Where to begin. This magnificient community was never mentioned in the records of the conquering Spanairds and its location was only known by the local Quechuas until 1911 when it is said that a small boy took an American historian by the name of Hiram Bingham up the now famous Inca Trail.
Today over 1000 people vistit the site daily in the high season and it is the undeniable gem of South America. My friend Linda Batista, who is with me for six weeks began the 33 mile trek with me just past Ollantaytambo at 8502 feet and had an easy six hour accent to the first camp 12km away. O
ur site was on a womans farm. Dogs and Burros followed us everywhere while the senora offered to sell us everything from water to Coke to Cusquena, the local Peruvian beer. After the porters had unpacked our gear they engaged in a game of futbol. Some of the braver Europeans joined in but were quickly put to shame. This seemed to be a great source of humor for the local children.After watching the game for a bit I climbed up to a small peak that overlooked the valley below to wait for sunset. Some local children were playing in the dirt so I snapped a few photos of them for fun. When they noticed what I was doing they immediately
ran over to see what I was up to. I showed them the pictures and they errupted in laughter and exclaimed, "Es Domingo! Es Rodrigo!" I don´t know if they had ever seen their own reflection before. I blew up a few balloons for them and wandered back down to my tent.
The next day was by far the most difficult. We climbed to 13,779 feet in a few short hours, besting what has come to be known as Dead Woman´s Pass. The air was thin and cold and the wind found every opportunity to invade our clothing, leaving us gasping for breath and freezing. In the excitement of our accomplishment we hardly seemed to notice.Day three I took a turn for the worse. Lack of sleep and dehydration took hold and left me vomiting on the trail running for a bathroom (which there were none). Although it was sunny and easily 75 degrees, I was shivering with cold and sweating at the same time. Todays hike was relatively easy in terms of altitude gain but it was also an 8 mile stretch. Up until this point I had ussualy been in the lead and was almost always the first to arrive at rest points but now I had fallen behind just trying to get one foot to follow the other, slowly leading me through the jungle towards my tent where I might get some rest.
Wilfredo was our assistant guide and he stopped me and made me get on my knees. I watched with suspicion as took from his bag two small viles and mixed the contents together in his hands. Without warning he threw his hands up in my face and yelled for me to breath in. The stench was indescribable and I fell to the dirt vomiting. Then he took the top of my head in his hands and began to chant. Other trekers watched while Wilfredo commanded the sickness to leave my body and return to darker shadows in the jungle where the Puma hunts. By the next morning I was fine.
The fourth and final treking day our guide Yuves woke us at 3:30am for coca tea. In total darkness we began our climb towards the Sun Gate, the ancient entrance for the Incas into Machu Picchu. What a spectacle! As the sun blanketed the jungle, we could almost see the orchids tip their heads up. Rain water from the previous night evaporated into a mist and vines unravelled from tree trunks to dangle at our heads.
We had arrived. There are moments in life that seem to transcend time. Moments that take on a life of their own and become spiritual. Standing on Inca built terraces, looking down at the lost city, I had such a moment. Its grandeur and elequence defied the architectural technology of the time and it left me amazed and asking how? How did they manage to build such a complex system of irrigation, worship temples and terraces so high? Unlike almost every other major society in history, the Incas never engaged in slavery. Every citizen was expected to make a contribution and for that they were fed and kept safe. The Incas did not conquer surrounding tribes as much as they requested that they join and enjoy the fruits of the society. That said, no tribe was allowed to say no.
There is far to much to write about and my words can´t do it justice. I´m trying to get a slideshow up but these computers aren´t updated and nothing
works correctly. Here are a few...
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