♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ Edgar: Just south of the equator is a country with remarkably diverse landscapes and people.

♪♪♪ It holds secrets, mysteries, and treasures that are waiting to be revealed.

The Earth's largest rainforest covers its entire eastern territory.

♪♪♪ Some of the highest peaks in the world divide this jungle from the largest ocean on the planet.

♪♪♪ Ancient civilizations thrived on this land, and its abundant resources helped Spain build a global empire.

♪♪♪ This is Peru.

And there's so much to experience here, history to be unearthed, places outside of time, rhythms that delight, and cuisine that reinvents tradition.

♪♪♪ I've traveled a lot, but this adventure to the edge of South America promises to be a voyage unlike any other.

♪♪♪ [ Up-tempo music plays ] ♪♪♪ The country of Peru sits on the west coast of South America, just below the equator.

♪♪♪ Many people hear Peru and they think of llamas, panpipes, Incas, the Andes.

But Peru is a lot more than Machu Picchu.

The real Peru is a complex tapestry with rich history and ancient cultures woven into the fabric of a modern lifestyle.

♪♪♪ My name is Jacob Edgar.

I'm an ethnomusicologist, and I follow the planet's musical heartbeat to reveal the soul and spirit of our world.

I'm traveling across Peru with my friend Alvaro Fernandez, a musician and entrepreneur who invited me to explore his fascinating country.

Alvaro is the drummer for one of Lima's most popular rock bands, Campo de Almas.

With his connections to some of Peru's top trendsetters and his knowledge of unique, off-the-beaten-path destinations, Alvaro has promised me a journey I'll never forget.

My passion for Peru is the diversity.

It's just like an explosion of flavors, explosion of colors, explosion of life.

Peru has always fascinated me because -- obviously, because of its music.

That's the doorway.

It's what gets me interested in the country.

And then I learn more about the food, about the history, about the traditions, the culture, the landscape, you name it.

Music opens the door, and then it helps me discover all of these other elements of a given country.

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ I land at night just as the city is coming to life.

♪♪♪ I meet Alvaro in one of his favorite parts of the city, where the nightlife is rich and colorful.

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ We grab some pisco sours, the iconic Peruvian cocktail, at a stylish bar and restaurant called Waka Pukliani.

♪♪♪ The pre-Columbian ruins that rise above the bar are a perfect symbol of the blend of ancient and modern that makes Lima so fascinating.

In this cosmopolitan urban center, the past always lies just below the surface.

You just need to know where to dig.

And Alvaro promises to show me.

♪♪♪ The next morning, we head into Lima's downtown historic district.

Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro formally established in 1535 what he called the Ciudad de Los Reyes, the City of Kings.

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ Eventually it came to be known by its traditional Quechua name, Limaq, or Lima.

The Spanish colonial powers were very consistent in the way they designed their cities.

They were always built on a grid system, and they always had a church right in the center and a government building right in the center.

And then from there, a main plaza and grids going off.

And you'll see this in every Latin American city.

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ As we're standing there, you had the procession going by, the changing of the guard.

♪♪♪ So you had these two iconic representations of power in Latin America side by side.

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ [ All shouting in Spanish ] [ Speaking Spanish ] [ Singing in Spanish ] ♪♪♪ Edgar: We meet up with Luis Martin, an architect who knows exactly where to find Lima's often hidden historical sites.

So, we went to this house.

It was like if you were, like, transported to a different era.

♪♪♪ And you go up this magnificent staircase, and suddenly it's like you've gone back in time.

♪♪♪ Alvaro: It's an interesting feeling.

And you actually start thinking of how people used to live in those times.

♪♪♪ And it has the original furniture.

It has original decoration.

The historical treasures of Casa de Aliaga are not only contained within.

Above the street is a wooden balcony, a feature of many colonial homes in this part of the city.

♪♪♪ You can dig deeper into Lima's history at the nearby Monastery of San Francisco.

Beneath this 200-year-old church are catacombs that contain the remains of up to 25,000 bodies.

Up until 1808, Lima did not have a cemetery, so the dead were laid to rest here.

For over a century, knowledge of the existence of these catacombs was lost, until they were rediscovered in 1943. Who arranged the bones and when is still being debated, adding to the eerie mysteries of this place.

♪♪♪ Lima is a sprawling city with many districts and neighborhoods that spread out as far as the eye can see.

