Inca Trail News

Over 13400 tourists hiked Inca Trail to Machu Picchu since reopening

2010-06-09T12:21:00.002-05:00

Over 13400 domestic and foreign tourists hiked Inca Trail to Machu Picchu Archeological Park since its reopening on April 1, the anthropologist and head of the archeological park Fernando Astete Victoria reported.

He also noted that the tourist flow is normal along the alternative route toward the country's main tourist destination affected by landslides.

The route is lined with 17 archaeological sites: Salapunku, Q’anabamba, Willkarakay, Q’entimarka, Patahuasi, Runkuraqay, Sayaqmarka, Qonchamarka, Phuyupatamarka, Yunkapata, Wiñaywayna, Intipunku, Choquesuysuy, Chachabamba, Waynaq’ente, Torontoy and Qorihuayrachina.

“The National Institute of Culture (INC) is responsible for the maintenance
of Inca Trail as well as its monitoring and surveillance in any emergency case,” the anthropologist and head of the Park said after remarking that tourists are primarily young people.

According to INC figures, about 200 tourists walk the Inca Trail to
visit Machu Picchu daily.

Read more about Machu Picchu and the different sites visited in our inca trail

Math students learn lessons on the Inca Trail

2010-03-29T14:35:00.008-05:00

Eric Kuennen wanted his students, all future math teachers, to view the world of mathematics from a different perspective. This desire to shake things up led Kuennen and 16 of his students to the mountains, jungles and deserts of Peru.

“We really need to go someplace that’s different from the U.S.,” said Kuennen, an assistant professor of math at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, who along with Dr. Jennifer Szydlik, led the students on a study tour in Peru last summer. “We need to take them out of their comfort level.”

In the four-week course “International Comparative Mathematics Education Seminar (Math Education in Peru),” students spent the first week of class in Oshkosh, where they studied theories and conditions of learning and the theory and practice of teaching. The next two weeks took place in Lima, the capital of Peru, where the students attended class at the Universidad del Pacifico and visited public and private elementary and secondary schools. The students also were given an opportunity to teach a class to Peruvian students. The last week was spent traveling Peru where they stayed at a jungle lodge in the Peruvian Amazon Rainforest, explored the Inca ruins and hiked the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu.

Kuennen said going to Peru, for many of his students, was a journey in discovery.

“It is completely different from what they are used to in Oshkosh, in Wisconsin,” he said. “The city of Lima is a huge sprawling city with lots of lower-income, kind of Third World neighborhoods. It was an eye-opener for our students to see that so much of the world lives in a completely different standard of living than what we’re used to.”

Read the full story and watch videos at College of Letters & Science Special Reports

More Resources
Tour Suggested

Inca Trail Map

Only those with a confirmed return train ticket may be admitted to the Inca Trail

2010-03-27T16:06:00.004-05:00

The Cusco’s National Institute of Culture (INC) reported that only those individuals with a confirmed return ticket will be admitted to the Inca Trail. This is part of the safety measures to be taken for the protection of local and foreign tourists once the Inca Trail and Machu Picchu reopen on April 1.

The decision was adopted in compliance with one of the agreements made at a Machu Picchu Historical Sanctuary Management Unit (UGM) meeting on March 16, in order to avoid unrest among visitors.

Cusco’s INC pointed out that flyers and information banners have been placed at the kilometer 82 of the railroad, in Piscacucho, and at the kilometers 104 and 122, entrances to Inca Trail.

Measures aim to provide security for the Historical Sanctuary of Machu Picchu and the Inca Trail.

More info:
Inca Trail to Machu Picchu
Inca Trail Map

Peru announces Machu Picchu reopening in April

2010-03-16T08:20:00.003-05:00

PromPeru today surprised ITB in Berlin by announcing the re-opening of the vital rail link to the ruins of Machu Picchu.

The line was severely damaged in heavy rains and floods which hit the country in January and eroded railway tracks between Cuzco, Ollantaytambo and the Inca citadel.

Following the successful completion of track repairs ahead of schedule, it has been confirmed that, weather permitting, PeruRail will recommence its Vistadome train service to Aguas Calientes , the station for Machu Picchu Pueblo, on March 29.

The Inca Citadel of Machu Picchu will reopen to tourists on April 1, travelmole.com reports.

Initially train services will operate between Pisacucho, a station beyond Ollantaytambo, and Aguas Calientes, with a replacement bus service from Wanchaq Station in Cuzco bringing passengers by road to Pisacucho.

The train journey will take 1 hour 20 minutes and the drive approximately 2 hours 30 minutes.

It is estimated that it will be possible to make the entire journey from Poroy station in Cuzco to Machu Picchu by rail from July 2010, subject to favourable weather conditions.

PeruRail also operates a backpacker service and the luxury Hiram Bingham train between Cuzco and Machu Picchu.

The backpacker train will resume at the end of April and the Hiram Bingham will be back in operation at the end of June.

Machu Picchu Described as Pilgrimage Site

2010-03-12T08:51:00.000-05:00

Machu Picchu, the "lost city of the Incas," was not a true city but rather a pilgrimage center symbolically connected to the Andean vision of the cosmos, an Italian study has concluded.

According to Giulio Magli, professor of archaeoastronomy at Milan's Polytechnic University, Machu Picchu was the ideal counterpart of the Island of Sun, a rocky islet in the southern part of Lake Titicaca.

"This island had a very important sanctuary which was a destination of pilgrimage. An apparently insignificant rock was believed to be the place of birth of the sun, and therefore of the Inca civilization," Magli told Discovery News.

The Inca, who ruled the largest empire on Earth by the time their last emperor, Atahualpa, was garroted by Spanish conquistadors in 1533, believed that the sun god was their ancestor.

Surrounded on three sides by the gorges of the Urubamba River (also called the Vilcanota River), and tucked between two massive mountain peaks -- the Huayna Picchu and the Machu Picchu -- the Inca city features about 200 stone structures and was probably inhabited by no more than 750 people. It is perched some 8,000 feet in the clouds.

After its abandonment at the time of the Spanish conquest, it was lost to the jungle for nearly 500 years, and was then discovered by Hiram Bingham, an American explorer, in 1911 (although recent studies claim that it was actually discovered 40 years earlier by an obscure German entrepreneur).

Theories about the city's function abound. Machu Picchu has been wrongly identified as the traditional birthplace of the Inca people, their final stronghold, and a sacred center occupied by virgins devoted to the sun god.

Another recent interpretation, based on archival research published in the mid-1980s, and widely supported by scholars, suggests the spectacular site was a private estate of the emperor Pachacuti, who built it around 1460 A.D.

"Any interpretation is doomed to remain speculative. Machu Picchu remains a mystery. We do not know for sure what the Inca called it, we do not know when and why it was constructed, or why it was abandoned," Magli said.

Published on the Cornell University physics Web site arXiv.org, Magli's study examined Machu Picchu's urban layout, its ancient access ways, and the position of the site in relation with the cycles of celestial bodies during the Inca's reign. He then compared these aspects to a well-documented Inca pilgrimage site on Lake Titicaca, located on the border of Bolivia and Peru.

According to Magli, the pilgrimage to Machu Picchu avoided a much easier and faster route along the Urubamba River, instead ascending through the difficult and spectacular Inca trail, which ended at the gate of the town.

"The admitted visitors perhaps left their ritual offerings just near the entrance wall. Indeed, many peculiar stone pebbles, mainly of obsidian, have been recovered there," Magli said.

