I've been back to Peru a number of times by now, the latest being for New Years 2000. It is indeed a varied, fascinating, and incredible country, full of physical and social contrasts.
In 1996 I visited one of its most beautiful regions, the "Callejon de Huaylas"
Pictured here was the town of "Yungay" before its destruction in 1970. An earthquake in that year triggered an avalanche of mud and ice to come down from the Huascaran Peak, burying the entire city and killing about 70,000 people in all.
Only four palms survived.
Today only one of the palms is still alive, the other three stumps adorn the former site of the disaster, now a cementery.
To the west of those mountains, lies the driest desert on earth. Nothing survives there, not even cactus plants. Only on occassional oases is anything able to survive
It is in this desert where the center of Peruvian culture lies, Lima . Now with 8 million people, it is one wild place to be at!
Most people don't come to Peru just to see Lima though. They come to see the mountains, mainly in the Cuzco Area. I have been there 3 times now, and this latest time I did the Inca Trail . It was one of the most physically and mentally challenging experiences I have ever undertaken.
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