Machu Picchu
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About five years ago, I decided to go Peru as I’d always wanted to go. Bro didn't fancy it, so I went alone, becoming the fifth member of a group of six. I'm fascinated by the Inca culture and, having visited many other South American countries, realised that most of that culture centres on Peru.
Peru is at altitude, but as you long as you take it easy in the first couple of days of acclimatisation, you can adjust fairly quickly. Headaches, dizziness, breathlessness, nosebleeds, bloodshot eyes and some odd dreams can affect some, but it usually passes after a day or two.
Machu Picchu itself takes a little effort to get to, but it's utterly worth it. First you fly to either Paris or Madrid, then it’s another twelve hours on to Lima. After a couple of days we flew on to Cusco to acclimatise as Cusco is higher than Machu Picchu We then took a long, slow train ride from Cusco to Aguas Calientes at the base of the mountain and from there, you take a small minibus up some fairly hairy hairpin bends to the site itself.
Machu Picchu is a 15th century Inca citadel at 7970ft above sea level. It sits in the cloud forest above the Sacred Valley and is thought to have been a sanctuary for the last Inca emperor. It was only 'discovered' in 1911 by American Hiram Bingham, but locals are thought to have known of it for decades and used the terracing for growing their crops. Those local farmers helped guide Bingham to the site.
It sits in a hand created saddle between the two mountains of Machu Picchu and Huayna Picchu and was accessed by two high level routes - now known as the Inca Trail - which entered the city through the Sun Gate or the Inca Bridge. It has rightly been a World Heritage Site since 1983 as an 'absolute masterpiece of architecture and a unique testimony to the Inca civilisation'.
It's such as magical place. As you wander the terraces, the tiny streets, peer into houses and even visit the royal quarters, you marvel at just where you are; high in the remote mountains, among the clouds, seemingly a million miles from anywhere. Standing at the top of the terracing and glimpsing the valley floor far below, you realise how high you are, yet are completely unseen from below. It is peaceful, warm and quiet and very difficult to tear yourself away. I genuinely didn't want to leave.
I am left with the privilege of being able to say I have seen this special wonder of the world for myself; certainly the most magical place I have ever been.
the famous shot!
the Main plaza
some of the huge, hand cut terraces
cut on such sheer slopes
hidden amongst the clouds
more Terracing - you enter the site through the thatched hut just in front of where the person in yellow is standing
looking down into the valley
magical