"The pilgrims were then confronted by the imposing view of the Huayna Picchu mountain. Most likely, this was their final destination. Indeed, the last part of the pilgrimage, oriented north, took place inside the town," Magli said.

The author of "Mysteries and Discoveries of Archaeoastronomy," Magli suggests that the ceremonial path into the city was conceived as a replica of the path followed by the first Incas in cosmological myth.

In their final leg, the pilgrims approached three important places: the so-called quarry, an area possibly connected with Mother Earth and the underground travel of the first Incas, the temple of the three windows (it was believed that the first Incas came out from one of the three windows), and the Intihuatana Pyramid, which resembled the sacred mountain Huayna Picchu, located at the end of the path.

According to Magli, the picture also fits with celestial cycles that appeared in the sky at the times of the Incas. These were dominated by the Milky Way, which was perceived as a "celestial river" having its terrestrial counterpart in the Urubamba River.

"Machu Picchu was located at the ideal, opposite crossroads between the terrestrial and the celestial rivers. It was the other end of the sun's path," Magli concluded.

According to Jean-Pierre Protzen, who teaches architecture at the University of California, Berkeley, the study brings an additional dimension to the site.

"Magli's argument that Machu Picchu was a pilgrimage site and not a royal estate is well worth considering, although it is in need of a much more substantial proof. There is no reason to believe that it could not have been both," Protzen, a leading expert on Inca architecture, told Discovery News.

More info
Inca Trail to Machu Pichu
Trekking Programs

The Big Trip: Peru

2009-08-20T20:15:00.001-05:00

On the Inca’s Trail

Conquering Peru’s Amazon wilderness, ancient ruins, and newfound treasures is easier than ever.

Text by Robert Earle Howells

Map by Emily Cooper

Every trekker who tackles the 5,900-foot gain of Peru’s Inca Trail eventually ponders an ancient mystery: Were the folks who carved the original route to Machu Picchu awesomely adapted to high-mountain life? Or just oblivious to little courtesies that future visitors from sea level might appreciate, like switchbacks?

Fortunately, the thigh-busting Inca austerity program is now optional, since a slew of private operators have invested in Peru’s once rustic tourist infrastructure over the past few years. This recent boost has made discovering the Lost City more feasible than ever and raised standards of accessibility across the country. These days, Peru’s lesser known classics—from high-altitude ruins to damp lowland jungles to colonial cities—are within easy reach on a weeklong itinerary, so you can set the level of challenge as high (or low) as you please.

1. Machu Picchu

Face the Undisputed Andes Champ

It’s easy to see why the Lost City of the Inca got misplaced, so dramatically hidden is its perch at 7,970 feet, beneath the cloud forested spire of Huayna Picchu. A 2,000-foot drop-off to the roiling Urubamba below guards its three riverside flanks. Machu Picchu was built in the 15th century as a royal religious retreat for Inca rulers, and the supernatural majesty of its stone facades and terraces makes it one of the world’s most compelling sites, even if it’s besieged by 2,000 visitors a day. The 24-mile Inca Trail is the trophy approach, but it requires making reservations up to four months in advance with licensed outfitters—and the will to challenge steep, 15,000-foot passes. (Watching your porters dance up the hills in flip-flops is a humbling reminder that Inca messengers once sprinted this route.) Less crowded alternatives include the 35-mile Camino Salcantay and the off-the-radar, 20.5-mile Lares Trek. Or you can zip to Machu Picchu in a single day by taking the train from Cusco to Aguas Calientes and catching a shuttle from there. You’ll have plenty of company.

Links:
More About Machu Picchu
http://www.inkanatura.com/moreaboutmachupicchu.asp

2. Cotahuasi River

Raft a Grander Canyon

The chance to run whitewater in a canyon twice the depth of the Grand is reason enough to head for the Cotahuasi—and the rapids truly are extraordinary: At its late-spring peak, the froth flows for a hundred miles at continuous Class IV, with some stretches of Class V. Set out from the so-called White City, Arequipa, a former Spanish colonial settlement built mostly of pearly volcanic rock. From there, a 15,500-foot pass leads to the remote village of Cotahuasi, "a happy little place in the middle of nowhere," as BioBio Expeditions river guide Marc Goddard puts it. Then take a ten-mile, mule-assisted hike skirting thundering Sipia Falls before commencing seven rollicking days on the river.

3. Choquequirau

Trek to Machu Picchu’s Cool Kid Sister

Choquequirau is the Quechua word for "Inca ruin without hordes of tourists arriving by train." (Actually, it means "cradle of gold.") Machu Picchu’s sister city, tucked into the saddle of a 9,950-foot cloud forest ridge in the Andes, is nearly as impressive in size, stonework, and design. Outsiders discovered Choquequirau more than 300 years ago, but restoration began only in 1993. Even today, just a third has been excavated. Getting there is tough, but that means the site sees just a tiny fraction of Machu Picchu’s visitation and that permits can be arranged on the fly. The two-day trek starts in the town of Cachora, five hours from Cusco by bus. From there, a 20-mile trail plummets 5,000 feet to the Apurímac River, then climbs 4,000 feet to the ruins, where you can pitch camp outside—without another tourist in sight.

Links:
More about Choquequirao
http://www.inkanatura.com/choquequirao_treksinkanatura.asp

4. Kuelap & the World’s Third Highest Waterfall

Explore the Mysteries of the North

Long before the Inca swept through Peru, the Chachapoya people of the northern Andes established a mountaintop city called Kuelap (circa 500 a.d.) that holds its own in any battle of ancient engineering marvels. It’s been known to the modern world since 1843, when it was hailed as northern Peru’s "Tower of Babel," but since it didn’t have Hiram Bingham (and National Geographic’s ink) to tout its glories like Machu Picchu did, Kuelap remains little known and rarely visited to this day. The monumental fortress is an easy 23-mile drive south from the town of Chachapoyas. Kuelap has only three entrances, each a narrow staircase that slices through the outside wall, leading to a city of hundreds of limestone structures inside. Near Chachapoyas, you can also trek to the two-tiered, 2,530-foot Gocta Waterfall, the third highest in the world.

Links:
Chachapoyas, Kuelap and Cajamarca
http://www.inkanatura.com/interiorchachapoyaskuelap.asp

5. Cusco & the Sacred Valley

Find Your Comfort Zone

The base camp for Machu Picchu and one-time capital of the Inca Empire is today’s Kathmandu of Peru—a nexus of outfitters packed with great cheap eateries, five-star hotels, and open-air vendors crowding the narrow cobbled lanes (hawking alpaca sweaters instead of prayer flags). The altitude here (11,500 feet) dictates a go-slow strategy for gradual acclimation, so take a few days to explore locally. Just above the city sits the Inca fortress of Sacsahuaman, an eerie architectural wonder built with stones weighing hundreds of thousands of pounds each. About 11 miles northeast of Cusco, the terraced village of Pisac becomes a vast indigenous market on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, where Quechua-speaking locals sell woven hats to the tune of panpipe music. The Sacred Valley of the Inca merits a day to ogle more mind-blowing ruins, notably the massive pink granite complex at Ollantaytambo, and is just 32 miles away, accessible by train, bus, or cab.

Links:
Inca Trail to Machu Picchu
http://www.inkanatura.com/machupicchuandincatrailcusco.asp

Trek to awe-inspiring Machu Picchu

2009-08-20T20:01:00.001-05:00

Shoshana Robuck BLOG (august 12, 2008)

IT was very sad for me to say goodbye to my new "family" and friends from Urubamba, especially the students, but it was also with a sense of excitement that the 10 of us climbed onto the bus, waving goodbye to the small town that we have called home for all this time.

