Agreement to Promote Cusco Folklore Worldwide

The presidents of the Qosqo Centre of Native Art and of the Instituto Nacional de Desarrollo de Pueblos Andinos, Amazónicos y Afroperanos (National Institute for the Development of the Andean, Amazonic, and Afro Peruvian Peoples) signed an agreement for the worldwide promotion of Cusco’s folklore.

The agreement aims at aiding research, diffusion, and promotion of the music and dance native to the Cusco department.

Add comment March 14th, 2007

Machu Picchu could close 2 days per week

Machu Picchu closed two days per week. That is what Peru’s Geological Institute suggested during a recent conference. The polemic measurement aims at reducing the massive arrival of tourists to the Inca citadel, and thus preserve it from wearing and damage. According to the Geological Institute (Instituto Geológico Minero y Metalúrgico de Perú, INGEMMET), the 3,000 daily visitors to the archaeological complex, plus the arrival of buses and trains, could exceed its normal carrying capacity.

The granitic rocks on which the archaeological complex stands are already showing signs of fractures. This, according to the geologist Patricio Valderrama, could provoke some descends in the structure of Machu Picchu.

The Geological Institute is studying the bearing capacity of Machu Picchu, in order to determine the ideal number of daily visitors.

The 2-day closure proposal, however, means a higher tourist congestion on the open days; this, obviously, will impoverish the Machu Picchu experience (and eventually scare visitors away). A better alternative, both for the tourism industry and Machu Picchu’s integrity, would be to impose a limit on the daily number of tourists.

Add comment March 12th, 2007

Roger Waters Live in Lima!

Roger Waters live performance (above); and (top) with other Pink Floyd members

Extraordinary musician and former leader of legendary rock band Pink Floyd, Roger Waters will perform live in Lima next March, 12th. Needless to say, expectations for what many consider the most important 2007 concert in Peru are sky high.

Waters is expected to deploy during the gig some of the music that made Pink Floyd utterly famous, in particular the songs from The Dark side of the Moon album.

Pink Floyd ’s main songwriter, Roger Waters (b. 1943) was also the bass player and one of their vocalists. He was also the mastermind behind the majority of the band’s songs, concept albums and many of Pink Floyd’s symbols including the Pink Floyd Pigs and the marching hammers. Waters’ extraordinary capacity for song writing -both lyrics and music- are largely responsible for the masterpieces found in The Dark side of the Moon, The Wall, and Wish you Were Here albums.

After Pink Floyd dissolved in 1985 (only to re-form again without Waters), Roger Waters pursued a solo career that produced three studio albums and one of the largest concerts ever, The Wall Concert in Berlin in 1990. In 2005, he released an opera, Ça Ira and joined Pink Floyd at the Live 8 concert in London, on July 2, for their first public performance together in 24 years.

Roger Waters in Lima, March 12th, Monumental Stadium (Ate).

Add comment March 12th, 2007

Indispensable Trivia: Agricultural and Mining Production

Peru is the World’s 1st producer of paprika, 1st of fish meal, 2nd of asparagus, 5th of green broad berries, 6th of roots and tubers (i.e. Potatoes), 7th of string beans, 8th of avocados, 9th of coffee, 12th of mangoes, and 13th of cocoa beans.

Peru is the World’s second largest producer of silver, fourth of copper, zinc, and lead, and the fifth of gold.

And Obviously, Peru is the first producer of Alpaca wool.

Add comment March 10th, 2007

Peruvian Chillout

With a proposal that fuses Peruvian and Latin American music with electronic sounds, Nuna is one of the latest bands to appear in the Peruvian musical scene.

The trio, formed by José Antonio Paz Soldán, Neto Pérez and Christian Becker, employs a wide array of Peruvian, Asian, and African instruments to fuse chillout with the most popular local rhythms: landó, son, huayno, festejo, samba, vals, bolero, and salsa.

Nuna (a word meaning Spirit, in Quechua) will perform live at Miraflores’ Jazz Zone this March, Thursday 8th, 10.30pm, cover 15 soles. Some nice samples of their music can be found in Nuna’s website.

Add comment March 7th, 2007

Price Increase for Machu Picchu Ruled Out

Peru’s Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism, Mercedes Aráoz, denied that the tariff tourists pay to visit Machu Picchu would be increased. At least for this year, thus, the price increase that was announced last month by Cusco’s Regional President, Hugo Gonzáles, won’t happen.

Aráoz said any price increase should be strictly based on technical criteria. Otherwise, it only damages tourist operators and scares tourists away.

Add comment March 5th, 2007

America’s Oldest Solar Observatory Unearthed

A 2300-year-old Solar Observatory recently discovered in Chankillo, Coastal Peru (400 kilometres from Lima), has become the oldest one in America. The discovery was made by archaeologists Ivan Ghezzi and Clive Ruggles (from Lima’s Catolica University and the University of Leicester), and successively published in Science Magazine. Chankillo overthrows the 1400-year-old Coricancha observatory, in Cusco, as the oldest in the continent.

The ceremonial complex in north coastal Peru comprises thirteen towers which run north to south along a low ridge. The observing points within the adjacent buildings allowed to follow —almost exactly— the annual rising and setting arcs of the Sun, the equinoxes and solstices. The Chankillo towers thus provide evidence of early solar horizon observations and of the existence of sophisticated Sun cults, preceding the Sun pillars of Incaic Cusco by almost two millennia. The enclave also contained warrior offerings and vestiges of sacrifices, thus confirming the importance of the complex.

Add comment March 4th, 2007

Indispensable Trivia: Best 100 World Restaurants

One Peruvian restaurant, Gastón Acurio’s Astrid & Gaston, was included in the top 100 list of Best World Restaurants 2006, a yearly contest organized by the Restaurant Magazine. A much deserved distinction, Astrid & Gaston occupied position # 74.

The top 5 was conformed, in this order, by El Bulli (Spain), The Fat Duck (UK), Pierre Gagnaire (France), The French Laundry (USA), and Tetsuya’s (Australia).

Add comment March 2nd, 2007