Marca-Huama-Chuco is an archaeological site of Pre-Inca Ruins in the Northern Peruvian Highlands of La Libertad Region of Peru. The site's location was until recently a difficult place to gain access. Today a new road make it accessible on 3 1/2 hours ride from the city of Trujillo, the 3rd largest on the country's Pacific Coast, and location of many Moche heritage sites.
The place was set atop of the nexus of 3 Mountain Valleys at an altitude of more than 3,200m/10,000ft.
It is considered significant because the site encompasses more than 3 km of land, with massive castles and unique circular doubled-walled structures. The domestic residences were multi-storied galleries which originally housed numerous individual families.
It was built defensively on top of the isolated mesa that is 5 kilometers long and 500 meters wide, with a vast view of the surroundings. The complex contains several major compounds. These were surrounded by curved stone walls as high as 12 meters.
It is believed that it was an oracle center and used for religious ceremonies because of the remains of inner galleries, rooms and plazas. In the later stages of the culture, it was used as a burial site for the chosen ones because the human burials were found within the walls.
Latest investigations of the site suggested that the occupation may have been seasonal, with a maximum population of 6,000. Their estinmate is based upon the quantity of arable land and water availability.
The construction apparently began around 400 CE and continued until approximately 800 CE. Before being conquered by the Incas, Marca-Huama-Chuco was known as Northern Peru's most important religious, military, political, and economic center.
One of the earliest sketch maps on Marca-Huama-Chuco comes from the 18th century document prepared by Bishop Baltazar Jaime Martinez Companon. Early descriptions from the late 19th century were done by Europeans hunters of gold and silver mines.
Charles Wiener (1851-1913) was an Austrian-French "explorer," best known as the one who travelled extensively in Peru, climbed the I-Lli-Mani and came close to "re-discovering" Machu-Pichu. He published in 1880 the first topographical description of Marca-Huama-Chuco and named its principal compounds. Wiener travelled in Peru in 1875 and was told in Ollanta-y-Tambo about certain ruins, including those at Huayna-Picchu and Machu Picchu, but he was unable to reach them during his visit. He travelled from Ollanta-y-Tambo up over the Panti-Calla Pass until he arrived at the Ur-u-Bamba River at the bridge crossing of Chuqui-Chaca. Consequently, Wiener's own account of his travels were published in 1880 in a book that Wiener wrote named "Peru and Bolivia" (Paris, 1880), containing the description of how locals in Ollanta-y-Tambo had told him about the ancient Inca Towns. He made a detailed map of the urubamba Valley, on which he included 2 peaks and marked them with the names Matcho-Picchu and Huayna-Picchu. The book also contained a map of the Valley of Santa Ana, incorrectly placing Huayna-Picchu south of Matcho-Picchu on the East side of the Ur-u-Bamba.
The map then was published in Paris by the Societe de Geographie in 1877, 3 years before the publication of Wiener's Book.
Hiram Bing-Ham (the ultimate "re-discoverer of Machu-Picchu) was very familiar with Wiener's book.
When a Cuzqueno told Bing-Ham that he had seen "ruins finer than Choque-Quirau" at a place called Huayna-Picchu, Bing-Ham knew what he was talking about because it resembled Wiener's account.
Wiener is mentioned in Mario Vargas Llosa's novel "The Storyteller" as the French-Man who in 1880 came across "2 Machi-Guenga corpses, ritually abandoned in the River," which the French-Man decapitated and added the heads to his collection of curiosities collected in the Peruvian Jungle.
Monday, March 14, 2016
Thursday, March 3, 2016
CERRO DE PASCO, PERU
Cerro de Pasco is a city in Central Peru, located at the top of the Andean Mountains. It is the city capital of the Pasco Region. The Region is divided into 3 provinces, which subdivide into 28 districts. They are: Daniel Alcides Carrion (capital: Yana-Huanca); Oxa-Pampa (capital: Oxa-Pampa); Pasco (capital: Cerro de Pasco).
Cerro de Pasco, at 4,330 m/14,210ft elevation, it is one of the highest cities in the World, and the highest or 2nd highest city with over 50,000 inhabitants. The highest point of human habitat in the region is reached up at Yana-Cancha area at 4,380 m above the sea level.
At that elevation the region has an Alpine Climate. The average temperature of the warmest month is lower than 10*C (50*F), and the average annual temperature id 5.5*C, and the average annual rainfall is 999 mm. It has humid summers, dry winters and chilly to cold temperatures throughout the year. Snowfalls can occur sometimes.
Cerro de Pasco is connected by road and by rail to the capital city of Peru, Lima, as far as 300 km.
Cerro de Pasco became one of the World's richest silver producing areas as far back as the 17th century, and still is an active mining center.
The production of those silver mines were the chief source of wealth for William Randolph Hearst (April 29, 1863 - August 14, 1951) and his family. He was born in San Francisco, to millionaire mining engineer, gold-mine owner and U.S. senator (1886-91) George Hearst and his wife Phoebe Apperson Hearst. Both parents were of Scots-Irish origin. She became the 1st woman regent of the University of California, Berkeley and "funded many anthropological expeditions." William was enrolled in the harvard College class of 1885. While there he was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon, one of the oldest North American fraternities with now holds 54 active chapters across the USA and Canada; the A.D. Club (a Harvard Final Club), a strictly secret society; the Hasty Pudding Theatricals, known for its burlesque cross-dressing musicals; and of the Harvard Lampoon, an undergraduate humor publication; before being expelled for antics ranging from sponsoring massive beer parties in Harvard Square to sending pudding pots to his professors (their images were depicted within the bowls).
