south of the border

So here I am, finally in the land of Peru. Its been a while since I have had a chance to put in an entry so I thought I would tell of an interesting day I had about a week ago. It was my first day in Peru and our group of newbies had a trip around Lima arranged. We were taken to some of the sights by a local and told a little about the history of Peru.

Our first stop was at an archeological find just outside of downtown Lima. We were shown the remains of a wall that was built around the old city as a means of protection. From what you might ask? Well, pirates of course! You know, the infamous pirates like Sir Thomas Cavendish and Sir Francis Drake.

Yup, this version of history portrays the "explorers" of the western world as being pirates who were only set on plundering the gold that the Incas had. Gotta protect them riches!

But as the tour continued, it was explained to us that Lima was not an Incan city (such as the legendary Machu Pichu) but rather a Spanish built city on the coast. The tour guide was proud to point out that the Spanish that came to modern-day Peru were not conquerors but rather people settling an uninhabited land. Afterall, the Incas were hundreds of miles (or kilometers) away in Machu Pichu and they weren't doing any harm to the Incas, right?

Here's where history takes a little detour in my book. I was taught that the Spaniards that came to the New World were called "Conquistadores" and did a demo job on the natives of the continents via swords, guns, and germs. A relative few did a massive number on the native populations and thereby inhabited the region. Hence how they got the gold from the Incas, right?

But wait, who's right in this case? What is the real version of history? Is this woman (of Spanish descent) correct in her telling of what she had been taught? Did the Spaniards and Incas live in harmony (except the whole "germ" thing) and have I been misled all these years? And are "great explorers" like Cavendish and Drake really just pirates? The walls were built for a reason - to keep someone out, but who? Did the walls go up to protect them from pirates or Incas who desired their gold back?

All very interesting questions indeed...