MACHU PICCHU

West of Cusco is the citadel of Machupicchu, which has been described as the most spectacular archeological site on the continent. The list of adjectives is endless, and is better to admire this monumental witness to people obliterated by the lust for gold, power, and glory in silence, sitting a top a rocky outcrop overlooking the river Urubamba and surrounded by breathtakingly high peaks lost in the mountain mist.

The Citadel of Machu picchu are divided into three main sectors according to their former functions, the Agricultural sector . Look below and marvel at the agricultural sector's endless steep terraces and irrigation channels that aided cultivation and served as retaining walls. the Religious sector, passing the ruins of the ceremonial baths and the temple of the Sun, three Windows and the small platform on the farm end, upstairs to the highest point in Machu picchu to see a sacred rock called Intihuatana " hitching post of the Sun" which Inca astronomers likely used to predict the solstices and equinox. the  urban sector where you will walk among the buildings of the nobles and through the commoners district, with is jail and underground dungeons. 
Machu picchu was probably constructed in the 15th century and never finished. It could be that their work was interrupted by the Spanish invasion or the civil war between Atahualpa and Huascar. (Brothers Incas ) - Here the "sons of the Sun" as the Incas lords called themselves, worshipped their host of the gods, including the mighty Inti, who personified the Sun itself. Hanging from the clouds the citadel of Machupicchu - unknown to the Spanish conquerors of the Incas - remained hidden from the out side world until discovered officially for the American professor Hiram Bingham in 1911. 
 
 

CUSCO HISTORICAL CITY

Cusco is the oldest continuously city in South America, is former capital of the Tahuantinsuyo the Empire of the Incas,- the legend tell us that the first Inca Manco Capac and his royal wife Mama Ocllo received the assignment of the got of the sun to established the capital city of a new Empire - where the golden staff sunk into the ground and improved life of the people living in this part of the world. By the early 15th century the Incas Empire has control of much of the areas, it's included Andes-Coastal-Rain forest. The expanded their Empire not only through war, but also through diplomatic means and threats of violence- three important rules were established in the Inca society: Ama Sua, Ama Llulla, Ama Kella (don't be lazy, liar, robber) with this rules they construed palaces, temples, fortresses, agriculture terraces, aqueducts antil
The Spanish conquers arrive this part of the world. 

Cusco is located in the valley Huatanay southeastern of Andes, (11,600 feet)  It is lovely Andean City with red-tiled roofs and surrounding by mountains and distant snow peak. The City is historical conglomeration of different epochs, styles and orientations: today, one can see modern and Spanish colonial buildings supported by the foundations of Inca palace and temples, many streets display authentic Incas walls that exemplify architectural sophistication. 
 The population is composed for the most part of native Americans and mixed blood peoples with smattering of families with direct decent from the Spanish.
     Visitors will find it a fascinating task to explore, observe, analyze, and attempt to understand the complex social and historical reality of this City. 
 

SACRED VALLEY OF THE INCAS

It is one of the beautiful and attractive place of the andes mountain Sacred Valley of the Incas, it goes from Pisac to Ollantaytambo along the Urubamba river or "Sacred River," this was very much appreciated by the ancient Inkas due to its  fabulous qualities.  Due to the ammount of soil it has, it was one of the main points of production where the best maize was grown.  It was also the favorite place of the Viceroys because of its excellent weather. 
The Sacred Vally is one of the most important parts of Cusco, numerous rivers converge in it, most of them have their origins on the Icy Mountains.  In this section, get to know the main archaeological monuments and towns of the Sacred Valley, it is an absolutely worth going. 
 
 

COLCA CANYON

Colca canyon arose from a fault in the earth's crust eroded for thousands of years by the largest river of the Peruvian coast. The Colca River is more than 200 kilometers long and in places it has cut 3,400 meters into the earth, forming a canyon twice as deep as the Grand Canyon in the United States. People have lived here since humans first arrived in the Andes. These early settlers left rock paintings and petroglyphs in caves and shelters - testimonies of their early experience - as well as arrow heads, obsidian scrapers and a host of other utensils.

About 1,400 years ago, the Collaguas, who were Aymaras from Tiahuanaco, and the Cabanas, who were of Quechua origin, both pre-Incan people with an advanced level of agricultural development, carved out 8,000 hectares of terraces on the slopes of the canyon, in order to cultivate and control the irrigation. The terraces are used to this day.