Searching for occupation, in 1887 William took over management of a newspaer, the San Francisco Examiner, which his father received in 1880 as re-payment for a gambling debt. Giving his paper a grand motto, "Monarch of the Dai-Lies," he acquired the best equipment and the most talented writers of the time, including Ambrose Bierce, Mark Twain, Jack London, and a political cartoonist Homer Daven-Port. A self-proclaimed populist, William went on to publish stories of municipal and "financial corruption," often attacking companies in which his own family "held an interest." Within few years, his paper dominated the San Francisco market. Then he envisioned running a large newspaper chain, and he knew that his dream was impossible without a triumph in New York. In 1895, with the financial support of his mother, he bought the failing New York Morning Journal. He imported his best managers from the San Francisco Examiner and quickly established himself as the most attractive employer among New York newspapers. He was "generous," paid more than the competitors, gave credit to his writers and was unfailing polite, unassuming, "impeccably calm," and indulgent of "prima donnas, eccentrics, bohemians, drunks, or reprobates so long as they had useful talents. With them he built the nation's largest newspaper chain with the help of sensationalized stories of dubious veracity. He exercised enormous political influence, and was famously blamed for pushing public opinion leading the United States into a War with Spain in 1898. he was twice elected as a Democrat to the U.S. House of Representatives. His life story was the main inspiration for the development of the lead character in Orson Welles's film "Citizen Kane."
Cerro de Pasco, at 4,330 m/14,210ft elevation, it is one of the highest cities in the World, and the highest or 2nd highest city with over 50,000 inhabitants. The highest point of human habitat in the region is reached up at Yana-Cancha area at 4,380 m above the sea level.
At that elevation the region has an Alpine Climate. The average temperature of the warmest month is lower than 10*C (50*F), and the average annual temperature id 5.5*C, and the average annual rainfall is 999 mm. It has humid summers, dry winters and chilly to cold temperatures throughout the year. Snowfalls can occur sometimes.
Cerro de Pasco is connected by road and by rail to the capital city of Peru, Lima, as far as 300 km.
Cerro de Pasco became one of the World's richest silver producing areas as far back as the 17th century, and still is an active mining center.
The production of those silver mines were the chief source of wealth for William Randolph Hearst (April 29, 1863 - August 14, 1951) and his family. He was born in San Francisco, to millionaire mining engineer, gold-mine owner and U.S. senator (1886-91) George Hearst and his wife Phoebe Apperson Hearst. Both parents were of Scots-Irish origin. She became the 1st woman regent of the University of California, Berkeley and "funded many anthropological expeditions." William was enrolled in the harvard College class of 1885. While there he was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon, one of the oldest North American fraternities with now holds 54 active chapters across the USA and Canada; the A.D. Club (a Harvard Final Club), a strictly secret society; the Hasty Pudding Theatricals, known for its burlesque cross-dressing musicals; and of the Harvard Lampoon, an undergraduate humor publication; before being expelled for antics ranging from sponsoring massive beer parties in Harvard Square to sending pudding pots to his professors (their images were depicted within the bowls).
Searching for occupation, in 1887 William took over management of a newspaer, the San Francisco Examiner, which his father received in 1880 as re-payment for a gambling debt. Giving his paper a grand motto, "Monarch of the Dai-Lies," he acquired the best equipment and the most talented writers of the time, including Ambrose Bierce, Mark Twain, Jack London, and a political cartoonist Homer Daven-Port. A self-proclaimed populist, William went on to publish stories of municipal and "financial corruption," often attacking companies in which his own family "held an interest." Within few years, his paper dominated the San Francisco market. Then he envisioned running a large newspaper chain, and he knew that his dream was impossible without a triumph in New York. In 1895, with the financial support of his mother, he bought the failing New York Morning Journal. He imported his best managers from the San Francisco Examiner and quickly established himself as the most attractive employer among New York newspapers. He was "generous," paid more than the competitors, gave credit to his writers and was unfailing polite, unassuming, "impeccably calm," and indulgent of "prima donnas, eccentrics, bohemians, drunks, or reprobates so long as they had useful talents. With them he built the nation's largest newspaper chain with the help of sensationalized stories of dubious veracity. He exercised enormous political influence, and was famously blamed for pushing public opinion leading the United States into a War with Spain in 1898. he was twice elected as a Democrat to the U.S. House of Representatives. His life story was the main inspiration for the development of the lead character in Orson Welles's film "Citizen Kane."
Saturday, January 30, 2016
CAJAMARCA, THE THIN RIVER CITY AND THE HOUSE OF THE CONDOR.
Cajamarca is the capital and largest city of the Cajamarca Region as well as an important cultural center in the Northern Andes.
It is located in the Northern Highlands of Peru at approximately 2,750 m (8,900 ft) above sea level in the Valley of The Mashcon River.
