view down toward camp 1

Machu Picchu and the Valle Sagrado

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May 9th 2009
One week after the depths of the Amazon, we headed for the Sacred Valley of the Incas, the Urubamba River. The Urubamba starts above Cusco in the Altiplano and ends in the Amazon basin. Cusco, the seat of the Incan empire designed in the shape of a puma, sits just west and above the river valley. This area of Peru is similar to Rome, in that you can't walk a block, take a hike or bike ride without ... read more

South America » Peru » Cusco » Sacred Valley

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Ancient Peru was the seat of several prominent Andean civilizations, most notably that of the Incas whose empire was captured by the Spanish conquistadors in 1533. Peruvian independence was declared in 1821, and remaining Spanish forces defeated in 1... ... read more