And it's a massive city because Peruvians from all parts of the country come here seeking economic opportunities.

They bring with them the unique expressions of their native regions, adding to the multicultural melting pot that makes Lima Peru's most diverse city.

Lima is a perfect place for expressing your ideas, okay?

You are not different.

If you have a different way to communicate, come to Lima.

Here, um... we can talk.

[ Laughter ] Edgar: Meet Lucho Quequezana, one of Peru's most famous musicians, composers, and TV stars.

♪♪♪ I know Lucho as a musician who has taken traditional Andean music and instrumentation and put it into a very new context and demonstrates the musical possibilities.

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ [ Music ends ] [ Cheers and applause ] Man: [ Speaking Spanish ] Edgar: We meet Lucho in Barranco, one of Lima's most artistic districts, where he's recognized everywhere we walk.

[ Conversations in Spanish ] When you meet a great musician, you can tell that they're special.

And Lucho is one of those musicians that, the minute you hear him play, you know he's at a level beyond your average musician.

[ Wind instrument playing ] Lucia plays 25 different instruments, and he began composing at the age of 13.

When I was learning to play an instrument, for me, it's different toys.

[ Rhythmic tapping ] [ Guitar music plays ] [ Wind instrument plays ] Edgar: His musical foundation comes from his time as a child in the Andes Mountains... Quequezana: And I play with many different styles.

Edgar: ...where he learned to play traditional instruments such as the charango guitar and the many flutes, panpipes, and percussion of the region.

Quequezana: I don't know why, in my head, all the toys -- they have a little space.

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ Edgar: After jamming at a small music shop, Lucho takes us for a bite to eat at a nearby hotspot.

♪♪♪ Quequezana: This place is -- It's called Juanito.

This is an iconic place in Barranco.

I think this this is really a point for musician, artists, for neighborhoods.

Writers, painters, musicians.

Writers, painters, Yeah.

Right.

So, this is the hangout.

♪♪♪ Edgar: Barranco is like the Greenwich Village of Lima.

People who are interested in creative expression will meet up no matter which part of the city they come from.

If you have a band, you must play in Barranco.

Oh, okay.

And Juanito is the epicenter of that in Barranco.

Ooh, what's this?

Wow.

Jamon del norte.

Jamon del norte.

Ham of the north.

Ham from the north.

♪♪♪ All right, well, let me give it a try.

Cheers.

Oh, good.

We got a beer for you now.

Gracias, señor.

[ Chuckles ] Salud.

Salud.

Edgar: While a beer and a ham sandwich offer simple pleasures, the cuisine of Peru is much more complex and diverse.

As I continue to excavate Lima's secrets, I learn that not far from Barranco is one of the city's best restaurants.

It's called Maras, and it's hidden inside the Westin Lima Hotel in the upscale San Isidro neighborhood.

Maras presents a fusion of classic coastal ingredients with elegant style.

Its mastermind is Rafael Piqueras, considered one of Lima's top chefs.

He also happens to be one of Alvaro's childhood friends.

His dishes embrace traditional ingredients and recipes and partner them with sophisticated techniques and presentation.

♪♪♪ The cuisine, architecture, and music of a country can give one a connection to the past.

♪♪♪ But one way to hold Peru's history in your hand or wear it on your sleeve is to seek out one of the country's most precious resources.

♪♪♪ Beatrice: This should be packed and sent overnight.

Woman: Okay.

There's a long history of silver in Latin America, not just in Peru, but across the Americas.

When the Spanish got here, they discovered an incredible wealth of gold, silver, other mineral resources which they mined and plundered for hundreds of years.

But they also discovered that there were great silversmiths in Peru, people who really knew how to work the silver.

They'd been doing it for generations.

And that tradition continues to this day.

I discovered that Peru is one of the few countries in the world that still handcrafts silver.

We meet Ilaria's owner, Beatrice Ciabatti, on the terrace of the trendy Hotel B.

Her family has long been involved with silver mining and trade.

Peru has a big tradition of mining obviously, and roundabout now, we are, I think, the fifth country producer of silver, have many, many mines.

Peru's history with this precious metal stretches back thousands of years.

The Inca referred to silver as "Tears of the Moon" because of its soft gleam.

So, Larco is one of the most important museums we have here in Lima, and it shows especially for what the silver -- the incredible pieces that were made from pre-Columbian period, and especially Mochica and Chimú.