Cajamarca has a mild highland climate, and the area has a very fertile soil. The city is well known for its dairy products and mining activity in the surroundings.
Cajamarca has numerous examples of Spanish colonial religious architecture, beautiful landscapes, pre-Hispanic archeological sites and Hot Springs at the nearby town of "Baths of the Inca"(Banos del Inca).
The history of the city is highlighted by the Battle of Cajamarca, which marked the ambush of the Inca by Spanish invader whom was captured and murdered there.
The name "Cajamarca" has a Quechua origin meaning "Town of Thorns" or "Cold Place" depending on the source. For more than 2000 years, the city and its surroundings, have been occupied by several cultures. Traces of pre-Chavin cultures can be seen in nearby archaelogical sites, such as Cumbe Mayo and Kuntur Wasi (Condor House).
The Archaeological Complex of Cumbe Mayo (THIN RIVER) is at an average altitude of 3,500 meters above sea level and 20 km SouthWest from Cajamarca. It is the place where the highest hydraulic technology were applied on the construction of the Canal's lines built by an advanced pre-Inca society around 1500 BCE. They are incredible perfect, turning at perfect right angles over smooth rock to slow down and regulate the movement of water.
The Aqueduct is a canal of approximately 9km in length, carefully carved in volcanic rock to divert the water from the hills to cultivation fields an a large reservoir at the foot of the Apolonia Hill. Heading towards the Aqueduct there are some stairs sculpted in stone, and a carved stone used as a ceremonial altar. Also prominent is The Sanctuary, a huge cliff resembling a Man's Head, where interesting and undecipherable petroglyphs have been found. They used Obsidian Hammers to create such perfect combination of Nature. The caves and shelters of the area evidence other stone engravings.
In an important section of the route there are also impressive and rare geological formations identify as the shapes of monks forming part of a procession. For this reason, this impressive area, that suddenly appear from the landscape, contrasting the flat, grass-covered Plains around Cajamarca, located in CumbeMayo is known as "The Monks" (Los Frailones). It gives the area a beautiful and profound spiritual dimension.
The name "Cumbe Mayo" which translates to "Thin River," is thought to be one of the oldest Man-made structures in South America.
The House of the Condor (Kuntur Wasi) is the name given to the ruins of a religious center where people congregated, with complex architecture and stone sculptures. It is located at the HeadWaters of the Jequetepeque River, in the region of the city of Cajamarca near the small town of San Pablo. Lithosculptures have been found, similar to the Chavin style.
It is thought to have been constructed around 1200 BC, during the initial period. The architecture consists of a hill-top Temple, quadrangular platforms, a sunken courtyard, and series of rooms. In the floor of one room there is an anthropomorphic figure made of clay, about 75 cm (30 in) in height. It is painted with cinnabar red, malachite green, and black, tellow, and pink. Its face has big square eyes and a wide mouth with prominent canine teeth. There are also stepped platforms and funeral structures.
In 1989, scientist from the University of Tokyo excavated 4 tombs at Kuntur Wasi. Valuable items, such as pectorals necklaces (breastplates), gold crowns (the famous 'crown of the 14 faces), ornamental stone beads, earrings, sets of dishes, and iconography of peoples were discovered in the Burial Site. Since the beginning of the excavations of the University of Tokyo's archaeological mission, 8 Tombs have been found.
The Jequetepeque Valley provided a transportation corridor between the Coastal Region and the HighLands.
It is located in the Northern Highlands of Peru at approximately 2,750 m (8,900 ft) above sea level in the Valley of The Mashcon River.
Cajamarca has a mild highland climate, and the area has a very fertile soil. The city is well known for its dairy products and mining activity in the surroundings.
Cajamarca has numerous examples of Spanish colonial religious architecture, beautiful landscapes, pre-Hispanic archeological sites and Hot Springs at the nearby town of "Baths of the Inca"(Banos del Inca).
The history of the city is highlighted by the Battle of Cajamarca, which marked the ambush of the Inca by Spanish invader whom was captured and murdered there.
The name "Cajamarca" has a Quechua origin meaning "Town of Thorns" or "Cold Place" depending on the source. For more than 2000 years, the city and its surroundings, have been occupied by several cultures. Traces of pre-Chavin cultures can be seen in nearby archaelogical sites, such as Cumbe Mayo and Kuntur Wasi (Condor House).
The Archaeological Complex of Cumbe Mayo (THIN RIVER) is at an average altitude of 3,500 meters above sea level and 20 km SouthWest from Cajamarca. It is the place where the highest hydraulic technology were applied on the construction of the Canal's lines built by an advanced pre-Inca society around 1500 BCE. They are incredible perfect, turning at perfect right angles over smooth rock to slow down and regulate the movement of water.
The Aqueduct is a canal of approximately 9km in length, carefully carved in volcanic rock to divert the water from the hills to cultivation fields an a large reservoir at the foot of the Apolonia Hill. Heading towards the Aqueduct there are some stairs sculpted in stone, and a carved stone used as a ceremonial altar. Also prominent is The Sanctuary, a huge cliff resembling a Man's Head, where interesting and undecipherable petroglyphs have been found. They used Obsidian Hammers to create such perfect combination of Nature. The caves and shelters of the area evidence other stone engravings.
