Peru Beyond Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu is incontestably the star attraction of Peru. Just about everyone who visits the country, no matter how briefly, heads for this astounding Inca city and ceremonial site. But to limit your experience of Peru to this one destination is to deny yourself the excitement and pleasures to be found throughout the country.

On our most recent journey to South America, we concentrated on Peru's less frequently visited towns and countryside, from the shore of the Pacific to the jungles of the Amazon, and we were absolutely delighted with what we encountered.

Taking a chance on the weather, we traveled in January, the rainy season, which turned out to have been a good decision. The occasional wet day was followed by clear skies and bright sunshine. The countryside was green and the roads free of dust. We had no problem with crowds and in many instances were able to take advantage of off-season prices. Bear in mind, however, that you'll need both sunblock and warm clothes; evening temperatures in the mountains can be cold.

CHICLAYO—From Lima, a flight of about 500 miles north takes you to Chiclayo, where you should base yourselves for several days at the three-star Gran Hotel. With 129 air-conditioned rooms, cable TV, decent bathrooms, a large swimming pool and a terrace garden, it's very comfortable. Doubles about $80. Avenida Federico Villareal 115. Tel: 51-74-234-911. www.granhotelchiclayo.com.pe. Nearby, the Fiesta Gourmet Restaurant is dependable for tasty dishes of fish and shellfish at bargain prices. Avenida Salaverry 1820.

Chiclayo is a convenient point from which to investigate this region of remarkable ancient settlement. Start by arranging for a guide and local bus service to Tucume, about 20 miles north. The major attraction there is an expanse of 26 crumbling, flat-topped adobe pyramids spread over more than 500 acres and, since 700 a.d., successively occupied by Lambayeque, Chimu and Inca cultures. The landscape is arid, but it's enlivened by the frequent presence of long-tailed mocking birds, little chilala songbirds and stark black vultures.

In Lambayeque, about eight miles from Chiclayo, there's a stunning new national museum of the Royal Tombs of Sipan, where the aristocracy of the Moche culture were buried some 1,700 years ago. The tombs were discovered intact by archaeologists in 1987 and have been spectacularly restored with all the gold, huge circular earrings, dazzling ornaments and artifacts that grave robbers had missed when plundering the site. The interior space is dark (bring a flashlight), but the displays of Moche life and death glitter with richness and splendor. A few miles on, at Ferrenafe, an important museum holds a trove of pre-Hispanic wares displaying the amazingly sophisticated workmanship of the region's ancient peoples.

TRUJILLO—Next on your itinerary, take the morning bus south to Trujillo, a three-hour highway journey through bone-dry desert dotted with green fields—agricultural oases watered by Moche irrigation canals bringing water from the Andes rivers, a gift from some of the region's earliest inhabitants.

Trujillo's own heritage is evident in its churches and handsome Spanish colonial mansions. More remarkable, though, are the ruins of much older civilizations a few miles west. Chan Chan, the capital of the Chimu people who succeeded the Moche, is the world's largest adobe city. It encompasses nine citadels, each one a vast enclosure. On the walls of the best preserved of them, the Tschudi citadel (named for a Swiss scientist), reliefs of sea birds, fish and fishing nets indicate the influence of the nearby ocean. Another intriguing sight is the Huaca Arco Iris, a pyramid and temple where patterned walls are said to symbolize rain and fertility.

Equally impressive is the fearsome Moche art on the massive walls of a sacrificial temple, the Huaca de la Luna (pyramid of the moon), south of Trujillo. Next to it, the eroded remains of the Huaca del Sol are still unexplored. Lunch at a seashore restaurant in the fishing village of Huanchaco can link past to present as you watch families enjoying the beach while fishermen in one-man reed boats—caballitos de totora—ride the waves to bring in their catch.

CUSCO—En route by train to Cusco, spend at least one day in Ollantaytambo, in the Urubamba or Sacred Valley of the Incas, where imposing Inca ruins overlook a town that has survived much as the Incas built it. Here, we stayed in the new three-star Hotel Pakaritampu, in a lush green valley. The hotel's 20 rooms in four balconied buildings painted a warm terra-cotta are comfortable and well maintained. Amenities, including Internet connection, are up-to-date, and the food is good. This is an excellent base for hiking and exploring other Inca towns. Doubles from about $100, including breakfast. Tel: 51-84-204-020. www.pakaritampu.com.