The reason was that we were heading off to Machu Picchu, which is usually the highlight for most visitors to South America.

The first step on our journey began with the Lares trek -- an alternative route to the more popular Inca Trail.

It was a three-day hike that took us over mountaintops to reach a set of gorgeous hot springs in the mountain town of Lares.

The walk was physically challenging, especially since we hadn't really done any proper exercise in three months and were all very unfit!

Also, because of the extremely high altitude, breathing was difficult, but we took it slowly and tried to enjoy the scenery.

Reaching the top of the highest mountain (when we knew all we had to do now is go down) gave us such a feeling of euphoria.

The view of the snow-capped, towering mountain peaks was picturesque -- that moment seemed to me both the physical and emotional pinnacle of my entire journey so far.

And finally making it to the hot springs was such a high!

Our team of Peruvians who accompanied us on the trek had already set out our tents and were busy cooking our food when we arrived, so we changed into our swimming costumes and hopped right in.

The pools were hot -- I swear you could boil potatoes in that water -- but we stayed in until about midnight.

We hadn't felt such hot water in three months!

The next day we caught a train that would take us to the town of Aguas Calientes, the town situated below Machu Picchu.

We arrived late at night, so we explored the town a bit, but it was very touristy (everything massively overpriced!) and we were anxious for the following morning.

We woke up around 4am and caught one of the first buses up to Machu Picchu.
I'll just say it really was everything it's made out to be -– majestic and breath-taking!

We all stood in awe, watching the sun rise and illuminate Waynu Picchu that stood before us.
The typical image you see of Machu Picchu isn't actually Machu Picchu, in fact it is another mountain, Waynu Picchu.

We took plenty of pictures and then our lovely tour guide took us through the ruins, where we marvelled at the skill of the ancient Incas.

Experiencing and learning about the history of the Inca culture in Peru has been fascinating for me and so the trip to Machu Picchu was very fulfilling.

Article by Shoshana Robuck

Travel blog: Incas and more Part II

2009-08-20T19:58:00.001-05:00

Thursday, 07 Aug 2008 15:07

Rhian Nicholson has swapped the bright lights of London for a three-month journey across South America from the Pacific to the Atlantic coast. Here is her eighth blog as she continues her trek along the Inca Trail:

The final ascent up to Dead Woman's Pass is the real killer: you're staggering like a 12-year-old after four sips of cider and you're prepared to sell your own mother in return for a donkey.

In fact you're so busy concentrating on your next footstep you forget to actually look around at the scenery which is practically criminal as the views down into the valley are nothing short of stunning.

Then suddenly, as if by magic, you find yourself with 20 steps to go before reaching the top and the chance to smugly laugh at all those people still struggling away below. In all, the climb is supposed to take a moderately fit person around four hours: I did it in under two-and-a-half but by god did I pay the price the next day.

The laws of physics dictate that what goes up must come down - but putting a one-and-a-half hour, knee-jarringly steep downhill stretch (which you have to complete to get to the night's campsite) immediately after an uphill slog is nothing short of sadistic.

You'd think downhill would be easier but one wrongly-placed foot and you'd be plunging down enough steps to comfortably break every bone in your body. By this time the sun's blazing and the water in your bottle seems to have all but evaporated so the sight of the night's campsite looming in front of you is more welcome than a winning lottery ticket.

And the scenery is breathtaking with the tree-clad peaks rearing up on all sides and the fluffy white clouds nestling in the turquoise sky.

Camping itself is never the best option for those of us with permanently cold extremities but as fate would have it after lugging god knows how many pairs of socks and warm clothes in preparation for the sub-zero temperatures, it seemed positively tropical - although that may have had something to do with the rather large amount of hot red wine that appeared at dinnertime.

Once again the next day came round all too quickly and after a quick two-minute contemplation of whether the bronzed colour of my skin was actually a fledgling suntan or ingrained dirt (it turned out to be the latter), it was time to brave the cold morning air and another hour's uphill slog via an Inca look-out point.

The third day involves a mere eight hours of trekking along narrow rocky jungle paths with sheer drops on the other side just to keep you on your toes.

Luckily the hard slog is broken up by various Inca ruins, where the chosen pilgrims of old could spiritually cleanse themselves in ritual baths en route to Machu Picchu. But that goal feels like a billon light years away at this point.

Rolling into camp at night there's the prospect of hot showers to magic away the dirt (priceless) and cold beer on hand to celebrate the fact you're still alive - just…

That feeling of jubilation quickly fades, especially when you have to get up at 3.30am and sit outside the final freezing cold check-point in the pitch black for an hour to secure your spot at the front of the herd.

Then suddenly the gates open and the stampede starts as every trekker attempts to make it to the Sun Gate in time to see the sun rise over Machu Picchu.

There's nothing quite like traipsing as fast as your weary legs will carry you in the early morning darkness and trying not to stumble over the rocks littering the trail which would send you headfirst to your death over the cliff edge.

After shuffling along like a lame penguin for 45 minutes with the light gradually starting to filter through, in a final twist there are then just 50 incredibly steep steps between you and the fist glimpse of Machu Picchu.

Originally the Inca trail was a pilgrimage for a handful of people to reach the most sacred city of the Inca empire- and you can quite imagine how they felt when they finally reached their goal.
Standing at the top of the Sun Gate with jelly legs, aching lungs and an overwhelming sense of relief coursing through your veins, you can't help but grin like a maniac.

At 6am the first busloads of tourists who shirked the Inca trail challenge and caught the train from Cuzco have yet to pour in and so the city is remarkably still in its mystical splendour.

Grey stone ruins, temples and grassy terraces are set majestically against the deep green of the surrounding peaks.

To say it is spectacular is not giving it the full credit it deserves: at the risk of sounding melodramatic it's one of those sights that will remain in your memory forever - and if you happen to develop amnesia the sixty billion photos you take will certainly help to remind you.

On the downside it understandably gets packed out with tourists and when they start swarming about like a plague of hungry locusts, it loses something of its sublime charm.

Walking round the city is pretty hard on your knackered legs - so many steps in such a small place - and then there are the llamas with that manic glint in their eyes to sidestep.

Plus being on top of a mountain and being in South America, the terraces end abruptly with dizzying, vertical drops. Surely a good few Incas must have met their maker after one glass of Chicha too many on a cold and misty night…

But still, when you've heaved your weary body to a prime sunbathing position in the middle of Machu Picchu and you're half dozing, half contemplating your surroundings it's hard to imagine many other places which would be worth four days of pushing your body beyond it's natural limits.

Without a doubt it's the highlight of a trip to South America.

Rhian Nicholson

Article in travelbite.co.uk

Travel blog: Incas and more Part I

2009-08-20T19:57:00.000-05:00

Friday, 01 Aug 2008 09:18

Rhian Nicholson has swapped the bright lights of London for a three-month journey across South America from the Pacific to the Atlantic coast. Here is her seventh blog:

Following in the footsteps of the Incas is not an easy task. Initially the thought of covering a mere 33 kilometres over four days seems like a rather long walk in the park. However, throw in altitude, seemingly never-ending slopes and early morning starts and the reality is really rather gruelling.

You start bright-eyed, bushy-tailed and blister free at KM82 just down the road from Ollantaytambo, clutching your passport like it's an oil slicked eel - if you lose it your permit for the Inca trail disappears too.