In an important section of the route there are also impressive and rare geological formations identify as the shapes of monks forming part of a procession. For this reason, this impressive area, that suddenly appear from the landscape, contrasting the flat, grass-covered Plains around Cajamarca, located in CumbeMayo is known as "The Monks" (Los Frailones). It gives the area a beautiful and profound spiritual dimension.
The name "Cumbe Mayo" which translates to "Thin River," is thought to be one of the oldest Man-made structures in South America.
The House of the Condor (Kuntur Wasi) is the name given to the ruins of a religious center where people congregated, with complex architecture and stone sculptures. It is located at the HeadWaters of the Jequetepeque River, in the region of the city of Cajamarca near the small town of San Pablo. Lithosculptures have been found, similar to the Chavin style.
It is thought to have been constructed around 1200 BC, during the initial period. The architecture consists of a hill-top Temple, quadrangular platforms, a sunken courtyard, and series of rooms. In the floor of one room there is an anthropomorphic figure made of clay, about 75 cm (30 in) in height. It is painted with cinnabar red, malachite green, and black, tellow, and pink. Its face has big square eyes and a wide mouth with prominent canine teeth. There are also stepped platforms and funeral structures.
In 1989, scientist from the University of Tokyo excavated 4 tombs at Kuntur Wasi. Valuable items, such as pectorals necklaces (breastplates), gold crowns (the famous 'crown of the 14 faces), ornamental stone beads, earrings, sets of dishes, and iconography of peoples were discovered in the Burial Site. Since the beginning of the excavations of the University of Tokyo's archaeological mission, 8 Tombs have been found.
The Jequetepeque Valley provided a transportation corridor between the Coastal Region and the HighLands.
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
LA OROYA, THE OLDEST SETTLEMENT IN HIGH LANDS.
La Oroya is a mining town on the the River Mantaro in Central Peru. It is situated on the Altiplano some 176 km East-North-East of the national capital Lima.
In 1533, the Spanish established a small settlement and started mining for precious metals in the area, but isolation and transport difficulties hindered extraction.
Later, the area's strategic position made it a center of guerrilla activity. One decisive battle of military engagement of the Peruvian War of Independence (August 6,1824), fought in the Highlands of the Junin Region, took place nearby, Chacamarca (Junin).
Mining in the area developed gradually, and did not greatly expand until the railway from Lima to La Oroya was completed in 1893. The railway, an extraordinary feat of engineering, was planned by the Polish railway builder Ernest, Malinowski. He was a Polish expatriate, voluntarily exiled in Peru because of the political problems in his country, occupied at that time by Germany, Russia, and Austria.
In 1851, the engineer proposed to extent the newly opened Lima to Callao railroad as far as the Valley of Jauja, situated in the fertile Mantaro Valley, at an altitude of 3,400 m (11,200 ft).
Jauja, for a short time was once the capital of Spanish Per, prior to the founding of Lima as the new capital. The name is used figuratively to mean a "never never land" or a "land of milk and honey." One oral tradition mentions that the Inca ordered the mutilation of men's and women's hand in Jauja, at the Pampa de Maquinhauyo, 8 km (5 mi) South of present day Jauja, instead of killing all of them because through them the land became polluted.
In 1868, Henry Meiggs, a promoter/entrepreneur in the railroad business. He was born in Catskill, New York. He began his career in the lumber field but was ruined by the Panic of 1837. He restarted it in Brookling, but again met with failure. Finding success in sending lumber to the Pacific Coast, he relocated to San Francisco during the peak of the California Gold Rush on the cargo ship "Albany" laden with lumber, which he sold there for 20 times its cost. Like many others that arrived in San francisco in 1849, he got into real state speculation. He promoted the possibility of piers along the North shore area, on the grounds that it was closer to the Golden Gate than the usual harbor, ;ocated just South of Broadway Street on the shore of what is today downtown San Francisco. He became extended financially in trying to do this. In order to make ends meet, he illicitly obtained a Book full of Warrants on the Street Fund (which had little money in it), which the city's controller and major had fallen in the habit of signing the Book in advance. Meiggs forged the remaining information and raised money. Before his fraud was discovered, he left San Francisco on October 6, 1854, heading for South America. According to him, he landed with only $8,000 (half a million, by some accounts) and became a successful railroad entrepreneur. While his Peruvian contracts were wildly profitable, by 1876, his financial situation had begun to disintegrate. He found it more difficult to obtain credit. His 1877 death only worsened the economic chaos in Peru. He was buried at a local cemetery Presbitero Maestro on the road that link Lima to Callao.
The Callao, Lima & Oroya Railway opened to Chilca by 1878 and reached La Oroya by 1893 and huancayo (346 km/215mi) in 1908. It is the 2nd highest Railway in the World (following opening of the Qing-zang Railway in Tibet), with the Galera summit Tunnel under Mount Meiggs at 4,783 (15,692 ft) and Galera station at 4,777m (15,673 ft) above sea level.
In 1923 a branch was opened from Ticlio (making it the World's highest junction) to Morococha via La Cima (4,818m/15,807 ft above sea level), from where in April 1955 a spur line opened to Volcan Mine, reaching an (at the time )World record altitude of 4,830 m (15,850 ft). Both branch and spur have since closed to passenger traffic. Only minerals (mainly from La Oroya), fuels, cement and food products run through the spectacular landscapes of the Peruvian Andes.
