On the road again!

So what does one do when they have a month off? Obviously the answer is pack a backpack and head to South America. I convinced Christina and my brother to come spend a portion of the month with me adventuring through Peru. Brody and I will be staying in Lima, Cusco, Huacachina, and Iquitos over the course of 12 days. Christina and I will be doing Lima, Cusco, Macchu Pichu via the Lares trek, Puno, and Lake Titicaca. Both trips will be completely different - Brody's portion will be unplanned and by the spur of the moment, Christina and I are doing another G Adventures tour where everything is booked and planned (thank god).

G Adventures - Christina and Britt's Route of Travel

Lares Trek Route

Back of the Envelope History of Peru 

As a bit of background because I'M SO BORED AT WORK... Peru is made up of three main geographical areas - the Andes, the Amazon, and the desert coastal area. I will actually hit all three parts on this trip. 

The history of Peru spans about 4 millennia - Peruvian territory was first home to the Norte Chico civilization, which is one of the six oldest in the world, and to the Inca Empire (from approximately 1438-1532). It was conquered by the Spanish Empire in the 16th Century. The Spanish Crown gave the name "Peru" legal status in 1529 Capitulacion de Toledo, which designed the newly encountered Inca Empire as a province of Peru. Under Spanish rule, the country adopted the denomination Viceroyalty of Peru, which became the Republic of Peru after independence in 1821.

The Inca Empire originated from a tribe based in Cusco. Pachacutec was not the first Inca but was the first ruler to considerably extend the boundaries of the Cusco state. Obviously he did so through violent invasions and peaceful conquests. One of the major remaining ruins from this era is Machu Picchu. Interestingly Peru is currently suing Yale to return artifacts removed by Yale archaeologist  Hiram Bingham Sr. in 1911. 

Fast forward a couple hundred years from Spanish rule, Peru has been subject to many iterations of democracy and militarism between 1930-1979 - think guerrilla warfare, Communism, military coups, and democratic elections sprinkled throughout. According to scholars and other worldly researchers, during the 1980s the cultivation of illicit coca was established in large areas on the eastern Andean slope. Given the proliferation and vast financial gain from this, rural insurgents movements increased until the 90s resulting in the "internal conflict of Peru". Only because it sounds cool - the internal conflict of Peru is an ongoing armed conflict between the Government of Peru and some guerrilla organizations such as the insurgent People's Guerrilla Army, armed wing of the Communist Party of Peru, and the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement. It is estimated that 70,000 people have died due to this conflict. Today the main fighting still occurs in the VRAEM area in Peru - it is nowhere near where I am going so don't stress. Fun fact - Peru overtook Columbia as the worlds largest cocaine production country. 

The 90s was a great time (and not just because I'm a 90s baby) - Peru was ruled by a dictator named Alberto Fujimori who caused inflation to drop from 7,650% to 139%. His term was dogged by insurgent groups that carried out terrorist campaigns through his two terms. Today, democracy is live and well in Peru with the odd exception where the President declares a state of emergency and hands power over to the military over certain regions. All is good. 

Fun Facts About Peru 

• Peru grows over 3,000 kinds of potatoes and 55 types of corn 
• Peru dominates a lot of the world's largest or top ten global lists:
• Peru was officially declared the world's biggest producer of cocaine by the UN 
• Peru is the eighth largest producer of coffee in the world 
• Peru's the largest exporter of asparagus in the world 
• Peru is home to the world's largest flying bird - the condor stands up to 4 feet high with a wingspan of 10 feet 
• Peru is the third largest producer of fine copper in the world 
• Peru is ranked as fifth in global production of gold and first in silver 
• Peru is the third largest zinc and tin producer globally 
• Peru's cocaine industry takes in an estimated USD $1 billion annually 
• About 65 million guinea pigs are consumed in Peru every year (or according to Google they are) 
• National University of San Marcos is the oldest university in the Americas - founded on May 12, 1551
• Chili sauce and hot spices were banned (and remain banned) from prison food in Peru in 1973 on the grounds that they might arose sexual desires in inmates 
• The Incas had no formal system of writing, instead they developed a system of record keeping using a system of knots (called quipus) 
• Globally there are 10 million alpacas and 75% of them live in Peru 
• In 1885, the Coca Cola Company began making wine with coca leaves that was converted into the soft drink coca cola (coca leaves were removed from the recipe in 1903) 
• Some of Cusco's main streets are designed to align with the stars at certain times of the year 
• Traditionally before a Peruvian couple can marry, they must enter into a period of sirvinacuy during which the woman works with her mother in law and the man with his father in law - I think this is something that can stay in Peru

Interesting Facts About Cocaine  

• Scotland has the highest cocaine use of any other country in the world (US consumes ~37% of world's cocaine) 
• Pure cocaine was first extracted from the leaves of the coca plant in 1859 and was market in a fortified wine in France as early as 1863
• Cocaine was first used in the US in the 1880s where it was applied as an anesthetic in eye, nose and throat operations 
• Coca cola originally contained 9 mg cocaine per serving (it has been removed but coca leaves still are added for flavor) 
• Sigmund Freud advocated cocaine for treating depression, alcoholism and morphine addiction 
• Direct pharmacological effects of the drug itself only cause one-third of the deaths associated with cocaine (the rest come from homicide, suicide, and car collisions due to the properties of the drug) 
• Ingesting both cocaine and alcohol cause more deaths than any other drug combination 
• Trace amounts of cocaine can be found on 4/5 bills in circulation in the US 

AFN