So one strict passport control and a gaggle of women selling painted wooden walking sticks (the best five soles or one pound ever spent) and woven water bottle carriers (tacky but incredibly useful), you finally set a tentative foot on the legendary Inca trail.

To be fair it's a pretty easy start with a rock-strewn, fairly flat path taking you into the heart of the valley past grazing cows, tiny houses complete with roaming chickens and the odd electricity pylon that seems remarkably out of place.

Still, in the blazing sun it's not long until thirst kicks in and the sweat begins to pool on your brow. Then the uphill starts and before you know it you're traipsing along with your tongue hanging out in a rather unattractive manner, the altitude ripping the breath out of your body and a dull ache starting to plague your leg muscles.

At this point, three months preparation in the gym seems like it would have been time well spent. And if you need reminding of your abysmal fitness levels, the porters laden with 20kg packs containing gas stoves, tents and even a camping version of the kitchen sink bound past like energetic puppies.

How they manage to storm up the hills hour after hour is an incredible feat of human endurance - plus when they arrive at the campsite they proceed to put up your tent and guard your bags while you're still a distant speck on the horizon.

And for all their efforts as human donkeys they get paid peanuts - modern day slave labour is very much alive and kicking in South America.

On the plus side, their superhuman efforts leaves you free to concentrate on the essentials; putting one foot in front of the other and moaning about the lack of showers when you arrive into camp hot, sweaty and minging.

But the first day was a rather gentle introduction to what lay ahead. Rocking into camp after a mere five hours walking, desperate for water, covered in dust and with your hair matted with sweat, you're prepared to pay a large amount of money for a hot shower.

Unfortunately there aren't any: in fact the only running water is in the freezing cold stream nearby. And then there's the loos - the stench from them was bad enough to bring lunch back up into your throat even before they were frequented by people with 'stomach problems'.

Still the campsite itself was charmingly rustic with inquisitive donkeys grazing nearby and dirt paths leading to the huts where a handful of locals lived. And just to prove that the Andean people have a sense of humour, they called the tiny little shop selling water and chocolate the shopping centre.
With some much energy going out, you need an awful lot of food going in and the chef certainly didn't disappoint in producing carbohydrate-laden meals in sufficient quantities to feed an Olympic rowing team.

He also proved a dab hand at carving toucans out of aubergines. Being veggie there's only so much white rice, omelettes and pasta you can stomach but the chilli-stuffed potatoes would have had Gordon Ramsay purring like a kitten in front of a fire.

After a cold sleepless night, the 6am wake-up call was less than appreciated - and after a quick wet wipes wash it was time to gingerly climb back into the previous day's grime-encrusted clothes to face the toughest challenge of the whole trail: Dead Woman's Pass.

To say it's an uphill struggle would be a major understatement. At 7am it's freezing cold, your muscles have gone on strike and you have the prospect of a five hour trek up steep rocky paths staring you in the face.

At that point the urge to kidnap a donkey becomes almost irresistible. Still, somehow the basics of how to walk return to your numb legs and with your stick firmly grasped in your hand you start to make slow progress up the mountain, initially along gravely inclines with stunning views over the valley below.

Indeed taking photos every tenth step is a brilliant way to kid yourself that you don't really have the fitness level of a stoned couch potato.

Then just as you're getting into your stride, and your lungs become less likely to make a bid for freedom out of your rib cage, you hit the stone steps. And not just any steps.

These are irregularly shaped, some steep, some slippery and all contributing to the painful lactic acid build up in your legs. And they seem to go on forever. The guides tell you to zig zag across like the porters to save energy, although this just serves to increase the time it takes to reach what you think/hope/pray is the top.

In my expert trekking opinion (hmmmm), it was easier to bolt up the middle and deal with the burn later. Add to this the bitter cold and your body can't make up it's mind whether it's hot, cold or on the verge of collapse.

Indeed, the Inca trail seems to have a rather nasty way of playing with your mind: you think you've reached the top of one section only to turn the corner and find another steep stretch yawning out in front of you.

And the only way is up, meaning the altitude makes it harder and harder to keep the pace, or even to keep upright. All the way the stream of porters is steadily plodding along in front of you.

To be continued…

Article in travelbite.co.uk

The Possessed

2009-08-20T08:59:00.000-05:00

By ARTHUR LUBOW
Published: June 24, 2007

The stones at Machu Picchu seem almost alive.

They may be alive, if you credit the religious beliefs of the ruler Pachacuti Yupanqui, whose subjects in the early 15th century constructed the granite Inca complex, high above a curling river and nestled among jagged green peaks.

To honor the spirits that take form as mountains, the Inca stoneworkers carved rock outcrops to replicate their shapes. Doorways and windows of sublimely precise masonry frame exquisite views. But this extraordinary marriage of setting and architecture only partly explains the fame of Machu Picchu today.

Just as important is the romantic history, both of the people who built it in this remote place and of the explorer who brought it to the attention of the world. The Inca succumbed to Spanish conquest in the 16th century; and the explorer Hiram Bingham III, whose long life lasted almost as many years as the Inca empire, died in 1956. Like the stones of Machu Picchu, however, the voices of the Inca ruler and the American explorer continue to resonate.

Imposingly tall and strong-minded, Bingham was the grandson of a famous missionary who took Christianity to the Hawaiian islanders. In his efforts to locate lost places of legend, the younger Bingham proved to be as resourceful. Bolstered by the fortune of his wife, who was a Tiffany heiress, and a faculty position at Yale University, where he taught South American history, Bingham traveled to Peru in 1911 in hopes of finding Vilcabamba, the redoubt in the Andean highlands where the last Inca resistance forces retreated from the Spanish conquerors.

Instead he stumbled upon Machu Picchu. With the joint support of Yale and the National Geographic Society, Bingham returned twice to conduct archeological digs in Peru. In 1912, he and his team excavated Machu Picchu and shipped nearly 5,000 artifacts back to Yale.

Two years later, he staged a final expedition to explore sites near Machu Picchu in the Sacred Valley.

If you have visited Machu Picchu, you will probably find Bingham's excavated artifacts at the Yale Peabody Museum in New Haven to be a bit of a letdown. Mostly, the pieces are bones, in varying stages of decomposition, or pots, many of them in fragments.

Unsurpassed as stonemasons, engineers and architects, the Incas thought more prosaically when it came to ceramics.

Leaving aside unfair comparisons to the jaw-dropping Machu Picchu site itself, the pottery of the Inca, even when intact, lacks the drama and artistry of the ceramics of earlier civilizations of Peru like the Moche and Nazca.

Everyone agrees that the Machu Picchu artifacts at Yale are modest in appearance. That has not prevented, however, a bare-knuckled disagreement from developing over their rightful ownership.

Peru says the Bingham objects were sent to Yale on loan and their return is long overdue. Yale demurs.

In many ways, the dispute between Yale and Peru is unlike the headline-making investigations that have impelled the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the Getty Museum in Los Angeles and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston to repatriate ancient artifacts to their countries of origin.
It does not revolve around criminal allegations of surreptitious tomb-raiding and black-market antiquities deals. But if the circumstances are unique, the background sentiments are not.

Other countries as well as Peru are demanding the recovery of cultural treasures removed by more powerful nations many years ago. The Greeks want the Parthenon marbles returned to Athens from the British Museum; the Egyptians want the same museum to surrender the Rosetta Stone and, on top of that, seek to spirit away the bust of Nefertiti from the Egyptian Museum in Berlin.