La Oroya polymetallic smelter and a copper mine at Cobriza were sold to Doe Run Corporation in 1997, the largest integrated lead producer in North America and the largest primary lead producer in the Western World. Their revenues doubled with the purchase. When the purchase was complete the company agreed to improve the facility to make it less harmful for the environment. Instead, it allowed toxic elements used in the smelting process to contaminate La Oroya's air, water and soil. As a result of years of pollution, the Hills immediately around the smelter became completely denuded, the River became more toxic, and the Health of the local inhabitants suffered. Residents have been found to have alarmingly high concentrations of lead in their blood, and in the drinking water, and many have bronchial troubles.
A 1999 study conducted 2 years after Doe Run's acquisition showed high levels of air pollution, with 85 times more arsenic, 41 times more cadmiun, and 13 times more lead than amounts generally considered safe.
On February 5, 2008 Doe Run reported that the state Health Officials confirmed that the quality of the Yauli or Mantaro Rivers was no longer impacted by the smelter's liquid discharges. However, the company also stated that the River was still polluted by mining and other operations upstream.
Despite advancements in other areas, sulfur dioxide emissions reached alarmingly records in August 2008. It is a very toxic gas with a pungent, irritating, and rotten smell.
On other Planets in the Universe, the toxic gas can be found in various concentrations, the most significant being the atmosphere of the Planet Venus, where it is the 3rd most significant component of the atmospheric gases. There, it condenses to form clouds, and is a key component of chemical reactions in the Planet's atmosphere and contributes to global warming. It has been inplicated as a key agent in the warming of early Mars.
The question is now: What are the real causes of our Global Warming? My answer is: Man's greediness toward the Earth's natural reaches."
In 1533, the Spanish established a small settlement and started mining for precious metals in the area, but isolation and transport difficulties hindered extraction.
Later, the area's strategic position made it a center of guerrilla activity. One decisive battle of military engagement of the Peruvian War of Independence (August 6,1824), fought in the Highlands of the Junin Region, took place nearby, Chacamarca (Junin).
Mining in the area developed gradually, and did not greatly expand until the railway from Lima to La Oroya was completed in 1893. The railway, an extraordinary feat of engineering, was planned by the Polish railway builder Ernest, Malinowski. He was a Polish expatriate, voluntarily exiled in Peru because of the political problems in his country, occupied at that time by Germany, Russia, and Austria.
In 1851, the engineer proposed to extent the newly opened Lima to Callao railroad as far as the Valley of Jauja, situated in the fertile Mantaro Valley, at an altitude of 3,400 m (11,200 ft).
Jauja, for a short time was once the capital of Spanish Per, prior to the founding of Lima as the new capital. The name is used figuratively to mean a "never never land" or a "land of milk and honey." One oral tradition mentions that the Inca ordered the mutilation of men's and women's hand in Jauja, at the Pampa de Maquinhauyo, 8 km (5 mi) South of present day Jauja, instead of killing all of them because through them the land became polluted.
In 1868, Henry Meiggs, a promoter/entrepreneur in the railroad business. He was born in Catskill, New York. He began his career in the lumber field but was ruined by the Panic of 1837. He restarted it in Brookling, but again met with failure. Finding success in sending lumber to the Pacific Coast, he relocated to San Francisco during the peak of the California Gold Rush on the cargo ship "Albany" laden with lumber, which he sold there for 20 times its cost. Like many others that arrived in San francisco in 1849, he got into real state speculation. He promoted the possibility of piers along the North shore area, on the grounds that it was closer to the Golden Gate than the usual harbor, ;ocated just South of Broadway Street on the shore of what is today downtown San Francisco. He became extended financially in trying to do this. In order to make ends meet, he illicitly obtained a Book full of Warrants on the Street Fund (which had little money in it), which the city's controller and major had fallen in the habit of signing the Book in advance. Meiggs forged the remaining information and raised money. Before his fraud was discovered, he left San Francisco on October 6, 1854, heading for South America. According to him, he landed with only $8,000 (half a million, by some accounts) and became a successful railroad entrepreneur. While his Peruvian contracts were wildly profitable, by 1876, his financial situation had begun to disintegrate. He found it more difficult to obtain credit. His 1877 death only worsened the economic chaos in Peru. He was buried at a local cemetery Presbitero Maestro on the road that link Lima to Callao.
The Callao, Lima & Oroya Railway opened to Chilca by 1878 and reached La Oroya by 1893 and huancayo (346 km/215mi) in 1908. It is the 2nd highest Railway in the World (following opening of the Qing-zang Railway in Tibet), with the Galera summit Tunnel under Mount Meiggs at 4,783 (15,692 ft) and Galera station at 4,777m (15,673 ft) above sea level.
In 1923 a branch was opened from Ticlio (making it the World's highest junction) to Morococha via La Cima (4,818m/15,807 ft above sea level), from where in April 1955 a spur line opened to Volcan Mine, reaching an (at the time )World record altitude of 4,830 m (15,850 ft). Both branch and spur have since closed to passenger traffic. Only minerals (mainly from La Oroya), fuels, cement and food products run through the spectacular landscapes of the Peruvian Andes.
