Highest, driest, longest - Ear To The Ground - the boast of Peru - Brief Article

For A Change, Feb-March, 2002 by Neil MacKay

Any introduction to Peru is akin to reading a geographical Guinness Book of Records. Of the world's 100 or so micro-climates, 82 can be found within Peru's boundaries. She boasts the world's highest mountain range outside the Himalayas, the starting point of the world's greatest river, one of the driest deserts, the deepest canyon, and for fans of the white stuff, the longest surfing wave in the world.

Most travellers understandably link Peru with the ancient site of Machu Picchu. Yet so many of Peru's cultural treasures--like Kuelap, whose combined stonework is triple that of Egypt's pyramids--lie hidden in the mists of jungle, waiting to be discovered.