Editors' Note: WITHOUT MACHU PICCHU

 

 

 

 

Dear Readers,
A few days ago, while we were preparing the material for this issue, we realized that we had never talked about Machu Picchu. After the surprise, we concluded that despite being Machu Picchu the principal attraction of Peru, for 30 months we did not mentioned it because the outstanding amount of tourist attractions, flora and fauna, customs, histories, food dishes, etc., that our country possesses many of them unknown abroad.
Take Moquegua, for example. A fameless city on the tourist horizon of Peru; though it has an unparalleled beauty it is related with the commercial movement of its port rather than its own attractions. And without noticing it, after Moquegua we talk a little about the "caballitos de totora", those crafty barges that possibly took the ancients as far as Australia. Then, we will talk about the Tiahuanaco citadel, Cultural Heritage of the Humankind. Finally, we praise the cajon peruano, a musical instrument as rustic as owner of an untamed sound.
Do you realized that it is not necessary to talk about Machu Picchu?
Regards,
Jose and Cynthia
 
 
Main Article: MOQUEGUA, THE AUTUMNAL
Moquegua belongs to the strip of land between the ocean and the mountain range and it is a city mistreated by earthquakes and the authors of tourist guides. It is one of the most beautiful and interesting urban areas in our country and yet it barely appears as a point of reference on the road maps.
From the time of the colonial settlers, Moquegua was an important place due to its production of excellent wines and pisco and because of its proximity to the port of Ilo. Minerals from the Altiplano passed through Moquegua to be taken to Europe and such fine wines are exported from there that the Crown had to prohibit them because they represented competition for the products of the Iberian Peninsula. These factors gave rise to a city with elite of well-educated, refined and europeanized people whom organized their city with very good taste; it remained that way until the great crisis caused by the war of Independence and later, the armed conflict with Chile.
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Second Article: HUANCHACO GOLDEN CENTAURS
The view of the sea from the shoreline fades into an endless horizon, as the sun rises above the hazy mountains only to disappear hours later beneath the ocean waves. Crouching on his rustic reed boat, Mercedes Ucañan breasts the waves like his Yunga ancestors did a thousand years ago when they inhabited the Kingdom of Chimuc Capac. The 81-year-old fisherman is one of the last survivors of an ocean-going culture which centuries ago settled the coastal area of Huanchaco, which in the Mochica language means Golden Fish. The fishermen, who paddled the same reed boats, or caballitos de totora, as they do now, once supplied fish to the immense pre-Hispanic metropolis of Chan Chan.
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Archaeologic: ANCIENT TIAHUANACO
Tiahuanaco, near the shores of Lake Titicaca, was the center of a powerful, self-sustaining empire in the southern Central Andes. The roots of the Tiahuanaco capital can be found in the early village underlying the 1.5-square-mile civic-ceremonial core. The city was settled by 400 B. C. on the Tiahuanaco River, which empties into Lake Titicaca 9.3 miles to the north. The small farming village evolved into a regal city of multi-terraced platform pyramids, courts and urban areas, covering a total 2.31 square miles between AD 100 and 1000.
Little is known of the 30,000 to 60,000 urban dwellers or of the city's crafts or administrative functions. We also know little about the storage system that was required for the bounty of surplus foods from the agricultural fields, the vast llama herds on the Poona, and the abundant fish caught in the lake. The core of this imperial capital was surrounded by a moat that restricted access to the temples and areas frequented by royalty.
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Peruvian Art: THE MAGIC OF THE PERUVIAN CAJON
Peru's cajon, the icon of its music, moves through the world with another identity. People think it is Flamenco, Spanish. It is made in Japan, in Germany -now under the brand of La Peru-, strings are added inside, and in Peru, Creoles and Afro-Peruvian descendants claim paternity. It is played passionately in Brazil. Madonna uses it as well as Jennifer Lopez and also rock and jazz bands. It is the star of world and ethnic music, the protagonist in commercials and now the National Symphony Orchestra gives it a position reserved earlier only for classical instruments. Isabel Alvarez and Victor Merino have composed a hymn in its honor. There is no doubt that this noble instrument of undeniable Peruvian origins is on its way to become universalized.
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