MACHU PICCHU is a citadel shrouded in mystery, and to this day archaeologists have not uncovered the history andpurpose of this city of stone. The site has an area of about one square kilometer, and stands in a region that the Incas considered to be magical, due to the meeting of the Andes mountains with the mighty Amazon river.
Perhaps, MACHU PICCHU mystery may never be fully explained as, so far, there are only hypothesis and conjectures. For some, it may have been an advance settlement for planned further expansions by the Incas. Others believe MACHU PICCHU have been a monastery where young girls (acllas) were trained to serve the Inca and the Willac Uno (HIgh Priest). Support for this theory comes from the fact that of the 135 bodies discovered while exploring the site, 109 were female.
	The history of the Imperial City of Cusco, the legend goes, begins in the 11th or 12th century when the first Inca, Manco Capac, obeying the dictates of the Sun God, founded Cusco. On March 23, 1534, Francisco Pizarro, the Spanish conquistador of Peru, refounded the Inca city as a Spanish colonial settlement.
Today, Cusco, the archeological capital of Peru and America, is a city open to the world, warmly welcoming its many visitors. Visitors marvel at the city's unusual physical appearance, which uniquely and harmoniously integrates, in the same urban environmentr, pre-Colombian monuments such as the Korikancha, ("Temple of the Sun"), the Ajlla Wasi, the Amaru Cancha ("Fence of the Serpent"), and the Kiswar Kancha, amongst others, with "mestizo" (mixed Spanish and native) architectural gems such as Cusco Cathedral, the Church and Convent of La Merced and the Temple of San Blas.
	galapagos will take you to the most significant spots in this paradise, which is located approximately 1.000 km (625 miles), from Ecuador's mainland. A magical place like none other on earth. You will find a visit to these islands personally rewarding, an educational opportunity and an enchanting travel exerience.
There are 13 large islands, 6 smaller ones and 107 islets and rocks, with a total land area of about 8,000 square kilometres. The islands are volcanic in origin and several volcanoes in the west of the archipelago are still very active. Galapagos is a province of the Republic of Ecuador and five of the islands are inhabited, with a total population of around 18,000 people. The capital is Puerto Baquerizo Moreno on San Cristobal Island, although the largest town is Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz.
	Arequipa Peru - It is known as the White City because of the white porous volcanic rock (sillar) that was used to build most of the its buildings. The city is surrounded by mountains and snow capped volcanoes such as the Misti (5820 m.), Chachani (6096 m.) and Pichu Pichu. Arequipa City lies at 2400 meters above sea level but it has a very pleasant climate, its days are mostly warm and sunny, and its nights are cool.
The Nazca Lines are an engima. No one has proof who built them or why. Since their discovery, the Nazca Lines have inspired fantastic explanations from ancient gods, a landing strip for returning aliens, a celestial calendar created by the ancient Nazca civilization -- putting the creation of the lines between 200 BC and 600 AD, used for rituals probably related to astronomy, to confirm the ayllus or clans who made up the population and to determine through ritual their economic functions held up by reciprocity and redistribution, or a map of underground water supplies.