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PERULINE |
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PERULINE e-mail: info@peruline.de |
NEWSLETTER APRIL 2005 |
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Dear friends of Peru, back from the international tourism fair in Berlin, we are pleased
to present you again news and oddities from Peru. Enjoy reading!
Mario Vargas Llosa - Peru's most famous writer
Today we would like to glance at the Peruvian literature to present you the most famous author of the country: Mario Vargas Llosa. Vargas Llosa's novels do not only offer entertainment on highest level to the South America-interested reader, but also they review social conditions in Peru and Latin America. The extensive work of the Peruvian author gives the reader an understanding of the country of Peru, of its people, its culture, its politics and its customs, but also of its problems and conflicts. Born in 1936 in Arequipa, Mario Vargas Llosa first grew up in Cochabamba, Bolivia, later in Piura in the north of Peru and Lima. During its studies of humanities and law in Lima and Madrid he already wrote for different newspapers and magazines. The military school, which he had visited in its youth for two years, finally became scene of its first novel "The Time of the Hero", which was published in 1963 and made him internationally famous. In a very vivid and critical way Vargas Llosa describes the city of Lima in the 50's and 40's and life in the military academy. The novel was awarded several times in Spain and translated into 20 languages. In the novel "The Green House", published in 1965, Vargas Llosa presents parts of the Peruvian rain forest which so far is rare within the Peruvian literature. His popular novel "Julia and the Scriptwriter" (1977) tells the love story of Julia to her 18 year old nephew Mario, which was a scandal in the Lima of the 50's, particularly as the story is based on autobiographic elements.
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 OUR
PARTNERS |
Do
you want to enjoy the fertile and charming landscape of the Andes in a
small and calm Peruvian village? And also learn the Spanish language in
an easy and pleasant way at the same time? Our partner Cusco Spanish School
has got the exactly right offer for you!
Situated in the heart of the Sacred Valley of the Inca, Urubamba is a
typical Peruvian village where people still live their old traditions.
Cusco Spanish School has got its own house in Urubamba, only two blocks
from the central place. You will learn Spanish in a beautiful garden viewing
the breath-taking scenery of the surrounding summits of the Andes.
The program contains 18 Spanish lessons per week, overnight accommodation,
trips to the surrounding area and other activities. Urubamba is a perfect
starting point for activities such as riding, hiking or river-rafting
as well as for trips to the fascinating places Chincheros, Ollaytantambo,
Pisac, Salineras and Moray.
Learning Spanish, enjoying unique nature and the life in a peaceful village,
sports and trips - all this you can combine in a one-week stay at the
Cusco Spanish School in Urubamba. An unforgettable experience in the Andes!
The program in Urubamba can easily be combined with one week of language
courses in Cusco.
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On our web-pages you can find more information and reservation forms. Or contact us by e-mail. |
In
the picturesque village Chucuito at the Titicaca Lake, only 15 minutes
from Puno, the Taypikala Hotel and Spa awaits you. Beside the quality
and the comfort of an upper 3***- hotel, this mystic hotel offers its
guests a Spa installations which have been extended extensively. A Turkish
and a Finnish Sauna as well as the large whirlpool invite you to relax.
Alternative therapies such as reiki, acupuncture, reflex-zone-massage
or herb treatment complete the wellness offer.
In the evenings you can enjoy Pisco Sour and the dance floor in the Disco-bar
Q'urmi lure. The 49 nicely furnished single, double and three-bed rooms
and suites all offer a fantastic lake-view and are equipped with bath
tub, telephone and heating. .
Enjoy an overall relaxing stay in the Taypikala Hotel & Spa!
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On our web-pages you can find more information about this unique hotel. We will be pleased to make a reservation for you! Please contact us by mail. |
Our
partner Doubletree El Pardo Hotel in Miraflores, Lima, is highly dedicated
to the promotion of the cultural richness of Peru. Thus, it was the official
sponsor of the National Marinera Competition 2005 in Trujillo, which annually
awards the best ones in the traditional dance of the northern coast of
Peru.
In honor of the most famous sportswoman of Peru, Sofía Mulanovich,
winner of the World Championship of Surfing 2004, a well-known restaurant
in Lima organized a Hawaiian gastronomic event. The Doubletree El Pardo
Hotel was host of the five best cooks of Hawaii, who demonstrated their
abilities at the event.
