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PERU TRAVEL PLANNER
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The Spanish conquest
Francisco Pizarro , along with two dozen soldiers, stumbled
upon and named the Pacific Ocean in 1513 while on an exploratory expedition in
Panama. From that moment his determination, fired by native tales of a
fabulously rich land to the south, was set. Within eleven years he had found
himself financial sponsors and set sail down the Pacific coast with the priest
Hernando de Luque and Diego Almagro.
With remarkable determination, having survived several disastrous attempts, the
three explorers eventually landed at Tumbes in 1532. A few months later a small
band of Spaniards, totalling less than 170 men, arrived at the Inca city of
Cajamarca to meet the leader of what they were rapidly realizing was a mighty
empire. En route to Cajamarca, Pizarro had learned of the Inca civil wars and of
Atahualpa's recent victory over his brother Huascar. This rift within the empire
provided the key to success that Pizarro was looking for.
The day after their arrival, in what at first appeared to be a lunatic endeavour,
Pizarro and his men massacred thousands of Inca warriors and captured Atahualpa.
Although ridiculously outnumbered, the Spaniards had the advantages of surprise,
steel, cannons and, above all, mounted cavalry. The decisive battle was over in
a matter of hours: with Atahualpa prisoner, Pizarro was effectively in control
of the Inca Empire. Atahualpa was promised his freedom if he could fill the
famous ransom room at Cajamarca with gold. Caravans overladen with the precious
metal arrived from all over the land and within six months the room was filled:
a treasure worth over one and a half million pesos, which was already enough to
make each of the conquerors extremely wealthy. Pizarro, however, chose to keep
the Inca leader as a hostage in case of Indian revolt, amid growing suspicions
that Atahualpa was inciting his generals to attack the Spanish. Atahualpa almost
certainly did send messages to his chiefs in Cusco, including orders to execute
his brother Huascar who was already in captivity there. Under pressure from his
worried captains, Pizarro brought Atahualpa to trial in July 1533, a mockery of
justice in which he was given a free choice: to be burned alive as a pagan or
strangled as a Christian. They baptized him and then killed him.
With nothing left to keep him in Cajamarca, Pizarro made his way through the
Andes to Cusco where he crowned a puppet emperor, Manco Inca , of royal Indian
blood. After all the practice that the Spaniards had had in imposing their
culture on both the Moors in Spain and the Aztecs in Mexico, it took them only a
few years to replace the Inca Empire with a working colonial mechanism. Now that
the Inca civil wars were over, the natives seemed happy to retire quietly into
the hills and get back to the land. However, more than wars, disease was
responsible for the almost total lack of initial reaction to the new conquerors.
The native population had dropped from some 32 million in 1520 to only five
million by 1548 - a decline due mainly to new European ailments such as
smallpox, measles, bubonic plague, whooping cough and influenza.
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Published articles and reviews about us
2010
Testimonials
Norman Pedersen
Date:
Sun,18 Jul 2010
Machu Picchu and my entire visit to Peru were
wonderful. A dream come true.
I could not have been happier with everyone I met through your
arrangements.
The tours were very informative and showed me more than I knew
existed in this beautiful place.
All of the accommodations were very comfortable.
The luncheon buffet at the Alhambra was top rate. And the Ferré
Hotel in Lima was also a very good choice.Your personal assistance
throughout was exceptional!
Thank you for everything!
Melinda Hughes
Date:
Tues, 13 Jul 2010
I was one of
the “Joel Williams” party of four who was recently on a Peru Gateway
Travel tour of northern and southern Peru. I had to write so you
would know how satisfied we were with the hotel accommodations, the
tour guides, the restaurants they choose for our lunches and just
everything about the trip.
The hotels we stayed in were well located, clean and convenient in
every way. We have absolutely no complaints!
Our tour covered Peru from the north to the south. It had four
internal flights, so there were many connections, pick ups and
deliveries involved. Peru Gateway Travel made sure we were always
delivered on time to the airports and promptly met and picked up
when we landed. We never had a moments worry.
Since we had many different day tours, we had several different
guides. All were professional and spoke our language well. All were
very knowledgeable and eager to impart that knowledge to us. They
chose great places for our lunches and the cuisine was
unforgettable. We have traveled to many countries but found the food
in Peru to be absolutely wonderful.
I also wanted to mention the drivers who picked us up at all times
of the day and night, drove us to our next destination and the
delivered us safely to our hotels. We never had a driver who was
less than prompt, courteous and most importantly, a skilled and
careful driver.
The sites we saw were the places we chose to see. And they did not
disappoint us. From the desert to the Andes to the Jungle, we
enjoyed it all.
Please feel free to use this email on your website or as a
testimonial. All four of our group would recommend Peru Gateway
Travel to anyone planning a trip to Peru. We were well taken care
of, enjoyed delicious food, saw awesome sights and had a wonderful
time.
Sincerely.
Ajay Chopra
Date:
Fri, 02 Jul 2010
We are back in
Lima. Our trip to Machu Picchu was wonderful, thank you and your
team and the ground staff in Cuzco for all their help and care. A
special thanks to Angella for her help.
We hope to do business with you in the near future.
Best Regards
Saikat.
Date:
Fri, 02 Jul 2010
I just wanted to let you know that we had an amazing
and wonderful trip to your country.
I must state that the people of Peru impressed me very much - they
are so nice!
While I have already filled-up the feedback form, this is just a
personal note to say Thank you.
Do visit India sometime - we have a lot in common.
Regards,
Irina Pascu
Date:
Fri, 25 Jun 2010
I am now back
home but still not believed that the holiday is over. I just
write you to tell you that I had a wonderful time in Peru and to
thanks for
your support. The circuit was very well designed and I had the
opportunity
to visit all the important sites I envisaged and also the Sacred
Valley and
the Altiplano.
I was really impressed by the organization and your people, always
in time
for pick up and interested to offer the necessary information.
Finally I showed to my friends that Peru is not so far and a visit
there
could be a wonderful experience. For me was a dream come true.
Many thanks to you and to your team.
Melissa Polier
Date:
Tues, 22 Jun 2010
My 2 adult children and I recently returned from our
hike to Machu Picchu and I wanted to thank you for all your
assistance. Our trip was great. We very much enjoyed visiting your
beautiful country. I especially want to praise our guide, cook and
porters. They did a terrific job. The food was marvelous and after a
long hike it was definitely something to look forward to. The
porters were very kind and when I needed some assistance at the end
of the 3rd day one of the porters helped me a lot. Our guide was
great. He was very knowledgeable and fun to hike with and he seemed
to really love his job. Again, thanks so much for everything
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