Where might it all end? One clue comes in a sweeping request from China. As a way of combating plunder of the present as well as the past, the Chinese government has asked the United States to ban the import of all Chinese art objects made before 1911. The State Department has been reviewing the Chinese request for more than two years.

The movement for the repatriation of ''cultural patrimony'' by nations whose ancient past is typically more glorious than their recent history provides the framework for the dispute between Peru and Yale. To the scholars and administrators of Yale, the bones, ceramics and metalwork are best conserved at the university, where ongoing research is gleaning new knowledge of the civilization at Machu Picchu under the Inca.

Outside Yale, most everyone I talked to wants the collection to go back to Peru, but many of them are far from disinterested arbiters. In the end, if the case winds up in the United States courts, its disposition may be determined by narrowly legalistic interpretations of specific Peruvian laws and proclamations.

Yet the passions that ignite it are part of a broad global phenomenon. ''My opinion reflects the opinion of most Peruvians,'' Hilda Vidal, a curator at the National Museum of Archaeology, Anthropology and History of Peru in Lima, told me.

''In general, anything that is patrimony of the cultures of the world, whether in museums in Asia or Europe or the United States, came to be there during the times when our governments were weak and the laws were weak, or during the Roman conquest or our conquest by the Spanish.
Now that the world is more civilized, these countries should reflect on this issue. It saddens us Peruvians to go to museums abroad and see a Paracas textile.
I am hopeful that in the future all the cultural patrimony of the world will return to its country of origin.''

Behind her words, I could imagine a gigantic sucking whoosh, as the display cases in the British Museum, the Smithsonian, the Louvre and the other great universal museums of the world were cleansed of their contents, leaving behind the clattering of a few Wedgwood bowls and SÃ

Researchers: Ancients liked food hot and spicy

2007-02-19T17:25:00.000-05:00

By Lee Bowman
Scripps Howard News Service

Americans have been serving it up hot and spicy for at least 6,000 years, according to a new study of bits of fossilized chili peppers recovered from ancient grindstones and cookware.

Researchers report today in the journal Science that they found evidence of chilies being used at seven archaeological sites ranging from the Bahamas to Peru as long as 6,000 years ago, making them one of the oldest domesticated food sources in the Americas.

Botanists generally agree that chili peppers originated in Bolivia, but just how and when different species were domesticated and spread remains unclear.

The study was made possible by recent scientific advances that have allowed researchers to recover minute amounts of starches from food-cooking and -processing tools.

Two years ago, researchers at an archaeology conference at the University of Calgary began comparing notes about an unidentified starch recovered at sites around Latin America. Soon after, Linda Perry, a researcher at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, identified the starch as coming from chili peppers.

"It was surprising to find that the chili pepper, which is technically a fruit, left behind evidence of starch, which is more often associated with foods such as maize and root vegetables," said Ruth Dickau, a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Calgary and a co-author of the study.

"So much of the research on the origins of agriculture in the region has focused on staple crops, but now here is one of the first condiments we've been able to trace. It's quite interesting."

The oldest chili remains were found at two sites in Ecuador. In some spots, the use of chilies appears to predate the development of ceramic pottery.

Co-author Deborah Pearsall, a professor of anthropology at the University of Missouri, Columbia, noted that "Chili peppers don't preserve well, because when you cook with them, you eat most of them; you don't have husks or shells that are thrown away and preserved. That's why the technique that allows us to analyze microscopic starch grains is important."

Pearsall said they found that the same grinding stones were used for corn, chili peppers and a starchy root called manioc, and that those ingredients were probably combined to make soups or stews

Inca link is a bridge too far, say critics

2007-02-13T20:24:00.000-05:00

Last Updated: 12:01am GMT 10/02/2007
By Danielle Demetriou

A controversial new bridge close to Peru's most famous sight, Machu Picchu, could have a damaging impact on tourism to the ruins, critics have said.
The 80-metre (262ft) bridge, due to open later this month, will create a new route to the Inca ruins and enable locals to take produce to Cusco in three hours instead of 12.
However, politicians and environmentalists fear that the bridge, due to open this month, will bring a surge in tourist numbers, which could damage the ruins and lead to an increase in drug trafficking in the region.

British tour operators seem to be in two minds on the plan. A spokeswoman for Journey Latin America said: "Our feelings about the bridge are mixed. We are excited about the potential for development of the village and the surrounding area, which is so much less known and wealthy than Cusco and the Sacred Valley. But we feel it is essential that visitor numbers are closely monitored and regulated." It is not the first time concerns have been raised about the future of Machu Picchu. Named a Unesco World Heritage Site, it currently attracts as many as 2,500 visitors a day. Unesco inspectors are due to inspect the site later this year to ascertain whether its status is endangered.

Last year, the Peruvian government announced that it had restricted the numbers permitted to walk the Inca Trail at any one time. Five months ago, the site was declared a no-fly zone by the government because of fears that low-flying helicopter tours for tourists were damaging the habitat.

Taking the Back Roads to Machu Picchu

2007-02-13T20:17:00.000-05:00

By PATRICK O’GILFOIL HEALY
Published New York times: November 12, 2006

AS it runs through craggy mountain passes and ancient Incan ruins, the fabled Inca Trail in Peru reveals surprise after surprise to travelers hiking its length to the lost city of Machu Picchu. But here’s a new one: To set foot on that fabled Andean footpath, you’ve first got to fight through a three-month waiting list.

A few years ago, the Inca Trail was becoming the Long Island Expressway of central Peru, brimming with trash, tourists and growing concerns about overuse. So the Peruvian government began enforcing strict limits on the number of people allowed on the trail. Right now, only 500 people a day may enter — about 200 tourists and 300 guides and porters.

And so, “alternative” Inca Trails are gaining popularity with travelers unable or unwilling to book a slot three to six months in advance. These treks can be booked a day or two in advance and can cost less than half as much as a hike on the Inca Trail.

Which is how I ended up huddled in the shadow of a 20,500-foot mountain one afternoon last summer, shivering around a table with seven other trekkers as we tried to scarf down plates of cold fish before the snow and wind tore them from our hands.

Unable to beg, borrow or steal a spot on the traditional Inca Trail, we had each decided to take on one of the most popular Plan B routes — a four-day trek past Nevado Salkantay, a jagged, snowy fang of a mountain that lies about 10 miles south of mountaintop Machu Picchu. (Tour operators also offer two other main routes, through the Lares Valley or via the lost Incan city of Choquequirao.)

The Lares Valley sprawls out to the east of Machu Picchu. Hikers generally pass by the snow-capped mountain Helancoma and thread through Andean villages, past mountain lakes and on to Inca ruins in the town of Ollantaytambo. From there, hikers walk or catch a train to Machu Picchu.

Others trek past the remote Inca city of Choquequirao, set on a ridge high above the glacier-cold River Apurimac, southwest of Machu Picchu. From there, it’s about three to five days’ hiking to Machu Picchu. The route is among the longest and hardest paths in the Peruvian Sacred Valley, looping travelers over steep and slick mountain switchbacks, across rivers and waterfalls.

Of course, these paths are often second choices or last-minute alternatives for travelers, and they lack the cachet of actually hiking the Inca Trail. You don’t see the same banquet of Inca ruins, and you enter Machu Picchu from below, rather than crossing beneath an Inca Sun Gate to descend into the city.

