Candles danced in the rarefied darkness as our group mulled over the mysteries of Machu Picchu while sipping Pisco Sours. We were on the terrace of a hotel near Peru�s legendary Lost City perched at an incredible elevation of 8,000 feet. How had this architectural wonder remained secret for 300 years? Why was it abandoned?

Another sip, another delicious memory of our first night in Peru, South America. We had dined at Lima�s La Rosa Nautica, a fashionable seaside restaurant on stilts, where huge platters of kingcrab, calamari and prawns arrived with Pisco Sours. Amidst the setting of giant ferns and Tiffany lamps, the babble of Spanish rose above crashing waves. When we emerged stuffed to the gills, a woman selling alpaca sweaters had given us red beans, �for goodluck and plenty money.� Flying to this incredible land from the East, via Miami to Lima, had taken endless hours but journey�s end had brought Sheraton luxuries and Pisco Sours. Just one drink of this heady concoction of white brandy, lime juice, egg white and cinnamon, had put Peru into focus for this glazed visitor!

For a fortnight, we zigzagged through the land by local airlines. The grand starters were the museums and monuments of Lima. The main meal was set in the heart of Inca country, at sky-high Cuzco and Machu Picchu. For dessert or dulces, we flew to Puno near Lake Titicaca�s floating islands.

Peru�s history is studded with stories of ancient cultures and magnificent cities, of coveted gold and silver treasures, sacrifices, religious rites and mysteries. The Incas represented the final, splendid era of a 3,000-year-old civilization built upon Paracas, Chavin, Nasca, Moche, Tiahuanaco, Chimu and other cultures.

The Spanish, led by conquistador Francisco Pizzaro, arrived in search of gold in the 16th century. Held in awe as a White God sent by the Sun God, Pizzaro conquered the Indians, sacked the Inca rulers and took the capital Cuzco. Lima, a new capital, was founded near Callao, from where shiploads of gold were sent to Spain.

Often cloaked in a grey mist due to what locals call a �thermal invasion,� Lima is a city of grand monuments. Cars, taxis and collectivos (public vans) swirled through the sprawling city of seven million inhabitants. In suburban San Sidro and Miraflores, gracious homes have high walls because �a cat does not stop growing while asleep,� said a guide, referring to security issues. To understand Peru�s fascinating history and culture, one must first tour its treasure-filled museums. At the Anthropology & Archaeology Museum, an excellent guide took us through millenniums of culture. At Herrera Museum, which displayed 2,000-year-old mummies, erotic ceramics revealed how pottery was also a language of ancient cultures.

Lima�s Spanish-colonial heart lies within the main square, or Plaza de Armas, where handsome buildings are dedicated to God (cathedral), King (the palace of government), People (town hall) and Church (archbishop�s palace). Impressive Torre Tagle, a marquis� palace dressed with decorative cedar-wood balconies, oil paintings and antiques, now houses the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Within San Francisco Monastery�s catacomb, in hushed silence we filed past trenches with macabre arrangements of skulls and bones of �people who wanted to be buried close to God,� under the cathedral. At Pachacamac, an important pilgrimage place outside Lima, we stood atop a temple and ruminated on stories of rituals, sacrifices and virgins of the sun.

Lunch was at a �chifa,� the colloquial name for Chinese restaurants derived from rice meals cooked by early Shanghainese miners. Chifa Palace presented delicious steamed peje-sapo, a light red frog-fish that breeds on rocks, authentic dim sum and yam baskets. For drinks, we tried fizzy Inca Cola. Peru is the only country where a local soft drink is more popular than Coca-Cola. The city has several Japanese and Creole restaurants to appease Asian tastes.

Cuzco and Machu Picchu: Culture in the Andes
Our journey into Inca country takes us to Cuzco, a memorable town perched almost 12,000 feet high in the Andes. �Drink mate de coca and move slowly to avoid altitude sickness,� advised our guide. We were served the brew on Fawcett airlines, on landing and again at the hotel. The cocaine derived from coca leaves is so miniscule in tea, one need not worry about its being addictive. But a heavy head and queasiness were signs that my body needed a day to adjust. Sleep was the answer and, if necessary, a whiff of oxygen, readily available at the exotic, Spanish-style Labrador Hotel.

