Past And Present In The Context Of The Best Peru Journeys
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Tourists may reflection on change whilst on the best Peru trips. A once thriving world may be viewed as a stone cold archaeological remains. The ruins invite reflections on the futility of human endeavor and power. The experience can help tourists develop humility as they contemplate what has happened and what can happen to people who seem powerful and stable.
The high Andes mountain range and the thick jungle of the Amazon River basin are natural barriers that discourage intruders into the country. However, the Spanish conquistadors were able to penetrate, driven by lust for gold. The result was that a huge civilization was brought crashing down because it had not evolved in competitive circumstances and could not cope with foreign diseases and motivations.
A twenty-first century tourist visiting the archaeological ruins of Peru must be awestruck by the suddenness with which buildings were emptied of their human inhabitants. The stone structures that once rang with footsteps and laughter stand now like silent symbols of the futility of human endeavor. They serve as reminders of how there may be as yet unobserved threats waiting to eliminate the lives of many happy people, oblivious of what awaits them.
Currently most people live in the coastal areas of Peru, or in the higher reaches of the country. Comparatively few live in the tropical rain forest. About half the population is indigenous and the remainder are of mixed blood or descended from the Spanish conquerors. The Quechua language survives but the official language of the country is Spanish.
The cultural capital of the country is Cusco. Here the traditional signs of the indigenous Inca culture persist most strongly. They may also be found in some highland villages in the Andes mountain range. A trip to discover the empire of the Incas might take in Lima, Cusco, the Scared valley and Machu Picchu. The famous stone architecture in which stones were so accurately cut that they could be fitted to together without mortar reminds tourists of a society that was highly developed but still subject to unexpected annihilation.
Diversity makes Peru an interesting country to visit. A tour might take in the wonders of lost civilization but also include the modern features of the city of Lima and also the biodiversity of the rain forest. Contrasting with the modern life styles are the communities at Titicaca Lake where ancient practices survive in context of the twenty-first century.
Though sparsely populated tropical rain forest occupies more than half of Peru and is 68 742 000 hectares in extent. After the Congo and Brazil it is the third largest area of this precious resource that is left in the world. The government is developing parks and sustainable development projects that are designed to diminish deforestation and promote tourism.
There is much food for thought in the best trips to Peru. Ancient symbols may be studied both in archaeological remains and in the contemporary textiles that are decorated with ancient symbols. But mixed with old are aspects of the new, especially in current environmental issues that are re being played out.
Category Article Context, Journeys, Present