Still, the alternative routes are cheap and relatively unspoiled. Some tours cost $500 to more than $1,000. Yet travelers can pay as little as $160 for five days of hiking, guides and meals if they are willing to bargain hard with the hundreds of tour agencies that line the streets of Cuzco, a bustling city nearby that serves as a jumping-off point for many Machu Picchu treks.

The treks wend through remote villages and traverse farmers’ fields. You sleep in backyards, meet shepherds and watch Quechua-speaking women weave blankets, or mantas, on hillsides. You walk the same paths as farmers lugging bananas and avocados to market and see few, if any, other groups of tourists.

“This seemed a little bit less touristy and farther off the beaten path, and that was exactly what I was looking for,” said Amanda Rosenblum, 25, of Los Angeles, who hiked five days west through the Sacred Valley with the tour operator Andean Treks. “I twisted my ankles, I wrecked my knees descending a rock-strewn hillside with no path for an hour, and I fell on a cactus while bouldering. I am so glad I went.”

Though Machu Picchu itself limits the number of people allowed in each morning, travelers can still just show up, buy tickets to the ruins and enter with little waiting. Many tourists simply bypass the treks altogether and catch a four-hour train from Cuzco to Aguas Calientes, the tiny tourist town set just below Machu Picchu. From there, it’s an hourlong hike or a 20-minute bus ride to the ruins at the summit. Tourists who time it right can squeeze the entire trip into one day.

We opted to do it in four.

THE trek began at 5:30 one morning when a friend and I opened our front door in Cuzco to meet a 20-year-old munching on a banana. “I am Coco,” he said, in heavily accented English. “I am the guide. We are late.”

My friend and I, both Americans, crammed our bags into a white station wagon, where a German woman and her Bosnian boyfriend were already waiting. We would climb with them, as well as a pair of Egyptian newlyweds and an Irish woman and her English boyfriend.
We drove two hours to the mountain town of Mollepata, about 20 miles southwest of Machu Picchu. From there, we hopped into a four-wheel-drive Nissan to scale the steep, narrow and bumpy mud path leading to the trailhead.

The driver blared his horn before careening around blind corners and scattered the chickens and horses meandering up the road. A hitchhiking farmer looking for a ride home climbed onto the roof and held on for dear life, as the truck charged uphill like an angry bull.
At the top, we met the rest of the group and set out on foot. In all, we were eight hikers, two guides, two cooks and a shy teenager named Daniel who tended (and slept with) the three mules that lugged our luggage.

Salkantay would loom over us for half of the four-day, three-night hike of about 40 miles. Inca lore personified the mountain as a god whose rivers and rain fertilized the female earth below to create life.

Farmers and ranchers still venerate the mountain every year, offering gifts of coca leaves before shearing their flocks or planting crops in the sparse and rocky soil. We passed stone-walled pens where forked branches stood upright in the center. There, the guides said, the farmers hang their gifts to the mountain.

Salkantay and its sister mountains take their due from climbers, too. Mountains in this chain are steep and prone to avalanches, making them some of the area’s most difficult peaks. In 1995, eight Argentine climbers died scaling Sullunco, a nearby peak. Two years earlier, two British climbers died on Salkantay. All of the Salkantay treks pass around, not over, the mountain.
We climbed north, from a dry valley lined with the varicose veins of old farmers’ paths, toward the first of a series of brutal switchbacks that would lift us from 12,000 feet to just under 15,000 feet in one day. The scrub brush and amber grasses vanished, replaced by moss, cactus and ever colder wind.

“Look,” Coco the guide called to me in Spanish, pointing at the ebony shards of mountaintop surrounding us. “Nine years ago, those were covered in snow. Now, there’s nothing.”
Perhaps. The guides’ accounts of Inca mythology and explanations of natural phenomena were always interesting, but occasionally dubious. After all, nine years ago, Coco was about 11 years old.

Still, up we went, over an exhausting progression of steep switchbacks. The air thinned with each step, and the members of our group began staggering, pausing to try to catch a breath. Our acclimatized guides raced ahead.

I was panting in the thin air and had run out of water when Percy, the other guide, showed me the chunks of snow and frost hidden in shadows that had survived the sun’s beating gaze. We pulled pieces from the cool crevices, dusted off the dirt and ate them.

“Muy rico,” Percy said, flicking a leaf off his piece. “Better than ice cream, no?”

It wasn’t the last time we saw snow. The mountain threw fog and snow flurries on us as we approached the highest point of the trek, a pass at 15,000 feet, which we reached at midafternoon on Day 1. When we woke the next morning, the tents we’d pitched in a shepherd family’s yard were glazed with frost.

The next day, we descended from sierra to selva, from mountains to jungle, leaving an eerie moonscape of giant moss-speckled boulders. We passed isolated mud-brick huts where sick or injured travelers sometimes spend the night.

As we dropped, the air grew sweet and warm and trees sprang up around us. We paused in the tiny village of Andenes and asked the sole shopkeeper for a few snacks.

She shook her head: “Water, coca leaves, nothing more.”

Bamboo-like trees hung off the sides of the mountain as if their trunks were made of rubber. Pollen-yellow flowers bloomed everywhere. A young boy on horseback and his father guided a chain of mules past us. We drank from the mountain waterfalls feeding the rivers below us.
We were sweating and stripping off clothes, but as we looked back across the sunny valley, we could see miles of snow-capped mountains behind us, framed by hills and mesas as green as pool tables.

In the dusty village of Playa, where we camped the second night, we passed the Salkantay Disco Bar, a dark and empty cinder-block cube. We waited in line with locals on their way to work to cross a torrent of river in a metal basket on a zip line.

We hopped into the back of a cargo truck on the third day to shorten the travel time to Hidroeléctrica, a departure point for the train to Machu Picchu. We walked along the rail lines that head toward the ruins and chatted with two railroad workers who rolled by in a tiny beetle-shaped train car.

And then, as we crossed a rouge-red train bridge, Coco pointed up and said, “There it is.” Machu Picchu, as seen from hundreds of feet below, a faint crown of stones set atop a sheer mountain.
In less than an hour, we would walk into the tourist village of Aguas Calientes and rest for the next morning’s climb to Machu Picchu.

When we arrived at the ruins just before dawn, stepping into a landscape of smooth Inca stone, drowsy llamas and grasses as flat as a putting green. After four days of traversing the rugged countryside and 20-family villages, the tourist-filled tableau of Machu Picchu shocked the system. Beautiful, of course, but so tame by comparison with the rest of our journey — like culture under glass.

Our guide caught our attention and pointed toward a line of distant mountains as the rising sun polished away their shadows. And there it was — the peak of Salkantay.
It had followed us all the way.

VISITOR INFORMATION

Prices, which the tour operators state in U.S. dollars, are for 2006 and are per person. Several operators say 2007 prices are likely to go up.

PATRICK O’GILFOIL HEALY, a former reporter for The New York Times, is now traveling through Latin America.