La Oroya polymetallic smelter and a copper mine at Cobriza were sold to Doe Run Corporation in 1997, the largest integrated lead producer in North America and the largest primary lead producer in the Western World. Their revenues doubled with the purchase. When the purchase was complete the company agreed to improve the facility to make it less harmful for the environment. Instead, it allowed toxic elements used in the smelting process to contaminate La Oroya's air, water and soil. As a result of years of pollution, the Hills immediately around the smelter became completely denuded, the River became more toxic, and the Health of the local inhabitants suffered. Residents have been found to have alarmingly high concentrations of lead in their blood, and in the drinking water, and many have bronchial troubles.
A 1999 study conducted 2 years after Doe Run's acquisition showed high levels of air pollution, with 85 times more arsenic, 41 times more cadmiun, and 13 times more lead than amounts generally considered safe.
On February 5, 2008 Doe Run reported that the state Health Officials confirmed that the quality of the Yauli or Mantaro Rivers was no longer impacted by the smelter's liquid discharges. However, the company also stated that the River was still polluted by mining and other operations upstream.
Despite advancements in other areas, sulfur dioxide emissions reached alarmingly records in August 2008. It is a very toxic gas with a pungent, irritating, and rotten smell.
On other Planets in the Universe, the toxic gas can be found in various concentrations, the most significant being the atmosphere of the Planet Venus, where it is the 3rd most significant component of the atmospheric gases. There, it condenses to form clouds, and is a key component of chemical reactions in the Planet's atmosphere and contributes to global warming. It has been inplicated as a key agent in the warming of early Mars.
The question is now: What are the real causes of our Global Warming? My answer is: Man's greediness toward the Earth's natural reaches."
Sunday, January 17, 2016
THE CITY OF TARMA, THE PEARL OF THE ANDES.
The city, named by Antonio Raymondi as "The Pearl Of the Andes," is situated in the Center of Peru, at an elevation of 3080 meters above sea level in Tarma Province; 266 kms East of the city of Lima, in the Mountain Ranges of the Andes, in the Junin Region of Peru within a fertile Valley.
The region is one of Peru's most beautiful Andean Regions, with green rather than snow-caped mountains stretching down from high, craggy limestone outcrops into steep canyons forged by Amazon tributaries powering their way down to the Ocean. It is the 2nd biggest city in Junin.
By far it is the nicest Mountain Town in Peru that sits on the edge of the Andes almost with spitting distance of the Amazon Forest and where many important civilizations lived in the past, from pre-Inca to the Inca Culture.
The pre-Inca large ethnic groups were: the Chinchaycocha, the Xauxa and the Wanka. The Chincahycocha settled to the Northwest of the region, mainly what is today La Oroya and the Northern part of the Valley. The Xauxa settled to the Southern part, south of the Tarma River. The Wancas and another small group called Palcamayo settled to the East section. When the Inca time arrived, they built up a new Province in Tarma. They moved the locals to other sections of the Empire and built a strategic religious and political Province, which allowed them to exercise better control of the Region. The capital of the Inca Province was Tarma Tambo. The Spaniards moved the capital or Head of the Province from Tarma Tambo, located at the slope of a Mountain, to the bottom of the Valley, called Pampas (1538). Originally the zone was a town of natural people called "Pueblo de Indios."
Tarma is one of the region's most welcoming cities with a balmy climate by altiplano standards, surrounded on all sides by Mountains and steep, deep Valleys, and poised on the eyebrow of the jungle with a road linking the Central Andes to the Amazon Basin. It has a lot to offer, ruins, caves, waterfalls, and just a short distance to the Jungle.
Tarma makes a good living from its traditional textile and leather industries, and from growing flowers for export as well as for their own use.
The Town's greatest claim to fame is its connection with Juan Santos Atahualpa's rebellion in the 1740s and 1750s: taking refuge in the surroundings Mountains he defied Spanish troops for more than a decade, though Peace returned to the Region in 1756 when he and his allies mysteriously disappeared.
Today Tarma is a quiet place, disturbed only by the flow of trucks climbing up towards the jungle foothills, and the Town's famous Easter Sunday procession from the Main Plaza, when the streets are covered by carpets of dazzling flowers.
The region is one of Peru's most beautiful Andean Regions, with green rather than snow-caped mountains stretching down from high, craggy limestone outcrops into steep canyons forged by Amazon tributaries powering their way down to the Ocean. It is the 2nd biggest city in Junin.
By far it is the nicest Mountain Town in Peru that sits on the edge of the Andes almost with spitting distance of the Amazon Forest and where many important civilizations lived in the past, from pre-Inca to the Inca Culture.
The pre-Inca large ethnic groups were: the Chinchaycocha, the Xauxa and the Wanka. The Chincahycocha settled to the Northwest of the region, mainly what is today La Oroya and the Northern part of the Valley. The Xauxa settled to the Southern part, south of the Tarma River. The Wancas and another small group called Palcamayo settled to the East section. When the Inca time arrived, they built up a new Province in Tarma. They moved the locals to other sections of the Empire and built a strategic religious and political Province, which allowed them to exercise better control of the Region. The capital of the Inca Province was Tarma Tambo. The Spaniards moved the capital or Head of the Province from Tarma Tambo, located at the slope of a Mountain, to the bottom of the Valley, called Pampas (1538). Originally the zone was a town of natural people called "Pueblo de Indios."