Which are cultures.

Yeah.

We think of Inca as being... Yeah.

The culture.

But actually there were a lot of different groups.

A lot of different groups before.

Fantastic examples of Peru's silver craftwork can be found at Lima's Museo de Larco, one of Latin America's most important collections of indigenous artifacts.

It's this ancient legacy of silver craftsmanship that Beatrice has brought into the present, and it is represented in the jewelry and figurines of Ilaria.

♪♪♪ The figurines actually, I mean, are pieces that represent our culture.

And here we have decided to have figures that are from the coast of Peru, from the Sierra and the Selva.

From the Costa, for example, we have the marinera dancers, or we can have the caballo de paso.

♪♪♪ Caballos de paso.

And what does that mean?

What does it literally mean?

It's a kind of horse, right, that walks -- that was -- was born to walk on the sand.

So it has this special way of walking, where he moves the legs differently because it had to walk on the sand.

It's really part of what's our culture for the coast of Peru.

And it has a chalán.

That's the man who rides the horse.

And it's actually a dance that he makes with the horses.

And you'll see how different it is from a normal horse and how incredible it is, caballo de paso.

And actually has a lot to do with la marinera.

♪♪♪ In Peru, it's very popular right now, the dance of marinera with this horse.

And there is a chalán riding a horse, and there's a female dancer.

They dance and then make like a combination with the gait of the horse and the dance.

Edgar: Fernando Risso Motes is a horse breeder and trainer who expresses a deep passion for the beauty and history of the Peruvian paso horse.

This horse is unique because he has a natural gait.

The natural gait is a kind of walk that you -- that is a very smooth horse.

It's a very smooth horse, very elegant.

And this is a dance which is done with, what, like a handkerchief?

A handkerchief.

Right.

And the man and the woman -- And the man and the woman that are flirting.

And you can even see -- Right, and you can even see -- They get flirty.

Nowadays you see the horse...

Yes, the horse and the woman.

...dancing with the woman.

♪♪♪ We have tried to bring all this idea to display on a figurine that talks about our tradition and also of the art of making these pieces that are also carved one by one, handmade.

And that's what we see.

♪♪♪ [ Singing in Spanish ] ♪♪♪ Edgar: Behind every door, there's a story.

And Lima has a lot of doors.

♪♪♪ Finding inspiration in the heritage and traditions of the past has worked well for one musical group who builds their sound on a foundation of African beats before layering them with modern sounds and textures.

Novalima is a band from Lima that has mixed Afro-Peruvian roots music with electronic music.

Novalima, whose name means "new Lima," is recognized internationally for its unique blend of Afro-Peruvian roots music with contemporary electronic elements inspired by global DJ culture.

[ Singing in Spanish ] ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ Edgar: Novalima is just one of many contemporary Peruvian bands that mine the wealth of local culture and mix it with new sounds, cutting-edge technology, and a futuristic aesthetic.

One of the things we really liked about Afro-Peruvian music is all the percussive and rhythmic that gets into the music.

It's very African, hypnotic types of rhythms that actually work great with modern music.

[ Singing continues ] ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ Edgar: Basically what they've done is taken this rootsy, traditional form and updated it for a new generation.

And the sound they create is just really accessible, really funky, really soulful, but also very cool.

Novalima's not a pop band.

I mean, we're not mainstream in the sense that -- I mean, we don't get played on radios and things like that.

But a lot of people know Novalima, and we've played a lot of big shows and festivals in Lima.

And whenever we've played, they've really liked it.

Younger people now appreciate all this music, Afro-Peruvian, and they're starting to learn about all these traditional heroes in the music, which are actually not that known, but they're starting to enjoy this old culture, not only Afro-Peruvian, different things of Peru, but it's something that has happened in the last 15 years in this country.

People started appreciating their food, their music, their landscape, their country, et cetera.

♪♪♪ [ Singing in Spanish ] Edgar: Behind every door, there's a story.

And Lima has a lot of doors.

[ Singing in Spanish ] ♪♪♪ Edgar: On the surface, this is a city that seems to be letting the new run roughshod over the old, where unfettered growth and development is impossible to hold back.

But if you manage to slow down, get off the urban treadmill, and open the right doors, you can step into a world where time stands still.

♪♪♪ [ Singing in Spanish ] ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