Cusco was once the chief city of the Inca empire. Its name, in fact, means "navel of the world" in Quechua, the language of the Incas that is still spoken in several dialects from southern Colombia to northern Argentina. For most travelers to Peru, Cusco is the gateway to Machu Picchu, and for all its familiarity, the sight of that terraced Inca city cradled in its mountainous setting remains pure magic. The ruins surrounding the city are startling reminders of Inca power and their astounding skills as masons and builders. The mighty stones of Sacsayhuaman, possibly a fortress, are not to be missed. Near to it is a shrine, Q'enqo, carved from a single rock and, a short distance away, Tambomachay, a still functioning waterway. On the return to Cusco, watch for a store called La Vicuna; it has a huge inventory of bargain-priced clothing made from the wool of young alpaca. Among other nearby towns, Chinchero, has a marvelous market, especially on Sunday, full of fresh produce and crafts. Quechua folk chat over cups of chicha, the traditional brew of the Andes made from fermented grain and drunk either young and sweet or aged and alcoholic. In Chinchero, too, is a community of weavers called Textiles Tradicionales del Cusco, who produce high-quality classic patterned shawls and other items.

In Cusco, we recommend the magnificent Hotel Monasterio, a former monastery and seminary built in 1592, owned by the Archdiocese of Cusco and leased by Orient-Express since 1999. The building evokes the air of a Spanish colonial mission, with its flower-filled cloister and intricate stonework. Some travelers will find this a particularly welcome choice, because more than half of its 126 rooms are equipped with a system that effectively raises the oxygen content of the air to what it would be at an altitude of about 8,000 feet instead of the area's 11,150 feet. Despite the enriched air, however, climbing the stairs to the bedrooms of the charming two-story junior suites can be a challenge. No two rooms are alike; some have a balcony looking out on one of four interior courtyards. Bathrooms are thoroughly modern, and room amenities are first-rate. Only the top-class suites are air-conditioned. Doubles from $275, including breakfast. Oxygen-enriched rooms add a daily surcharge of $25. Calle Palacios 136, Plazoleta Nazarenas. Tel: 800-223-6800. www.monasterio.orient-express.com.

The hotel's elegant restaurant Illary occupies a long, narrow monastic hall topped by a high vaulted ceiling and adorned with huge oil portraits of various bishops. Fresh fish and produce flown in daily from Lima highlight a superb menu of international and Peruvian cuisine. Dinner for two, without wine, about $100.

You can be sure of a memorable meal at Quinta Eulalia, where the chalked menu usually includes chilies stuffed with a ricotta-like cheese, chicharron (crispy pork) and cuy choctado (guinea pig), a delicacy that you can see depicted in Peruvian paintings of The Last Supper. Dinner for two, with beer, about $15. Choquechaca 384.

Among Cusco's main post-Inca sights are the gilded cathedral with wonderful paintings in the "School of Cusco" style; the Jesuit church, La Compania; and the Qoricancha, a Dominican convent superimposed on an Inca temple whose great stones were covered with sheets of gold, before Spanish conquistadores looted them.

Cusco's Museo de Arte Precolumbian displays a small collection of Incan artifacts dating from the 13th century B.C. to the 16th century A.D.--each piece a stellar example. Within the museum, the MAP Cafe is set in a glass-walled spaceÑrather like an oversized display caseÑin the central courtyard. The food is very good and generously portioned, and the Pisco sours (Peruvian grape brandy, limes, sugar and egg whites) are the best we sampled in Peru. Lunch or dinner for two, without wine, about $40. Plaza de las Nazarenas 231. Tel: 51-84-242-476.