There are 14 towns in the Colca Valley that were minutely planned down to the last detail in Spain and were built during the conquest. But somehow, a curious phenomenon occurred. The Colca region literally disappeared from the map only to be re-discovered in the 1970s.

As if by magic, the area and its natural and cultural wealth were erased for two centuries. Its traditions, technology and crops, which boast an extraordinary genetic variety of potatoes, corn, quinua, maca, oca, and isaño, were left virtually untouched by time. Today, scientific and cultural expression from the 17th century can still be studied and admired in the Colca Valley.

The Colca was opened to tourism in 1985, when new highways and the infrastructure built for the Majes project made access easier. In the last 17 years, many people have visited the area, including pioneering tourists who spread the word about its history and the magnitude of its landscape.

Whether one visits by car, boat, bicycle or horse, there will always be magnificent opportunities to see elegant vicuñas, majestic condors, timid Andean deer and the pirouettes of Andean hummingbirds along the route. There is also a rich variety of flowers, cactus and trees, all adapted to living at high altitudes. The traveler will not fail to be impressed by the active volcanoes, geysers, thermal baths and the beautiful architecture of the towns, as well as the ingenious designs of the area's bridges and irrigation canals, and the hospitality and sincerity of the local people. 
 

NAZCA LINES

The scientific find more question that answer about the Nazca Lines. Huge geometric and animal figures etched in the desert floor before 800 A.D. These may have astronomical significance, or they may be related to a mountain worship cult. The thing is they are only visible from the sky. 
The Nazca Lines are an engima. No one know who had built them or indeed why. Since their discovery, the Nazca Lines have inspired fantastic explanations from ancient gods, a landing strip for returning aliens, a celestial calendar, used for rituals probably related to astronomy, to confirm the ayllus or clans who made up the population and to determine through ritual their economic functions held up by reciprocity and redistribution or, a map of underground water supplies. 

There are also huge geoglyphs in Egypt, Malta, United States (Mississippi and California), Chile, Bolivia and in other countries. But the Nazca geoglyphs, because of their numbers, characteristics, dimensions and cultural continuity as they were made and remade through out the whole prehispanic period, form the most impressive as well as enigmatic archeological group. 

The Nazca Lines are located in the Pampa region of Peru, the desolate plain of the Peruvian coast which comprises the Pampas of San Jose (Jumana), Socos, El Ingenio and others in the province of Nasca, which is 400 Km. South of Lima, covers an area of approximately 450 km2, of sandy desert as well as the slopes of the contours of the Andes. They cover nearly 400 square miles of desert. Etched in the surface of the desert pampa sand about 300 hundred figures made of straight lines, geometric shapes most clearly visible from the air. They were supposedly built by an ancient civilization called the Nazca. 
 
 
 

TITICACA LAKE

The highest and the  largest freshwater lake in South America at about 3800 meters above sea level. The Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world and is shared by Peru in its western side and Bolivia in the eastern. The mythical Titicaca is the spot where according to oral tradition Manko Qhapaq and his wife, the founders of the Inka civilization appeared. Puno is located in the ancient Collasuyo of the Incas, the Altiplano (high plateau) a broad territory between 3800 and 4200 meters. The inhabitants of the Collasuyo speak mostly Aymara, the old language rivaling the Inkas' Quechua. The air is somewhat rarefied due to the high altitude and its consequent lack of oxygen so try to take it easy when staying around here.
 

The Uros Islands; they are small floating islands artificially built with totora reeds (the natural reeds growing in the lake). They are inhabited by small organized communities; the Uros people are mainly fishers and hunter of marine birds; but they even have small farmlands in those floating lakes for growing different vegetables.
The Sillustani Chullpas. Chullpa is a circular shaped tower used as cemetery. As there were mummies inside those buildings they were looted in colonial times, so now it is somewhat difficult to know many aspects of those stone buildings. The quality of their walls is excellent having many characteristics of the Imperial Inkan architectural type.
The Taquile Island is a beautiful somewhat large island in the Titicaca Lake. Its inhabitants speak quechua and they still keep many aspects of the way of life of their ancestors, centuries ago. The visit to Taquile takes the whole day but it is possible to stay overnight in the island, getting lodge in the house of one of the local families (they were arranged for that purpose). The weavings produced in Taquile are very elaborate, they are hand made by the male weavers.