Everyone wants to climb the Old Mountain, but not every traveler understands that Peru goes far beyond Machu Picchu. If the most famous pre-Columbian ruins on the planet attract the dreams of millions of tourists, try saying that you are going to spend your holidays in Lima, the country’s capital. Yes, just Lima, or maybe even other places in Peru, but no Machu Picchu on the itinerary. I know the reaction, which begins with a tone of surprise and ends in judgment.
Not that Machu Picchu detracts from its fame or its right to inhabit the dreams of travelers around the world. On the contrary, visiting the Old Mountain was one of the most magical things I’ve ever done – and I even swore I’d set foot there again. But, after returning from a second adventure around the country, this time without Machu Picchu on the schedule, I realized how the ancient Inca city has the power to eclipse places that are as incredible as it. Or, to throw even more controversy into the air, even more impressive.
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On the way to the Colca Valley, Peru
The best example is Cuzco, a city I visited on my first visit to Peru, in 2012. As it is the gateway to Machu Picchu, the navel of the Inca world ends up forgotten amid the whirlwind of expectations caused by the Old Mountain. And Cuzco, which was the Inca capital until it was conquered and occupied by the Spanish, has a beautiful and preserved historic center, has pre-Columbian ruins that never end, has a lively nightlife, has unmissable Peruvian cuisine, in short, there is an absurd amount of places, colors and flavors. Attractions that most tourists don’t see – or see in a hurry -, since the center of the trip is Machu Picchu and Cuzco is just passing through. Or as a crossing point, an unexpected turn to the ultimate backpacker pilgrimage site.
The result is that almost everyone reserves less time than they would imagine necessary for Cuzco and leaves Peru wanting to come back and enjoy the city calmly and without the pressure to visit Machu Picchu. Even though I spent several days in the region in 2012, it was the same for me, and I found myself looking at house prices on Airbnb and considered spending a long time in Cuzco, such was the fascination I had with the city.
Once it has been decided and decided that Cuzco and the Sacred Valley are as worthy of a visit as Machu Picchu, it is time to say that Peru goes beyond this entire region. Lima, for example, is a great city, the second most interesting capital in South America – the first, at least for me, is Buenos Aires.
Lima
However, Brazilian travelers have already learned to admire the Argentine capital, but the same does not happen with the Peruvian capital, which is about a five-hour flight from São Paulo. Lima has a beautiful Plaza de Armas, it has the Barranco and Miraflores restaurants, some of which are listed among the best in the world, it has Spanish, Inca and even pre-Inca buildings. Just as Salvador and Rio de Janeiro were capitals of Portuguese America, Lima was the capital of Spanish America, which helps explain why the city has so many colonial buildings and cultural traits.
On my most recent visit to the country, in June, I also visited Arequipa, built with stones of volcanic origin – and surrounded by them. There is no more beautiful Plaza de Armas than that of Arequipa, which also has the Monastery of Santa Catalina, many churches and historic buildings and several viewpoints overlooking the snow-capped mountains that surround this city that saw the birth of Vargas Llosa.
Arequipa
Arequipa was the starting point for us to discover the Colca Valley. Get on a bus, sit at the window and separate the coca leaves, because you’re going up to five thousand meters. Or close to it. In addition to passing through villages full of cute little churches and traveling along roads carved into the mountains, the highlight of this tour is the Colca Canyon, one of the deepest in the world, which in some places is almost 4,000 meters high. There is also a viewpoint for observing the flight of the condor, an imposing bird that sees everything and that attracts thousands of tourists to the region every day.
Colca Canyon
And there is also Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world, at almost four thousand meters. More than 20 rivers flow into Titicaca, which is divided between Bolivia and Peru. There are four dozen islands, like Taquile, where around two thousand people live, people who maintain centuries-old traditions even when it comes to dressing.
Taquile, Peru
Another highlight on the Peruvian side of Titicaca are the artificial islands of Uros, made of reeds and which have brought together communities since the period when the Spanish landed there, without understanding what was going on. Imagine generations of families who live like this, building islands with plants and floating in one of the largest lakes on our continent. Tourism in Uros arrived recently, as did solar energy panels, which brought electricity, TV and telephone.
Uros Islands in Lake Titicaca
My second visit to Peru ended with Titicaca and the Colca Valley gaining as important a place in my memory as the one I gave to Machu Picchu and Cuzco, highlights of the first trip. And I already have reasons to return. I still don’t know the Nazca Lines, Ica and the village of Huacachina, Paracas and the Ballestas Islands. I haven’t been to Trujillo and I’m sure the Sacred Valley itself still has many secrets to reveal.
And speaking of secrets, since Machu Picchu made the country famous and desired, how about visiting an archaeological site that is older, more preserved and, many say, more beautiful than the Old Mountain? It is Choquequirao, another Inca city that, little by little, is beginning to be discovered by travelers.
But, well, you can go to Peru and not see any of this, spend all your time sitting indoors, but leave happy. Blame the food.
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*This text was written based on two trips I took through Peru. The first in 2012, on my own, during a trip around the world. And the second in June 2016, at the invitation of Submarino Viagens and PromPerú.