Tarma is one of the region's most welcoming cities with a balmy climate by altiplano standards, surrounded on all sides by Mountains and steep, deep Valleys, and poised on the eyebrow of the jungle with a road linking the Central Andes to the Amazon Basin. It has a lot to offer, ruins, caves, waterfalls, and just a short distance to the Jungle.
Tarma makes a good living from its traditional textile and leather industries, and from growing flowers for export as well as for their own use.
The Town's greatest claim to fame is its connection with Juan Santos Atahualpa's rebellion in the 1740s and 1750s: taking refuge in the surroundings Mountains he defied Spanish troops for more than a decade, though Peace returned to the Region in 1756 when he and his allies mysteriously disappeared.
Today Tarma is a quiet place, disturbed only by the flow of trucks climbing up towards the jungle foothills, and the Town's famous Easter Sunday procession from the Main Plaza, when the streets are covered by carpets of dazzling flowers.
Wednesday, December 23, 2015
CUZCO, THE PUMA CITY OF THE ANDES.
The Andean Puma is a small feline native to the high Andes and it is believed that fewer than 2500 individuals still exist in the wild. It has an ashy-gray fur, a gray head, ears and face. In the Southern Andes, where the terrain is arid, sparsely vegetated, rocky and steep, there they live at elevations over 4,000m/13,000ft, in the mountains of Central Peru, and Bolivia.
Cuzco, the historic capital of the Inca Empire is regarded as the city of the Puma. It was planned and built in a Valley that was occupied by small settlements since 1000 BC, as an effigy in the shape of a Puma, a sacred animal. Then it grew when the Incas made Cuzco their capital. The city is at an elevation of 3,400m/11,200ft.
The unique nature of the Puma city was further compunded by the fact it was surrounded by terracing which spread beyond the two Rivers that formed the city limits.The Sacsayhuaman fortress represented the head, while the body was portrayed by the city, which spread out between the rivers: the Saphy and the Tullumayo. These Rivers have since been channeled under the streets with the same names, one runs underneath the streets of Saphy, Plateros, and Avenida El Sol, while the other runs underneath Choquechaca and Tullumayo. The spot where the two Rivers flowed into each other, now marked by a fountain, was known as Pumac-Chupan, or "the Puma's Tail." The fields formed a buffer zone which isolated the sacred quarter in the centre of the city.
The name is derived from the phrase QusQu Wanka ("Rock of the Owl") related to the city foundational myth of the Ayar siblings. According to this legend, Ayar Auca acquired wings and flew to the site of the future Puma city; there he was transformed into a rock to mark the possession of the land by his clan (ayllu : lineage).
It is unknown how Cuzco was built. or how its large stones were quarried and transported to the site. The city planning responded to the cosmic vision of the its ancient inhabitants. Under the Inca cosmological belief, the city was divided in 2 halves: the Hanan and the Hurin, above and below. Each half was in turn subdivided in two halves again, it was a reflection of the division of the Empire into 4 realms or Suyos: Chinchaysuyo (NW), Antisuyo (NE), Contisuyo (SW), and Collasuyo (SE).
Then the Puma city was divided into 4 roads that led out of the city and headed to the 4 realms. A complementary system was that of the Ceques, or energy lines that radiated from the temple of the Sun in the direction of the 4 Suyos, and which linked up with shrines or temples in Cuzco. In each of the sectors of the Chinchaysuyo, Antisuyo, and Collasuyo, there were 9 lines of energy (Ceques), and 14 in the Contisuyo. The number of shrines totalled 333.
One of the peculiarities of the capital city of the Incas, Cuzco, was its perfect adaptation to the topography of the Valley and its natural contours.
Its administrative organization, which subdivided quarters according to origin and specialty of the craftsmen; its architectural harmony, wisely adapted to the landscape and weather; the efficient conservation of the environment; and the ingenious provision of natural resources to keep the economy humming, make Cuzco of the Incas, the finest model of social organization that this civilization bequeathed to the Andean world.
Cuzco, the historic capital of the Inca Empire is regarded as the city of the Puma. It was planned and built in a Valley that was occupied by small settlements since 1000 BC, as an effigy in the shape of a Puma, a sacred animal. Then it grew when the Incas made Cuzco their capital. The city is at an elevation of 3,400m/11,200ft.
The unique nature of the Puma city was further compunded by the fact it was surrounded by terracing which spread beyond the two Rivers that formed the city limits.The Sacsayhuaman fortress represented the head, while the body was portrayed by the city, which spread out between the rivers: the Saphy and the Tullumayo. These Rivers have since been channeled under the streets with the same names, one runs underneath the streets of Saphy, Plateros, and Avenida El Sol, while the other runs underneath Choquechaca and Tullumayo. The spot where the two Rivers flowed into each other, now marked by a fountain, was known as Pumac-Chupan, or "the Puma's Tail." The fields formed a buffer zone which isolated the sacred quarter in the centre of the city.