INTERESTING LINKS FOR VISITORS

Inca trail tours
Inca trail map
Alternative Inca trail
Tambopata Jungle tours
Manu jungle tours

Peru trek gives Linda focus

2007-02-06T16:08:00.000-05:00

LINDA Noonan says she was in a daze following the death of her husband, when she applied for a charity trek that will take her to Peru later this year.Linda, 56, of Lawson Street, Maryport, had decided to retire early as chef at Broughton Craggs to spend time with Mike, who was 12 years older than her.But just a week before she was due to finish work in March last year, Mike died of lung cancer, only five weeks after he was diagnosed.It was a body blow for Linda who had already faced two bouts of breast cancer herself and who had watched Mike fight back from brain haemorrhages, when he was 38 and 48.Because of his illness, Mike had become slightly disabled but he was still always able to look at the world in a positive light, Linda says.“We went on holiday to West Africa in January last year and he became ill with a chest infection. He landed in hospital and it was there that he was diagnosed with cancer.”She says his death was a huge blow and it was in the fuzzy aftermath, where she barely knew what she was doing, that she sent away an application for a charity trek to Peru.“I’d almost forgotten about it when I was told I was accepted,” she said.While she is still fighting the loneliness and just missing Mike, she says the trip has certainly given her something to focus on.It is being held to raise money for Scope, a charity dedicated to raising money for research and support for those with cerebral palsy.“Mike didn’t have cerebral palsy but because he had become quite disabled, I felt this was the right charity for me.”She needs to raise £2,800 for the trip, although anything above that would be welcomed by the charity, she says.She will spend 10 days in the spring trekking in Peru, following the Inca Trail up to the ancient city of Machupicchu.There are 34 people on the trek and she met her travelling companions at a seminar last weekend.“Having met them and after talking about the trek, it is starting to seem real,” she says.While she will be raising money for charity, she says the trip will also be for Mike.“Two days before he died, Mike told me: “You must do the things you want to do. “I think him dying has put everything into perspective for me.”Anyone who would like to help Linda in her fund-raising can leave money or cheques made out to Scope at the Nat West Bank in Maryport or can write to her at 66 Lawson Road, Maryport, CA15 6LZ.

Happy trails around Machu Picchu's 'sister' site in Peru

2007-02-06T16:07:00.000-05:00

Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Arriving at Choquequirao after a gruelling six-day trek through the Andes, was a prize made all the sweeter for Ben Fogle - Machu Picchu's little-known 'sister' was bathed in sunlight with no other visitors in sight
Peru. Say the name and your imagination will no doubt conjure up the country's geographical wonders, perhaps its recent history of political turbulence and its lost cities. It has long attracted travellers, explorers and treasure hunters, united in their search to uncover the secrets and wealth of ancient civilisations. Indeed, only last year the German explorer Stefan Ziemendorff discovered the third tallest free-falling waterfall in the world in the Amazonas region of Peru; the Gocta Waterfall measured a dizzying 771m high.
What seems remarkable is that in this age of satellite imagery such a vast waterfall had lain undiscovered. But then this is what has attracted thrill-seekers to deepest Peru since the Spanish Conquistadores first set foot here. It was a spell under which I fell 15 years ago.
The early 1990s were not a good time for Peru. The country was plagued by guerrilla warfare waged by the Sendero Luminoso. The aim of this Maoist group, whose name translates as Shining Path, was to replace the Peruvian bourgeoisie with a revolutionary peasant regime. The Sendero Luminoso also engaged in armed conflict with Peru's other major guerrilla group, Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA). Peru was a war zone: for a wide-eyed gap-year student with an unhealthy interest in Kate Adie and Don McCullin and a thirst for excitement and adventure, it was the perfect place to explore.
For four memorable weeks, I travelled with friends the length and breadth of the country, from the high Andes to the low Amazon. Fresh from six months in tourist-friendly Ecuador we felt like pioneers exploring a new land.
Selfishly, against all Foreign Office advice, and contrary to our parents' wishes, we made the pilgrimage to Machu Picchu. For four glorious days we had the 33km Inca trail to ourselves. We hiked and hacked our way along spectacular passes and ravines until we finally reached the Lost City of the Incas. For hours we walked among the deserted city shrouded in grandeur and mystery. Llamas roamed the ruins, there wasn't a Coca-Cola sign in sight. It was a mystical and magical experience.
How times have changed. Just a few months after that early visit Abimael Guzman, the leader of the Shining Path, was captured and the group splintered. Peru re-opened for business. Tourism flourished, but with it came the inevitable environmental impact on the Unesco World Heritage Site. Visitor numbers have soared to nearly 4,000 per day, catered for by the construction of a chairlift and even a luxury hotel at the site. The recent construction of a 78m bridge across the Vilcanota River will cut the journey time from Cusco by an incredible 12 hours, opening the sight to buses for the first time. With numbers swelling, the Unesco World Heritage Committee will visit Machu Picchu next month. Persistent rumours abound that the site will soon be "closed", only to be viewed from elevated walkways and platforms.
However, there is an alternative: Choquequirao, often referred to as Machu Picchu's sister site. It is arguably as spectacular as Machu Picchu, and officials hope it can save its sibling by alleviating some of the pressure.
Choquequirao is one of the best-preserved Inca cities in South America; only 30 per cent of the site has been excavated so far. It was here that the Inca royalty fled following the Spanish Conquest. The shrines and highways throughout the region were maintained until 1572 when the Conquistadores finally reached this remote refuge and put an end to this dynasty. Hiram Bingham, who rediscovered Machu Picchu in 1911 with the help of some locals, described the route to Choquequirao as "impassable" and "not to be attempted". Excavations on the site began in the 1970s, but the trail has now been opened and is "passable" in a strenuous two-day trek from the village of Cachora, though best attempted over seven days of trekking and camping - as our group would.
The Inca trail to Choquequirao is more demanding than the popular Machu Picchu trek, but the rewards are well worth the effort to reach the ancient site known as the "Cradle of Gold" in Quechua.
Our journey began at the heart of the once mighty Inca Empire, Cusco. The colonial architecture is built on the solid foundations of the Incas. Cobbled streets, Incan walls and steep stairways bustle with the Quechua-speaking descendants of the Incas. Cusco has changed significantly over the years, its economy now reliant on tourism. It has, though, managed to retain much of its former charm.
Pepe, our guide for the week-long trek, was a dead-ringer for Jack Nicholson, from whose films he had learnt English. Pepe was also a Peruvian celebrity, having won a Latino version of Big Brother in which contestants had to live like Incas for several months.
The Andes provide an ever-changing canvas of colours. The landscape varies as much as the weather. We began our journey, as we would conclude it, in the rain. But this wasn't dour, damp, dreary UK rain; this was enjoyable, evocative, ethereal Andean rain. The precipitation only enhanced the dramatic landscape. The low cloud cover swathed the snowy peaks of this vast mountain range, enveloping us in its grey cloak. Newly-formed streams cascaded off the Incan steps as we trudged on, eyes to the ground. At this height the air is already thin and you have to learn to breathe again.
With the highest path reaching over 4,500m, we had some four-legged friends, mules, as well as a team of porters and cooks to help make the journey more comfortable. The thin air reduced us to a tortoise pace while the porters hared past with their oversized packs, mouths stuffed with coca leaves. Each afternoon, we would shuffle into camp to find our temporary canvas village already erected. A small dining tent illuminated by paraffin lamp welcomed us with bowls of steaming soup and cups of mate de coca to alleviate the debilitating effects of altitude sickness that fogged our minds.
Much of the trail is along slabs of stone, hand-carved and laid by the Incas. By astonishing acts of engineering they built thousands of kilometres of paths all across the Andes, like mountain motorways. The trail passes many * * small villages, as yet unblemished by the spoils of tourism. The people of Yanama village even surprised us with a feast of cuy cuy, guinea pig, while allowing us to camp on the school's football field.
The 7,000 metre-high mountains remained invisible for much of the time as we made our way along narrow passes and through deep gorges. Intermittently they would drop their mask and a snowy peak would appear through a window of cloud like a skylight to heaven.
Charcoal colours eventually turned to brushes of green and blue, as at last the chilled, cloud-smothered, oxygen-starved mountains gave way to hot tropical flora as we descended to the Apurimac River. For the first time in days I felt the sun's kiss. Sweet floral scents filled the air as we zigzagged our way down the steep mountain pass. Walking sticks were replaced by machetes as we descended towards the river's thunderous roar.
Once again the great Andean theatre had changed its set. Drops of rain were replaced by beads of sweat as I hacked my way through this new environment tantalised by the promise of fresh water and a chance to bathe. However, the heavy rains had turned the river into a cauldron, destroying the bridge over which we had hoped to cross. After a quick wash in the chilly waters, the resourceful porters began to make a temporary bridge where the river was at its widest and therefore most passive over which we and our mule train tentatively passed.
Before long, we bade farewell to the tropical river basin as we once again ascended the valley back up into the menacing mop of cloud. Day six, and the gods stopped us in our tracks with a theatrical extravaganza. I lay in my tent as bolts of lightning illuminated the valley. Deafening thunder-claps accompanied each mesmeric flash as the heavens were split by a flood of biblical proportions. Newly formed rivers cascaded past my tent and off the mountaintop. I understood why the Incas worshipped the elements. Finally the rain abated and we continued along the muddy trail. Just one mountain pass lay between us and the Cradle of Gold. The cloud had lifted slightly and finally it seemed as though we would make it. Onwards we trekked for several hours until we rounded a corner and caught our first glimpse of Choquequirao. It was bathed in sunlight, straddling a vast mountain. Cradle of Gold, indeed.
With a spring in our step we descended the steep path until we reached a flat plateau. Here, we followed an impossibly long Incan wall, above which dozens of terraces were interspersed by stairways that soared to the top of the mountain.
The beauty of Choquequirao, as with Machu Picchu, is as much the surroundings as the site itself. It is saddled atop a mountain, like a giant nest, overlooked by the enormous snowy peaks of the Andes.
The exhilaration and euphoria of having reached this magnificent city washed away six days of rain and weariness. The sun beat down as I climbed the final steps to the terrace overlooking the citadel and steep valleys beyond. As I stood there, mesmerised by the beauty and astonished by the sheer scale of the place, a condor soared into the valley below, floating on a thermal, it spiralled up and up silhouetted against the dank cloud. It was imperial, majestic and deeply moving. Choquequirao has many secrets still to be uncovered. The real joy is its as-yet unexploited solitude. We were the only visitors to the site; I felt I was privy to a great secret as I explored the dozens of buildings scattered around the citadel. The setting sun cast a golden glow across the site. I felt on top of the world, a pioneering 18th-century explorer. I'd found the lost city I'd been looking for.
Ben Fogle will be in conversation with Sandi Toksvig at the Royal Geographical Society, 1 Kensington Gore, London SW7 2AR on Tuesday 27 February at 7pm; tickets £10 from events@ rgs.org
TRAVELLER'S GUIDE
GETTING THERE
No flights currently operate direct between the UK and Peru. The main routes to the Peruvian capital, Lima, are on Iberia ( www.iberia.com) via Madrid and American Airlines ( www.aa.com) via Miami.
To reduce the impact on the environment, you can buy an "offset" from Climate Care ( www.climatecare.org). The cost of a return flight from London to Lima, in economy class, is £19.20. The money is used to fund sustainable energy and reforestation projects.

