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You've seen the pictures a million times, but the thrill of standing on the mountaintop overlooking the fabled Incan city of Machu Picchu is something that no image can do justice. An ancient settlement lost to the jungle for 500 years, this New Wonder of the World and UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Sacred Valley, is bounded by another imperial city and World Heritage Site, Cusco, at the other end. There at the top of the Andes, the relics of the most important city to the Incan empire stand miles from luxury hotels and a mysterious walled park called Sacsayhuaman, whose construction perplexes archaeologists to this day. High on another dramatic, vertical locale, Peru's capital of Lima—another UNESCO-designated site—has its own cryptic attraction: the Band of Holes, formations similar to crop circles. The mysteries don't end with the borders of these major cities. The number of shamans in this country are second only to India, and even more legend and lore can be found in the depths of the Amazon Rainforest, which covers two- thirds of the country. Incredibly bio-diverse, approximately 90 micro-climates can be counted from border to border in all of Peru, including those found in the Andean Mountain Range and Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake on earth. With all these wonders, the most important puzzle yet to be solved is which one will enthrall you most? PERU 0 400 miles 0 400 km Lima La Paz Quito Cusco Iquitos Trujillo Callao Arequipa Nazca S O U T H P A C I F I C O C E A N P E R U BOLIVIA CH I LE COLOMB IA BRAZIL ECUADOR Machu Picchu 36 Peru

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