|
PERU WALK
Machu
Picchu and the Sacred Valley
The great Inca civilization
remains a mystery to modern science despite extensive and
magnificent ruins punctuating the cities, mountains and valleys
in and around Cusco and the Urubamba Valley.
We imagine life a thousand years ago, beginning our quest
to understand the Incas. From Cusco, we continue to our Andean
base, a small retreat center in Yucay. From here w e
walk the fertile Urubamba valley, center of Inca civilization.
A hike to a remote mountain village where hand-woven traditional
costume is still worn by school children, and families live
in thatched stone huts, is our window into modern mountain
life. An Inca agricultural laboratory entrusts its secrets
to us, before we traverse open plains between snowy Andean
peaks. After picking our way through a matrix of salt terraces,
we lunch on the fertile banks of the Urubamba.
In Pisac, women's skirts brim with white, yellow, orange,
red and blue potatoes on market day. We descend through ancient
agricultural terracing and geometric edifices to the market,
clustered around a whitewashed adobe church. Here, craftspeople
sell hand woven wool rugs, alpaca sweaters, silver jewelry,
colonial artifacts and produce.
Following traditional Inca footpaths, we enter Machu Picchu
from the resplendent Gateway to the Sun. Our hotel in nearby
Aguas Calientes is a cluster of private, luxurious cabanas,
with a diverse traditional menu. Our expert guide leads us
through Machu Picchu's magnificent structures, also leaving
us time to ponder them on our own, before we return by train
to Cusco.
|
