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| Machu Picchu, Peru |
Our friend Owen Floody is in
the midst of a series of three treks in Peru, with two down, Machu Picchu (May
2015), Huayhuash (July 2015), and one coming up in mid-2017 (Cordillera Blanca.) Owen recently retired from a career of
teaching and research at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania. He has always
been an avid photographer and in his retirement has taken numerous trips that
allow him to pursue his passion. He is a frequent contributor to The Intrepid
Tourist. Here is his report of his Machu Picchu trip and a few of his excellent
photographs.
My Machu Picchu trip included three major parts: the several
days prior to the trek that I spent acclimating to the altitude as I explored Cusco;
the trek itself; and the two days spent exploring Machu Picchu.
Cusco was great and I strongly recommend that anyone
visiting this part of the world not shortchange it. The city presents a fascinating mix of very
old and not-so-old streets, walls and buildings.
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| Stone wall in Sacsayhuaman; similar walls can be found in Cusco |
I am not a museum enthusiast, but found
several here that were very enjoyable.
One of these was the Pre-Columbian museum; I think that another favorite
was the Museo Inka. The restaurants were
excellent, with the introduction to ceviche being, for me, a special
treat.
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| Some of the salt ponds at the Salinas de Mara |
Finally, there are many very interesting
sites on Cusco’s outskirts or within easy
day-trip distance (e.g., the Sacred Valley, Moray Agricultural Terraces,
Salinas de Mara.) I could easily have spent a week
exploring these and more.
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| On the trail to Machu Picchu |
The trek was strenuous, covering 41 miles in seven days. But it was the altitude (mainly 6700-12,800
feet, with a single pass at 15,200) that presented the greatest challenge. Was this effort fully repaid by the
scenery?
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| Lake in the Andes |
The scenery certainly was
attractive.
Still, I would not put this among the few most scenic treks that I have
done. Bear in mind, though, that this
was not the famous Inca Trail and I simply don’t know the relative merits of
the two routes to Machu Picchu.
Not being religious, I was surprised to react very
positively to the opportunity our trek provided to participate in a ceremony in
which we were blessed and our wishes conveyed to the Andean gods by a pair of Quechuan
shamans. This ended up being for me one
of the trek’s highlights. I found the
symbolism fascinating and the ceremony overall very appealing, in no small part
due to the gentle manner and charm of the shamans. And who can complain about the potential
divine reinforcement of one’s wishes?
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| Overview of Machu Picchu from Huayna Picchu |
Machu Picchu itself was wonderful, fully justifying any and
all hype.
The setting is matchless, the
ruins are quite a bit more extensive than I imagined, and the beauty and intricacy
of the stonework are breathtaking.
Its extent and beauty more than justified the
choice of
REI as a tour operator: Whereas most of the tours that I considered
included just one day at Machu Picchu, the one offered by REI included two and
any less than this would have been inadequate.
Partly because of the extra day, our tour included a climb up Huayna
Picchu, for the overview of Machu Picchu that this peak provides.
Of course, it also gave us more time
to wander around Machu Picchu.
Especially effective in this regard was the opportunity to have Machu
Picchu largely to ourselves in the late afternoon of our first day there, after
the day-trippers had departed.
In sum, visits to Cusco and Machu Picchu are highly
recommended.
