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The picture
it feels like being inside a post card 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 running into a remnant of the old civilization. Incans worshiped rocks. Any large rock formation was either turned into a
huaca, temple, or incorporated into a building. No where is this more evident that in the sacred valley, and specifically along the Camino del Inca, or the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu.
The Inca road network stretching from Colombia to the Maipo Valley near Santiago, Chile is famous. In the Andes, they are still uncovering buried cities and ruins with roads stretching in all directions. One such trail left the Urubamba valley, followed a side creek, and ascended 3 passes before rejoining the valley high above its floor. This trail -know called "the" Inca Trail, curves around the butte of Machu Picchu
ruin
along the inca trail mountain to the fabulous old city, 1000 meters above the valley floor in a bend in the river.
The Inca Trail is no joke. The second day involved over 1500 meters of vertical gain over 2 steep passes. We carried more weight than most people on the trail due to our sparing use of the porters, but it was still an extremely challenging day for us. However, many Inca Trail walkers have no hiking experience at all. The trail has been tamed; permits and 500 people a day are par for the course. Some spots cluster up in an intrusive way, but many times we found ourselves alone in the jungle, listening and admiring the Incas' intricate handiwork. Our group had only 6 people, which was liberating, but we probably didn't get as much information as some of the larger groups.
Hiking on this trail there is the special feeling of traveling on a path constructed nearly 1000 years ago, surrounding towering peaks and passing through lush cloud forest, high passes, and down into the "eyebrow of the jungle," where at 8000 feet, there are bright orchids, scarlet begonias, fern trees and thundering waterfalls. All this is accompanied
Inca trail
what's a switchback? by half-buried ruins, big citadels, observatories, suburbs of Machu Picchu, and a hundred unmarked and unnamed buildings. The most mysterious aspect is the lack of written language. No Rosetta Stone, no hieroglyphics, though the architecture, and specifically the brick work, rivals anything in Egypt, Greece or Mexico.
Machu Picchu has been written about time and again. It is a new wonder of the world, and for good reason. It dwarfs other archaeological sites. It was never discovered by the conquering Spanish, who obliterated all native cultures they came across. It stands today, restored somewhat, with its city intact, its farms, markets, industrial areas, temples and city streets. It is incredible.
We experienced first-class backcountry camping. 8 porters (for a group of 6
pasajeros and guide) ran full-speed ahead on the trail, kitchen and tent loads strapped to their backs with rope, and our 3-course lunch would await us several hours down the trail where they set up a "kitchen" tent with table, tablecloth, and chairs. After we enjoyed a delicious meal, they would clean the dishes, break down the kitchen, re-pack, and run ahead to make dinner. They were truly inspiring in what they were able to do!
Everyone talks about how amazing it is to crest the mountain and walk through the Sun Gate, beholding the great city in all its splendor. Our tour woke us up at 4 am so that we had already hiked for several hours in the rain by the time we passed through the gate at 7:30 am, soaking wet and unable to see the ruins through the fog. Luckily the weather cleared and we climbed back up the hill - even after Mark summitted Huayna Picchu (that famous spire behind the city)!
From Machu Picchu, we bathed in the hot springs at Aguas Calientes and took the train to Ollantaytambo, where we spent a few days. Olly is an Incan city, complete with fortress, that today is a small town with the same exact floor plan for the last 700 years. In Olly, one can witness the Incan irrigation system and the relationship between the town and the fortress. We explored Olly's side valley on horseback. Horse riding in Peru is a great experience. There are no trail horses, only work horses. There are no bits for the horses, so we had to continually remind our horses that they
view down toward camp 1
Inca Trail on the right wanted to walk, not eat.
From Cusco, we also did some mountain biking in the Valley. We did a mixed road and trail ride to the site of Moray, a deep natural depression reworked with terraces and used as a greenhouse - a scientific location to study microclimates and where numerous plant hybridization and experimentation took place.
It is hard to fathom the breadth of what Incan civilization accomplished. The common language is still spoken, and the experts can only guess the true extent of the Incan's knowledge or how a city as big as Machu Picchu spent 500 years below the radar. The place is remarkable in that the world converges on this spot, and it still retains its mystery and its sense of being a world apart.
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Steve
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awesome!
I want to go to Machu Picchu!!