Peru is a land of aguahe and black corn, shamanic rituals and surf contests, pre-Columbian pottery and world-famous folklore. We will unwind centuries of Peruvian history like a thread with an Incan kipu, a knotted letter. From the fertile lands of the Sacred Valley to the temples of Machu Picchu lost in the Andes, from the capital of the ancient empire of 10 million, Cusco, to the “city of kings” Lima, which began the Spanish march across the west of South America. We will see how thousands of years of Indian agro-laboratories influenced Peru’s modern gastronomy and its unprecedented flourishing, and find out what the Chinese, Japanese and Italians have brought to traditional dishes of this country. Enjoy the view of the Urubamba River winding through the mountains from the window of a luxury “Pullman train,” on which aristocrats traveled in the 1920s, and taste the pisco-sauer in a bar overlooking the Pacific Ocean. [a] We’ll explore the peculiarities of Moche and Nazca ceramics and take home an experience as vivid as an alpaca poncho.