High in the Peruvian Andes, the trail to magnificent Machu Picchu begins at Cusco.
The first glimmer of mythical Machu Picchu, the mountain-ringed Inca citadel, can win over even the most hardened traveller. Built in the 15th century, the mist-veiled city was never breeched by the Spanish conquistadors; instead it was quietly abandoned and left to the vagaries of the surrounding forest. It was wrenched out of obscurity in 1911, when American explorer Hiram Bingham scampered up a peak in this remote part of the Andes and came upon the “lost” Inca city. Machu Picchu is now a UNESCO World Heritage site as well as being one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, but its original purpose remains a puzzle — was it a ceremonial centre, a military citadel, a stargazing lab, or simply the imperial retreat?
The journey to Machu Picchu begins some 70km south in Cusco, a city where old and new are omnipresent. Glittering examples of the Spanish conquest abound in the stately colonial architecture while the geometrically perfect stonework reminds visitors this was once the capital of the Inca empire. Francisco Pizarro conquered Cusco in 1533, then built his city on the foundations of the vanquished, stacking bricks and adobe on top of Inca masonry. As earthquakes rattled the region down the centuries, Spanish constructions have cracked and tumbled, but the statuesque Inca walls have stood firm. Some of the stones in the leviathan walls of Sacsayhuamán, the fortress overlooking Cusco, are said to weigh as much as 350 tonnes.
Linking the two ancient cities is the Sacred Valley, a lush pocket sprinkled with terraced fields, a procession of stone bastions and the ruins of the granaries of the long-gone Inca. Amid crumbling houses and temples, peaches, cherries, corn, tomatoes and quinoa (the staple grain of the Inca) thrive, while trout flourish in streams and rivers. Life in the villages is slow, even primitive. Hand or foot ploughs are still used to till fields, bowed men transport vast sheaves of barley on their backs, women tote babies in blankets wrapped around their shoulders, and small children tend flocks of goats or alpacas by the roadside, sometimes serenading them with Andean pipes. At Sunday markets, farmers barter beans and corn, while be-hatted women sporting three or four layers of polleras (skirts) and sturdy sandals fashioned from recycled truck tyres lay out their woven handiwork. Cheap factory-made goods have filtered in and there’s a readymade supply of “genuine” alpaca jumpers, ponchos, blankets and bags. However, quality handmade items can still be had. Seek out market vendors who make their own products.
Often dubbed the Romans of ancient America, the Inca were successful in conquering both tribes and terrain. At its height, in the mid- to late-15th century, the empire covered one-third of the continent, stretching from present-day southern Colombia down to northern Chile. They were right at home in the lofty Andes. Cusco sits at 3300m above sea level, which means that almost all visitors suffer from some form of altitude sickness on arrival. The solution? Rest, eat sparsely and drink lots of water and cocoa tea, just as the locals do.
Despite rising tourism, Cusco and its surrounds remain unwaveringly traditional. Women with impossibly long, and impossibly black, plaits sit chatting in the main plazas while men in chullos (knitted hats with ear flaps) kneel at prayer in the cathedral. And somewhere along a cobblestone street there’s bound to be an almond-eyed child with a llama in tow, waiting for a photo tip.
Stay
Hotel Monasterio
Palacios 136.
Inkaterra Machu Picchu
Aguas Calientes Train Station.
Libertador Palacio del Inka
Plazoleta Santo Domingo 259.
Sol y Luna Lodge & Spa
Huincho, Urubamba.
Urubamba Villas
Caserío Higuspucro, Urubamba.
Shop
Aucells
Palacio 116.
+51 84 226 330.
Centro de Textiles Tradicionales del Cusco
Avenida Sol 603.
+51 84 228 117
San Blas
Eat & Drink
Baco
Ruinas 465.
+51 84 242 808
La Cicciolina
Triunfo 393.
+51 84 239 510.
Green's Organic
Santa Catalina Angosta 135.
+51 84 243 379.
Jack's Café Bar
Choquechaca 509.
+51 84 806 960.
Map Café
Museo de Arte Precolombino, Plaza de la Nazarenas 231.
+51 84 242 476.
See & Do
Ausangate Mountain Trail
Cusco Cathedral
Plaza de Armas.
Hiram Bingham Train
Machu Picchu
Museo de Arte Precolombino
Plaza de la Nazarenas 231.
+51 84 233 210.
Museo Inka
Cuesta de Almirante 103.
+51 84 237 380.
Sacred Valley
Source: Qantas The Australian Way August 2008
See South America Destination Guide