Tourism Contributes to Machu Picchu’s Status as an Endangered Historical Site

2007-02-06T16:05:00.000-05:00

Recently, considerable attention has been paid to tourism’s affect on particular travel destinations. One site under scrutiny is Machu Picchu, an ancient Inca city in Peru’s Andes Mountains. Geological research, controversial development projects, and actions by preservation groups have caused the world to turn an increasingly watchful eye on this historical landmark. A recent Newsweek article listed Machu Picchu among the world’s top endangered travel destinations and concluded that “the ancient Inca city of Machu Picchu is in danger of becoming a victim of its own popularity.”www.msn.com/id/12115727/site/newsweek/Whether directly or indirectly, much of the debate surrounding the future of Machu Picchu involves the effects of tourism. Most sources seem to agree that tourism is taking its toll on the site in some way. Newsweek estimates as many as 500,000 people visit the site each year. The Los Angeles Times reported that tourism has increased tenfold since 1991, mainly as a result of Peru’s increased political stability. nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002988715_machupicchu12.htmlIt seems visitors treading on the site has compacted the soil and weakened building foundations; hikers are also criticized for littering the trail up to the summit. nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/04/0415_020415_machu.htmlTourism has also been linked to potential landslides. At a 2001 UN symposium, New Scientist magazine reported that the site is in serious danger of another landslide (in 1995 and 1996, two landslides blocked road access), one that could destroy the landmark entirely. www.unwire.org/unwire/20010309/13412_story.aspWhen an eight-million-dollar plan to run cable cars up the mountain was approved by the government, a report by The International Counsel of Scientific Associations for UNESCO in 1999 argued that the vibrations might trigger a landslide. nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/04/0415_020415_machu.htmlProponents of the plan argued it would reduce pollution, increase visitation to the site, and provide a safer route for travelers (www.unwire.org/archives/search.asp?q=machu); some (including the chief archeologist at the time) also said the threat of a landslide was not as serious as many thought. seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002988715_machupicchu12.htmlCritics felt the cable car would compromise Machu Picchu’s natural beauty and feared the effects of increased visitation. After UNESCO threatened to place Machu Picchu on its list of endangered sites (www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N19208961.htm) and The World Monuments Watch temporarily included Machu Picchu on their list of the 100 Most Endangered Sites in the World, (www.frommers.com/destinations/machupicchu/2878027654.html)Peruvian officials decided against the construction. Some are still skeptical, however. Even though President Alejandro Toledo pledged to safeguard the site at his inauguration in 2001, he has not entirely opposed construction. nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/04/0415_020415_machu.htmlThis string of events drew even more attention to the site and fueled safeguarding efforts. Peru has received money from environmental and preservation groups, as well as foreign governments. In one instance, Finland traded Peru's outstanding debt for a conservation plan called Programa Machu Picchu. www.frommers.com/destinations/machupicchu/2878027654.htmlIntroduced to improve administration of the site, establish strategies for protecting the environment and the town of Aguas Calientes, the program has already implemented fire-prevention and waste-management plans. www.sacredland.org/world_sites_pages/M_Picchu.htmlPeru's National Institute of Culture created a ten-year master plan, geared to "sustainable tourism." At least for now, it seems preservation of the site, rather than development, is the goal.Access is now restricted to 500 visitors per day, and the site is closed for one month every year day. www.msn.com/id/12115727/site/newsweek/The entrance fee was increased from U.S. $17 to $50, and hikers must trek with a registered guide. nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/04/0415_020415_machu.htmlFor those wishing to help preserve the site, there are a number of resources. Some websites offer updates on preservation efforts. For example, sacredland.org lists tips on how to be a responsible traveler on its “Ethics of Visiting Sacred Sites” page (www.sacredland.org/resources/ethics.html).Websites offering sustainable and responsible travel packages includewww.responsibletravel.com/Trip/Trip101150.htm www.andeanlife.com/responsible_tourism.htm Transitionsabroad.com lists additional resources for responsible travel to the area: www.transitionsabroad.com/publications/magazine/0511/saving_machu_picchu.shtml