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As part of his No Reservations TV show, New York’s chef Anthony Bourdain travels to Peru to discover Peruvian cuisine. This first part (out of the 5 found on YouTube) focus on Lima’s ceviches and seafood. Guided by Peru’s great chef Gastón Acurio, Bourdain visits the famous yet humble cevichería Sonia.
Add comment May 17th, 2007
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According to a curious news article appeared on several media, a Magellanic penguin strayed thousands of miles and swam all the way to Peru’s Paracas national reserve. These penguins are native of the Strait of Magellan area, which means the penguin apparently made the 5.000 kilometres journey all by itself.
Wilder Canales, head of the Paracas reserve, said the disoriented bird "got lost in the sea due to the different ocean currents".
Add comment May 15th, 2007
Every year prior to the second Sunday of June, almost one thousand locals in the Canas province (140km southeast of Cusco city) spend 3 days weaving the Queshuachaca bridge (a suspended bridge overhanging the Apurímac river).
The weavers use only braided ichu straw and chachacomo, and follow 5-century old techniques, originally developed by the Incas. The task is finished on the fourth day, and celebrated with songs and dances
Add comment May 12th, 2007
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A Catholic celebration instituted in 1547 to commemorate the Holy Eucharist, Corpus Christi (body of Christ, in Latin) is one of the most concurred religious feasts in Cusco. The colourful parade takes place the eighth Sunday after Easter (this year, on June 7th), when the effigies of the saints and virgins are borrowed from Cusco’s churches for the occasion.
Traditionally, effigies coming from nine parishes participate in the procession. Eight of these are of “Indian” origin (parishes created in Cusco since the 16th century), and correspond to the Inca quarters of Chakilchaka, Qolqanpata, Qarmenqa, Toqokachi, Sañu, and Wama; the last one, of “Spanish” origin is known as Matriz, Triunfo o Sagrario.
The procession goes round the city until its final stop at the Plaza de Armas, where locals gather to celebrate the festivity and taste the traditional dishes prepared at the many food stalls. The festivity starts early in morning, but it’s from 6pm onwards that the best takes place.
Photo source: EMUFEC, Cusco’s Municipal Office for Festivities. By the way, the rainbow flag before the effigy isn’t a gay flag, but the flag of the Tawantinsuyo (Quechua name of the Inca empire).
Add comment May 5th, 2007
Nice 10-minute video by 2 Brits who completed the classic 4-day Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. Ironic and funny, the film shows both the beauty of Machu Picchu’s landscape and the fatigue and harshness of the trekking route.
Add comment April 10th, 2007
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The recently built bridge of Carrilluchayoc, in the nearby Santa teresa district, is threatening to deteriorate the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu. According to Alda Lazo, congresswoman and president of the Culture and Heritage Commission of the Congress, the bridge was built without a decent environmental impact study. And, obviously, despite the objections of government cultural experts.
The threat derives, in first place, from the expected vehicle transit over the bridge, which could seriously damage the Machu Picchu Historical Sanctuary, as well as the citadel itself.
Moreover, the bridge has opened a new, uncontrolled entrance route to the Inca archaeological complex. This new route, involving a daylong bus ride and a seven-mile hike along railroad tracks, targets thrifty backpackers who want to avoid the pricey train tickets. The already stressed-out stone citadel, already at almost top-capacity, could not bear the increased -and much unchecked- tourist flow.
During mid April, UNESCO, which has expressed concern over Machu Picchu’s increasing tourism, will send a delegation to the citadel in order to study the Carrilluchayoc bridge matter.
Add comment April 6th, 2007
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The Peruvian singer Desiré Mandrile will present her first album “Latin Soul” in Jazz Zone, one of Miraflores’ finest live music bars. The recitals are scheduled for April’s every Thursday: 5, 12, 19, and 26.
Mandrile is a fine interpreter of classic and contemporary Jazz, Blues and Soul. Whilst her first album includes her own compositions, in her concerts she also interprets classic songs “her own way”: a jazzy Tainted Love, for example, or Last Train to London with a soul rhythm.
The band that accompanies Mandrile gathers some of Peru’s most prestigious musicians: Eduardo Freire, Pedro Luis Pacora, Carlo Calienes, and Fernando Lorca.
Desiré Mandrile in Jazz Zone - Every Thursday of April, 10pm. Cover 15 soles.
Jazz Zone - Av. La Paz 656, Pasaje El Suche - Miraflores (Lima).
Add comment April 5th, 2007
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
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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 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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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