The wide buffet in the recently opened restaurant "JUNIUS" in
the luxurious hotel invites you to get to know the diversified and rich
Peruvian cuisine. Shows of traditional dances and typical music promise
pleasurable hours. The restaurant is open during time of lunch and dinner
from Tuesday to Sunday.
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On our web- pages you can find more information about the Doubletree El Pardo Hotel. |
Spa
in the Hotel El Gran Marqués in Trujillo
When you visit Trujillo, you definitely shouldn´t miss the Hotel
El Gran Marques and its big Spa area. After having visited the surrounding
archaeological places of pre-inca times, a bath in the pretty hotel pool
is marvelously refreshing, using the sauna and the gym are also included
in the price. The private Spa "Tussen" offers beyond that a
wide range of wellness facilities of modern and professional standard.
In a pleasant atmosphere you can indulge yourself with a beauty treatment,
anti-stress-massage or aromatherapy.
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On our web-pages you can get more information about a relaxing stay in El Gran Marqués. Special weekend-packages are available here. |
Sun
and Sports in the Hotel Las Dunas Sun Resort IcaIn order to visit destinations like the Paracas peninsula or the Nazca
lines, the hotel Las Dunas Sun Resort in Ica is perfectly located.
In Ica dunes lure to do sand-boarding, the hotel even offers its own dune.
Additionally the hotel offers large and comfortable rooms and is orientated
sportily. Three pools, a small golf course, tennis places and other sport
installations await the guest, who can also enjoy the sauna or a massage
relaxation. And full diversion is guaranteed by a large entertainment
program in the evenings.
Come to Ica and relax in this comfortable Resort!
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If you want to have more information about Las Dunas Sun Resort, please visit our website. Or drop us a line. |
| FROM
THE REGIONS |
With
crusts, roots, sheets and blooms of the plants in the Amazon area she
heals most different physical sufferings. She cured psychological traumata
just as successfully as alcohol and drug-addicted. Norma Pandura is one
of the few shamans in the Peruvian Amazon area. She dedicated her life
to learning and developing a medicine which is based on purely herbal
basis. The Peruvian rain forest with its large biodiversity supplies the
ingredients which she cultivates in her own botanic garden. Even politicians,
ministers and medicine professors are among the visitors of the approved
Ayahuasca shaman. The director of the faculty for natural medicine of
the university clinic of Santiago de Compostela invited Nora to Spain.
An intensive personal experience put Nora on her path of life. At the age of 17 she suffered from lung cancer. A a last hope her mother brought her to a shaman in the rain forest. Adán Silva promised the girl: "I will heal you." After six months of treatment with herbals and shaman singing, the modern doctors who said that this cancer was incurable, could not find any vestiges of cancer in her body. After this experience Nora trained to be a shaman. The now 61 year old woman does not work on her own. In co-operation with the non-governmental organization Shapinguito she founded the nature hospital "Jose Torres Vasquez" in Iquitos. Here, Norma and a team of physicians, physical therapists, psychologists, psychiatrists and nurses heal with natural means and knowledge from immemorial time of the Shipibo shamans, where western medicine often comes up against its limits.
In the focus of a treatment is Ayahuasca, the plant that already had cured Norma. By several hours of cooking the crust plant together with the Chacruna plant, the substance DMT (Dimetiltriptamina) is set free. It is the substance that causes sleep in the human body. The drink which the patients have to take has a consciousness-extending effect. With so-called Icaros singing, which copies noises of animals and spirits, the shaman penetrates into the subconscious of the patients during the ceremony. "I work on the fear, the fear of discovering your own ego", she explained to a reporter of the Peruvian newspaper El Comercio. Only if psyche and body of a patient harmonize with nature, healing is possible. After his experiences with Norma Pandura many a patient found the way to himself.
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On the web-pages www.amazonayahuasca.com you can get more information about the Clinic José Torres Vasquez. Do you want to dunk into the world of the Peruvian rainforest? Read about destinations and accommodations in the Peruvian rainforest on our web-pages. |
| TRAVEL
NOTES |
Chachapoyas,
March 10th 2005
Finally we arrived at Chachapoyas, the mysterious area in the north of
Peru, in the Department called Amazon, although this river does not even
flow there. We have decided to explore the area on a trekking- tour. That
means getting up at 4 o'clock in the morning and taking a taxi on an adventurous
route to Gran Belén, a beautiful river valley with green meadows.
