Machu Picchu: The Mountain City of the People of the Sun

Story and photography by
Nancy & Eric Anderson 

 

When Hiram Bingham searched for the Lost City of the Incas in 1911 he traversed "mighty precipices, passes three miles high, granite canyons more than a mile in depth, glaciers and tropical forests, as well as dangerous rapids."

What the Yale professor and National Geographic explorer found has become the most acclaimed tourist attraction in South America. Machu Picchu, says his grandson of the same name, was for my grandfather, "a bridge between heaven and earth."

The bridge is still there with perhaps even more impact today than it had on Bingham who had to bring in an army of workers to remove the jungle that had reclaimed the hand of Man. Now revealed, the ruins sprawl before visitors who stand hand in mouth almost unable to take it all in. It is the one travel experience that comes up to expectations -- photographs published of the ruins years ago made many persons the travelers they are today. Ecologists now feel so many tourists come that the park will be damaged but who is going to turn wide-eyed romantics away? The infrastructure is being improved: the train system from Cusco, the ancient Inca capital, is better developed, the bus system from the village two miles below the ruins now works really well (though it still takes half an hour for the busses to claw their way up the road that twists like a serpent before the ruins are reached) – and there are now about 600 tourist beds in the village itself.

The choice of accommodations for most Americans lies between the lodge at the ruins originally built for the archaeologists and run by Orient Express (800.237 1236  www.monasterio.orient-express.com/web/ocus/ocus_c3a_lodge.jsp) and the Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel in the village owned by the ecology-driven Inkaterra (800 442 5042  http://www.inkaterra.com/mpph/index.html ) The Orient Express Lodge has all the advantages and disadvantages of being at the entrance to the ruins: crowds all day and busses turning round outside. It is also expensive at $715 a double occupancy (three meals included) plus 19 percent for a double, $935 if you want one of the rooms with a view of the ruins.

The Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel, a haven of rest, is a much better buy; the March 2006 Travel & Leisure called it “The #1 best value hotel in Latin America.” A double is $414 (three meals and a 10 percent service charge included), suites are $559 Many services are complimentary such as reception and assistance at the railway station a three minute walk from the hotel. The Inkaterra grounds are a conservationist's delight with gardens devoted to orchids, butterflies and humming birds. Its half hour distance from the ruins gives tourists time to reflect on the mystery of Machu Picchu

The village, on the other hand, is a bargain hunter's delight: countless booths with gaily-colored clothing and artifacts for sale, interesting restaurants some still using 600-year old Inca walls for support, and of course, a village church defying its age. And when the magic of Machu Picchu is spent and travelers return to Cusco, they're still heading for an adventure: the 11,000 foot-high ancient capital with its own air of mystery.

Cusco is a walking city -- that is if you rest your first day at altitude. And don’t decline the cocoa tea drink your hotel will offer you. All streets, many walled by finely-cut blocks of granite 600 years old, lead to the enormous square, the scene once of Inca sacrifices and religious ceremonies and later, under the punitive Spanish Conquest, a place of cruel public executions. The cathedral, whose construction began in 1550, dominates the square. Inside, an image of Christ made of 50 pounds of gold and precious stones recalls the elegance and passion of the Incas.

If You Go

LAN CHILE/PERU offers a magnificent service to Lima, Peru from JFK, LAX and Miami. Flight times are such that passengers can fly in from the United States, catch a connection to Cusco and get transportation to the village below Machu Picchu before dark the next day.

If you are planning to go avoid the wet season (November to March); it can be cold and visitors should dress accordingly -- in layers that can be shed because there are perhaps 3000 sweat-provoking steps at the ruins, many of them quite high. But the experience justifies the effort and surely creates tomorrow's memories.