The name is derived from the phrase QusQu Wanka ("Rock of the Owl") related to the city foundational myth of the Ayar siblings. According to this legend, Ayar Auca acquired wings and flew to the site of the future Puma city; there he was transformed into a rock to mark the possession of the land by his clan (ayllu : lineage).
It is unknown how Cuzco was built. or how its large stones were quarried and transported to the site. The city planning responded to the cosmic vision of the its ancient inhabitants. Under the Inca cosmological belief, the city was divided in 2 halves: the Hanan and the Hurin, above and below. Each half was in turn subdivided in two halves again, it was a reflection of the division of the Empire into 4 realms or Suyos: Chinchaysuyo (NW), Antisuyo (NE), Contisuyo (SW), and Collasuyo (SE).
Then the Puma city was divided into 4 roads that led out of the city and headed to the 4 realms. A complementary system was that of the Ceques, or energy lines that radiated from the temple of the Sun in the direction of the 4 Suyos, and which linked up with shrines or temples in Cuzco. In each of the sectors of the Chinchaysuyo, Antisuyo, and Collasuyo, there were 9 lines of energy (Ceques), and 14 in the Contisuyo. The number of shrines totalled 333.
One of the peculiarities of the capital city of the Incas, Cuzco, was its perfect adaptation to the topography of the Valley and its natural contours.
Its administrative organization, which subdivided quarters according to origin and specialty of the craftsmen; its architectural harmony, wisely adapted to the landscape and weather; the efficient conservation of the environment; and the ingenious provision of natural resources to keep the economy humming, make Cuzco of the Incas, the finest model of social organization that this civilization bequeathed to the Andean world.
Monday, December 21, 2015
THE HIGHEST SETTLEMENT IN THE WORLD IS IN THE ANDES
La Rinconada, is a city in the Southern Peruvian Andes where the Mountain Ranges provide the most spectacular views of the wider landscape of snow caped Mountains and glaciers that dominates the region as it has the largest concentration of them.
The city is located in the Puno Region, San Antonio de Putina Province, Ananea District. It lies at a height of 5,100 m/16,700 ft, above sea level. It is the highest elevation of human habitation in the world.
The Apolobamba mountain range traverses the Province. The highest Mountain of the range is the Chawpi Urqu (Quechua: "Central Mountain; Wisk'Achani, Aymara:"the one with a vizcacha.") with an elevation of 6,044 m/ 19,829 ft. It lies on the territorial border with Bolivia.
The city has an alpine climate (weather for regions above the tree line). The little amount of atmosphere exposes the alpine area to UV sunlight at a dangerous levels. Few animals, birds, and plants can survive because of the lack of oxygen.
At this high altitude, the population have adapted to the decreased levels of oxygen. For the 50,000 local population in La Riconada, the physiological adaptation have produced people from birth with larger lung, heart and blood capacity than low landers.
If you are a low lander and are planning to go to La Rinconada city, you need to be aware of the altitude sickness. At this elevation the pressure of the Oxygen diminishes so the quantity of the oxygen molecules per breath is lower than at sea level. As a consequence, the respiratory, circulatory, nervous and renal systems are affected by the inadequate amount of Oxygen. The level vary with every traveler.
You can help you body to adapt by consuming an extra amount of water and avoid coffee and alcoholic drinks. Eating in a very small quantities, preferably carbohydrates. Take it easy on the first day of arrival, rest is best. Do not take sleeping pills or tranquilizers.
The symptoms of the altitude sickness are: headache, nausea, difficulty in sleeping, dizziness, vertigo, difficulty breathing, extreme fatigue, and low volume of urine.
The city is located in the Puno Region, San Antonio de Putina Province, Ananea District. It lies at a height of 5,100 m/16,700 ft, above sea level. It is the highest elevation of human habitation in the world.
The Apolobamba mountain range traverses the Province. The highest Mountain of the range is the Chawpi Urqu (Quechua: "Central Mountain; Wisk'Achani, Aymara:"the one with a vizcacha.") with an elevation of 6,044 m/ 19,829 ft. It lies on the territorial border with Bolivia.
The city has an alpine climate (weather for regions above the tree line). The little amount of atmosphere exposes the alpine area to UV sunlight at a dangerous levels. Few animals, birds, and plants can survive because of the lack of oxygen.
At this high altitude, the population have adapted to the decreased levels of oxygen. For the 50,000 local population in La Riconada, the physiological adaptation have produced people from birth with larger lung, heart and blood capacity than low landers.
If you are a low lander and are planning to go to La Rinconada city, you need to be aware of the altitude sickness. At this elevation the pressure of the Oxygen diminishes so the quantity of the oxygen molecules per breath is lower than at sea level. As a consequence, the respiratory, circulatory, nervous and renal systems are affected by the inadequate amount of Oxygen. The level vary with every traveler.
You can help you body to adapt by consuming an extra amount of water and avoid coffee and alcoholic drinks. Eating in a very small quantities, preferably carbohydrates. Take it easy on the first day of arrival, rest is best. Do not take sleeping pills or tranquilizers.
The symptoms of the altitude sickness are: headache, nausea, difficulty in sleeping, dizziness, vertigo, difficulty breathing, extreme fatigue, and low volume of urine.
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