DRAMATIC SCENERY AND EVENTS: the mythic peaks of Chimborazo and Aconcagua; the ruins of Machu Picchu and the fabled mines of Potosi; plane crashes, earthquakes and high-altitude cities; guerrilla war from Tupac Amaru to Che Guevara and Sendero Luminoso.INDIGENOUS CULTURE AND RESISTANCE: the Inca empire; conquest and oppression; Quechua, Aymara and Mapundungu languages; coca, quinoa and potatoes; the political renaissance and migration to the cities.WRITERS, EXPLORERS AND MUSICIANS: the Spanish chroniclers; Humboldt and Darwin; Pablo Neruda, Vargas Llosa and Francisco Vallejo; indigenous music and urban popular culture.