The Lost City of the Incas

Halfway up the Andes Plateau, deep in the Amazon jungle above the Urubamba River lies a city in the clouds known as Machu Picchu – bizarrely 'lost' for over three centuries, but now probably the most famous symbol of the Inca Empire, just voted one of New Seven Wonders of the World and raved about by every person we know who has visited it. Despite all this, we couldn’t help wonder whether it would live up to expectations. The truth is, it smashed our expectations out of the ball park, and we’re sorry to say that words and photos won’t be able to do it justice.

In terms of getting there, our new found hiking ability (cf. Italian Lakes) and the fact that we now own all the gear (and, some might say, no idea!), coupled with the reality that we despise tents, sleeping bags, drop toilets and all things camping, left us with a dilemma – to trek or not to trek? We decided to compromise and do a 2-day (rather than 4-day) trek of the Inca Trail known as the "Camino Real de los Incas", which involved a hostel, 2 very lovely porters to carry our food and a slightly lower altitude – sounded good to us!

At the end of the first day we reached Machu Picchu, and we were ecstatic - it really is unlike any other ancient site we have ever visited. Full credit to the Incas – they really were impressive architects, stoneworkers, astronomers and environmentalists!

Day two involved a heck of a lot of climbing – a 400m vertical challenge to the peak of Wayna Picchu mountain (the one that rises over Machu Picchu, 2720m above sea level). At the summit we were rewarded with unmatched views of the Machu Picchu city and the feeling of being on top of the world. And Rory’s desire to re-live his mountain biking days resulted in a sprint down to the bottom. I’m not sure that our knees will ever be the same again.