PUNO—The best way to travel from Cusco to Puno and Lake Titicaca (the world's highest lake) is by the PeruRail train, now operated by Orient Express and fully up to their high standards. The journey takes ten hours, but it's comfortable and enthralling every minute, especially in the back-end lounge car with both enclosed and open-air sections (www.perurail.com). The single-track route rolls along stretches of farmland, valley, lake and canyon past the Huatanay and Vilcanota rivers with the snowy summits of the Andes on the horizon. Here and there, herds of alpacas and llamas appear, grazing in the green altiplano. In Puno, the Posada del Inca offers pleasant accommodations, particularly if you request a room overlooking Lake Titicaca. Hotel meals, especially fish, are good, but you will be most satisfied if you limit your selections to local dishes. The Peruvian beef stew, lomo saltado, is very tasty, if a bit tough. Service throughout the hotel is prompt and very friendly. Doubles from about $100, including breakfast. Tel: 51-51-364-111. www.sonesta.com.

Out on Lake Titicaca, the "sacred lake of the Incas," are the island dwellings of an intriguing people who live much as their ancestors did many centuries ago. On Uros island, made entirely of reeds, the native families still fish from their graceful reed boats, although increasingly they are turning to wooden craft and maintain the reed boats primarily as a tourist attraction. Further out in the lake is Taquile, a rocky island where the natives raise goats on sparse vegetation while everyone—adults, children, men, women—fill every spare moment with weaving and knitting the stylish traditional clothes they wear and sell in a shop on the main square.

At the Llachon settlement, on a pretty headland, an enterprising Quechua couple, Lucila and Valentin Quispe run a rustic hostel and restaurant where you can have a tasty lunch of quinoa grain soup and fish for less than $3 and stay overnight in a clean thatched hut for $5. A kayak and small sailboat are available, and the area is great for hiking and swimming. Cell phones and wireless e-mail can keep you in touch with the rest of the world if that's necessary, but why bother? A great rustic getaway. www.aracari.com/aracariperu/destinos/llachon.htm.

PUERTO MALDONADO is located near Peru's eastern border with Bolivia. It's only about 200 miles across the Andes northeast of Cusco (a 45-minute flight) but a world away in ecological setting, as this is one of the best places to experience the incredibly rich biodiversity of the rain forest. An excellent outpost here is Sandoval Lake Lodge, a thatched structure on a bluff above a bird-rich lake within the Tambopata National Reserve. You reach it via a boat ride down the Madre de Dios river followed by a two-mile jungle hike and a canoe trip across the lake. The lodge's 25 rooms are basic but have shower-bathrooms and full net protection against insects. Conservation is the keyword of Amazonian ecotourism. Lights are low, with electricity provided by generator. Yet meals are delicious, guided jungle walks are unforgettable and the wildlife of the lake—many species of birds including macaws and large and colorful huatzin, various monkeys, rarely seen giant otters and black caimans—provide thrilling sights. Doubles for a three-night, two-day trip, from about $350, including round-trip transportation from Puerto Maldonado, all meals and all activities. Tel: 877-888-1770. www.tropicalnaturetravel.com.

AREQUIPA is a lively colonial city about 120 miles west of Puno. It has several attractions worth investigating, including period churches, an ethnography museum and a light-filled cathedral, all of which are on or near the central plaza. Close by is the 16th century walled citadel of the Monasterio de Santa Catalina. For touring the surrounding area, base yourself at La Posada del Puente on the river Chili. (Twenty-four smallish rooms adjoining a sports club.) Doubles from about $70. Tel: 51-54- 253-132. www.posadadelpuente.com. Hire a car to take you to the Colca valley, about a four-hour ride, where, on the shores of Lake Umayo, you can see the pre-Inca funerary towers at Sillustani. Even more memorable, is the Colca Canyon, twice as deep as the Grand Canyon and the home of the great black condors. The natural beauty of the great Colca valley is matched by the interesting Cabana and Collagua people who live here, particularly the women who wear richly embroidered hats and clothes. Many of the surrounding Andes peaks are volcanic, including Mt. Mismi, which is the source of the Amazon river.

If you prefer to avoid the drive back to Arequipa on the same day, the Parador del Colca is a hospitable inn with ten galleried suites built of stone, thatch, adobe and wood, all in harmony with the setting. The kitchen has its own vegetable gardens, and the simple regional cooking is delicious. If you fancy it, try the alpaca stew. Doubles from about $70, including breakfast. Tel: 51-12-423-425.

Article Date: 10/03/2004