Equipped with rubber boots we enter the mountain forest that covers the
summits of the region and from which mist is rising, giving the area a
mystique atmosphere. Then we have the first contact with the mysterious
Chachapoyas culture: Round houses of different sizes hide in the luscious
green of the forest. The Chachapoya people have settled this area since
the fifth century b. C. In the 14th century the "cloud warriors"
were subdued by the Inca. Today, innumerable mysterious and interesting
remnants still bear witness of this culture. Anyhow, we feel like explorers
who are newly discovering a place. Amado, our guide, tells us that few
things ares known of the Chachapoya. In the evening we are reaching Congon,
where we will stay the night at a family´s typical adobe house,
right beside a rushing stream and many coffee bushes in the garden.
The
next morning we go to Cueva Santa, an enormous cliff highly above the
dusty mountain forest, where the mummies of the "cloud people"
were laid to rest. In fact, the most interesting of that culture is their
cult of the death. All dead were mummified and put down in often inaccessible
places, like in stone houses, closely built against the rock, or in wooden
figures, like in Karajía for instance. We are sitting at the cliff
as on a cemetery, and again there is this feeling of being the first humans
allowed of being here. Amado tells us that grave robbers caused much mischief
in Chachapoyas like in other places of Peru, destroying mummies and robbing
burial objects.
The third day is going to be the highlight of the journey: the way to and the visit of Kuélap, one of the most impressing fortifications on the South American continent. Ahead of us lies a 6 hour ride through the breath-taking nature of the Chachapoyas region. Kuélap is situated on a mountain and was discovered in 1845 by a judge who was staying in the area because of a land dispute. The enormous protection walls of the fortress are up to 22 meters high. Amado says that there are 505 buildings on the fortress area: houses, cult places and the "Tintero", a building like an ink-barrel. Actually, few things are really known about Kuélap. We are standing fascinated and are drawing comparisons to Machu Picchu and conclude that Kuélap impresses at least as much as the most famous Inca site does.
At the fourth and last day of our excursion to Chachapoyas, a hike to
Revash - grave houses with mysterious red symbols built into a cliff -
is waiting for us. Amado explains that all mummies of one family were
laid down together in such a house, just like in a family grave. From
Revash it is not far to Leymebamba. Here the best museum of the region
was bulit with the support of Austrian scientists. In the Laguna de Los
Condores nearby Leymebamba had been found more than 200 mummies, which
now are exhibited in the impressive museum. We are listening to the stories
of our guide and know thatit was really good to come to Chachapoyas.
| Links: |
| Did you made a special experience in Peru and would like to tell us about it? We publish your experience on our webpage. Just contact us to info@peruline.com. You feel like visiting Chachapoyas? Visit our web-site! The Lodge El Chillo offers interesting excursions. |
| DID
YOU KNOW, ...? |
... that in 1964 the first copies of the novel "The Time of the Hero" by Mario Vargas Llosa were burned officially by the then-powers?
... that the Peruvian cookbook "La Flor Morada de los Andes", published by the Academy for Tourism and Hotel Business of San Martín de Porres University in Lima was awarded the international "Oscar" of cookbooks? Within the scope of the 10th Gourmand World Cookbook Awards the book was entitled "Best culinary Cookbook of the World".
... that more than one third of all visitors to Peru specify the Peruvians'
hospitality and friendliness as the most pleasant experience of their
trip?
| ABOUT
US |
peruline is a tourist information service about Peru. Many tourist enterprises support and finance our promotion and information job. Our main objective is to benefit the sponsor companies as well as the country itself.
Our services at a glance:
- Callcenter in Germany and delivery of information material free of charge
- Route planning for individual travelers
- Help with reservations info@peruline.com
- Information about hotels, lodges and language schools
- Suggestions for trips in Peru and useful links on our web site www.peruline.com
- Organization of press trips
- Photo archives
Our monthly newsletter informs you about the latest Peru news. If you
have suggestions and ideas for our newsletter, we would be pleased to
receive your e-mail. Your
feedback is welcome! We also thank you for your comments about our web
page.
Please also visit our tourist information service for Ecuador www.ecuadorline.com
and for Bolivia www.bolivialine.com.
With best wishes from Lima,
Yours, Sünje Fischer
peruline
In
the Peruvian presidency elections of 1990 the politically engaged writer
competed as candidate of the oppositional "Frente Democrático".
Unexpectedly he lost against Alberto Fujimori. In "A Fish in the
Water" he processes not only his childhood, but also his experiences
as a presidency candidate, whereby he sharply criticizes corruption and
the political establishment of Peru.
