
24.
Sacsayhauman Fortress (pronounced sexy woman)
25.
Agriculture
a.
Agricultural terraces in Pisca as other places were built above and
extended the fertile valleys. Followed
the contours of the mountains.
b.
Vicuma is the gold of the Andes. Baby Alpaca is a fine fur (shear every 3
years.)
c.
Peas, beans (fava and lima), corn, cane, vegetables, turnips, lupines
for seeds, wheat, forage
d.
Chickens, ducks and hogs are “free-range.”
e.
Barley fed to livestock
f.
Cows, bulls, sheep, goats, donkeys are frequently tethered.
g.
A few tractors, but generally rely on human labor
h.
Quechaa Indians has culture unchanged from days of the
Incas (cultivating potatoes, herding llamas)
i.
Corn planted in September, matures in 5-6 mo; rain comes when one foot
high. Corn planting season is September
to November; harvest April to May
j.
Adobe brick: red clay, sand, straw (unbaked, sun-dried)
k.
Land reform in the 1990’s in Peru produced interesting
results. Peru went from an exporter of
agricultural commodities to being unable to feed its population without
importing food. Initially the peasants
were unable to farm effectively the large haciendas that were divided into
small parcels of land by the land reform.
However, by 2001, agricultural exports were beginning again.
26.
Religion
a.
Catholicism the dominant religion – 80 to 90%
b.
Healing ceremony from Incas still practiced. Offerings consisted of
Ritz Cracker, many colored and chocolate candies, dried figs, corn, beans,
raisins, jungle seeds, llama fat, soybeans, peanuts, sugar, rice, grains, coca
seed, anise, confetti, snail shells, book of silver and gold, incense, alphabet
noodles, etc. George always said, “Candy
aided healing”
c.
Spanish tried to convert the Pacha Mama
(symbol of land/mountains) into the Virgin Mary.
d.
Near Cuzco: dress the cross; May 3 is Day of the Cross, with a candle
light procession to the mountain top
e.
Elaborate Cathedrals; gold altars
f.
Spanish built on the Inca “three’s” to convert
Inca minds to Catholicism.
g.
Other religions are now gaining because they work in the community;
Catholics stay in their churches.
27.
Reflections on the trip
a.
Some philosophies expressed by tour members:
“Any money spent on vacation
doesn’t count”
b.
Many people in Peru come from the countryside to Lima for a better
life; few find a better life, because they lack skills for urban jobs.
c.
Cuzco: 60% of population “employed” in the tourist industry.
d.
In Peru, you vote or you are fined!! You can’t get a driver’s license if you have
unpaid voting fines.
e.
Gasoline is 7.19 soles per imperial gallon (4 liters) or in US $@2.00.
f.
Chifa is a chinese restaurant
g.
The Southern Cross, a star formation in the Southern hemisphere. They look for it like we look for the Big
Dipper.
h.
Education system: Kindergarten, 6 years primary, High School,
University like the US.
i.
Earthquakes have had a big impact on Peru. Lima was hit in 1746 and 1974. In Cuzco, the 1534 quake hit Inca buildings;
1650 destroyed Spanish church completely; 1950 damaged the church and the
square.
j.
The local Inca Kola tastes like bubble gum. Coke also available but not as invasive as in
some other countries.
k. Did Yale University receive the 26 boxes of gold that were shipped from Machu Picchu to the Peabody Museum? A female gold bracelet found at the site is supposedly in the museum but seldom shown.
l.
Energy comes from the mind – not touching stones with hands.
m.
Peruvians make beer from corn called maize beer.
n.
Everybody in rural areas has a dog for protection
o.
To Inca, gold was religion, take to the temple; Spanish considered gold
as power, money.
p.
Environmental Challenges: There are no controls on activities such as
dredging the Urubamba for sand and causing erosion.
q.
They raise and eat guinea pigs in Peru.
In George’s opinion it will never replace the hamburger!