My Travels In Peru

The Inca Trail

I had been to Peru several times and had seen most of the important sites in the country. I had seen Lima, Cusco and Machupicchu on my first visit, and Arequipa, Paracas and the north coast on subsequent trips. The time had come to revisit Machupicchu, arriving not by bus, as I had done before, but on foot.

The Inca Trail is a four-day journey of the soul that takes one back centuries, to the time the Incas traveled Peru on foot. They had developed a massive network of roads with two main north-south arteries, one along the coast and the other along the mountains. These two were connected by hundreds of east-west roads traversing the mountains and linking the coast to the jungle. One road linked Machupicchu to this vast network, and I would walk about forty kilometres of it.

The Inca citadel was built on a mountain ridge, at 2400 m above sea level, between two peaks: machupicchu (old mountain) and huaynapicchu (young mountain). It towers 400 meters above the river and it's a sheer drop on both sides of the ridge. These mountain peaks are surrounded by dozens of others; many of them are much higher and some even have small ice caps. It is rugged territory all around. But despite the isolation implied by its ruggedness, there was no shortage of other Inca sites. They were mountain people, not unlike the Swiss, who inhabit the Alps; and they knew how to build in mountainous terrain.

The first time I visit Machupicchu, I'm overwhelmed by its isolation. I ask myself, "Why did they build this city on top of a knife edge, in the middle of nowhere? It's insane!" There is no rhyme or reason for building a city in such a location. Then I recall that often monasteries in Europe and Asia were built in high, isolated places because of the tranquillity that it offered the monks. However, there's no indication that this city was built for religious purposes. Although it's too big to be a place of worship, it could have been a place of higher learning – a multidisciplinary university where shamanism could have played an important role.

The ancient city of Machupicchu is a protected sanctuary; and for this reason there are no modern roads leading into it. The road from Cusco terminates at Ollantaytampo, another Inca city; and from there to Aguas Caliente, located at the foot of Machupicchu, there is only train service. The first time my wife and made the pilgrimage, we took a train directly from Cusco to Aguas Caliente; and from there we took a bus. Local buses do the heavy work of climbing the mountain along a serpentine road that is only wide enough for one bus, but they have two-way traffic – what goes up must come down. It can be a hair-raising experience to passengers when two buses, going in opposite directions, meet.

Of course, there are certain spots, well-known to the drivers who make the trip dozens of times a day, were the road is wide enough for two buses to squeeze by, but just barely. Whichever bus arrives there first is supposed to wait for the other to pass. Sometimes they continue and then have to back up – a scary thought. The questions in our minds are, "Does the driver have sufficient space? Are the wheels too close to the edge?" I am almost sure that they do things like that to frighten tourists, who fear the impending danger of collision or even worse: tumbling to river level, which would be certain death. It probably adds a little excitement to their drab, daily routine.

Traveling by car or bus from Cusco to Machupicchu, one descends the mountain road to the Urubamba River and to the town of Pisac on the other side, another tourist destination with an important archaeological site. Furthermore, on Sundays, one can listen to the traditional Catholic Mass in the Quechua language! From here to Ollantaytambo, the road follows the river, which eventually changes name to Rio Amazon. 

The large, verdant valley along this stretch is known as the Sacred Valley of the Incas. The name comes from the river's name in the Quechua language, which is Willkanuta, or sacred river. It's the giver of life and the Sacred Valley is the breadbasket of Cusco, as it was in imperial times. It stretches all the way to Machupicchu.