Capital of the fabled Inca Empire, puma-shaped Cuzco sprawls amidst the mountains. Its strategic location prompted its name, which means �navel or belly button of the earth� in Quechua, spoken by the main Andean ethnic group. Cobbled paths led to the historic Square and to the magnificent Cathedral of this charming town. Nearby, Quechua women in tall hats and bouffant skirts posed for tourist pictures.

Dining out was a cultural experience in Cuzco. At restaurants La Retama and El Truco, floor shows accompanied traditional dishes such as lomo saltado (sauteed beef with onions and potatoes) and anticuchos (skewered and grilled beef hearts). Girls in frilly skirts twirled to fast music and the pan flute featured prominently in the lively orchestra.

Visiting the Chinchero Sunday Market, in an open square a few miles from Cuzco, took us back to a centuries-old scene. Costumed in traditional dress, local folk bartered food and handicrafts, socialized over chicha (corn beer), barbecued and feasted on parrillada (beef and potatoes) and laughed with the touristas. When the corn, herbs, wild mustard, fruit, wool and ponchos had changed hands, they piled into vans and left for home.

Enthralling Macchu Picchu was our next destination. For most visitors, the mystical journey begins with a picturesque tourist-train ride from Urubamba (two hours) or Cuzco (four hours). At the station, vendors did brisk business in hot tamales, tapestries and crafts. To adapt to the elevation, the train�s doctor reminded us to �breakfast as a king, lunch as a queen and dine as a poor man.� A bus took us to a hotel right at the heavenly city�s gate. Spending a night here was a wonderful idea as we could watch the sun rise over the ruins, dwell on diverse theories and feel the high energy of the encircling mountains.

Each guide at Machu Pichhu told a different story: to one the city was a shelter for Inca warriors, to another it was the last refuge of the Virgins of the Sun, and to yet another it was a university for elite Incas. We may never know the answer. What we do know is Machu Picchu is a splendid tribute to the engineering and artistic skills of an ancient civilization.

Puno and Lake Titicaca: Folklore Capital
Flying high to the southern highlands, we arrived in Puno, facing wondrous Lake Titicaca. The world�s highest navigable lake shimmered like a silken blue sheet embroidered with green moss. A boat took us to the famous Uros floating islands anchored on thick totora reeds. The friendly islanders live in reed huts and make a living selling crafts. We spent a day on pretty Taquile island, where the Indians spin alpaca wool with drop-spindles, tasted quinua (a thick cereal soup) and pegerrey (king fish) in a villager�s humble home and shopped for textiles.

Back home, glorious flavours and feelings linger of the alluring charms of Peru � Machu Picchu through swirling clouds, a reed-boat ride on Lake Titicaca, folk songs at ancient fortresses Olantaytambo, a potato harvest in the spectacular Sacred Valley and a final �magically macerated� Pisco Sour at El Senorio de Sulco restaurant.

For more information, contact the Embassy of Peru, New Delhi, tel: 6312610, 6319768, 6318920. Website: www.embaperuindia.com.
Email: [email protected].

Sidebar: Genuine Peruvian Flavours at El Senorio de Sulco
At the famed El Senorio de Sulco restaurant at seaside Miraflores, Lima, we met Isabel Alvarez, a staunch socialist who has restored the art of Peruvian cooking. Locals, not tourists, are her main audience. �At first the aristocrats rejected me. Then the Limeanos started coming,� said the successful lady.

Hangings and masks brightened the restaurant�s interior and baskets displayed colourful corn, peppers, coca leaves, chillies and dehydrated potatoes (�our eternal food�). At 5 p.m., when we visited, guests lingered over lunch. �On weekends, people come to dine at 3 a.m.,� said the lady who has a cookbook to her credit. We were served purple corn chicha, flavoured corn and lime juice, and a piping-hot snack of yellow potatoes with two sauces: ocopa (green herb sauce) and huancaina (yellow pepper sauce). The bar�s lineup included homemade cachinas (liqueurs) of nut and fruity flavours and pisco. �Pisco works like a Peruvian, slow, but it works. The first is good, the second is better, and after the third you don�t know what you ordered!� she noted laughingly.

Peruvian food, generously flavoured with hot peppers and garlic, is not as spicy as Mexican food. Potatoes, (there are 2,000 varieties!), or rice accompany most dishes. Seafood plays a dominant role in their cuisine.

Pisco Sour
(A famous Peruvian cocktail)
2 jiggers of pisco
jigger sugar syrup
egg white
Juice of half a lemon
Crushed ice
Angostura
Shake well before serving.