The ancient Peruvian city of Machu
Picchu sits on a subtropical plateau in
the mountains. Nobody knows why it
was abandoned by the Incas
The incredible journey
Colin Hutchison walks to the lost City of Machu Picchu and discovers harsh realities behind the stunning views.
‘ on‘t lie. don’t steal and don't be Ia/y.‘ was an Incan philosophy
fiercely inculcated into its people. Half a millennium later. I‘m gazing at arguably the greatest architectural legacy of the Incas ancient empire. the ‘lost city‘ of Machu I’icchu in Peru. Sprawled across a small plateau in the Vilnacota mountain range. the city perches on a plateau 238(lm above sea level. At 7am the mist still drapes over the vast mined city nestled amidst dense. humid jungle under the cliffs of sacred mountains. It‘s an enchanting sight and one for which I've just trekked for three days and 28 miles over tough. high altitude terrain.
Nobody yet knows why in the 16th
century and after just l()() years of
habitation. Machu Picchu ('()|d Mountain’) was abandoned. Jose. my guide. offers possible explanations that include disease. war with the Chankas people or a wish to keep the city unknown to the
invading Spaniards. Whatever the cause. the eerie silence over the site is lost as scores of tourists begin to excitedly photograph every stone wall within sight.
I find an abundance of evidence of
the lnca's belief system and ingenuity. 'I‘rapezoidal shaped doorways guard narrow. stone walled passages that lead into the Temple of the Sun. (‘onstructed from gigantic slabs of carved granite. the temple was a sacrificial site to ‘mother earth‘. llere. larnas (and possibly virgin girls) were sacrificed to appease the all important sun and moon. ()n a high granite platform I then find the ‘Temple of the Three Windows' that directly captures light from the sun during the summer and winter solstice. later. after climbing a path that clings to the near vertical rock face of Huayn Picchu (‘Young Mountain') I peer over the l5()()ft drop to see that the entire city has been designed in the shape of a
condor; the heavens‘.
It's therefore unsurprising that this magnificent site continues to attract thousands of tourists every year. However. as I survey the scene and reflect on what I have witnessed during my long trek to reach this ruin. I feel distinctly troubled.
livery few days a staggering 5()() strictly enforced permits (approximately £35 per person) are issued to agencies who then charge upwards of U50 per person for groups of up to lo tourists to camp
I'VE JUST WITNESSED A DWELLING NOT DISSIMILAR TO A 16TH CENTURY SCO'I'I1$H BLACKHOUSE
‘guardian of the
and walk for four days (EX miles) along the archaelogically rich Inca Trail. While those on this trek descend from the peaks directly into Machu l’icchu. hundreds of others pay £6 (one—way) to visit the site via the 20 minute bus ride from the thermal spring town of Aguas (‘alientes All then pay £15 to enter Machu I’icchu.
It is troubling that while the Peruvian state appears to reap enormous financial rewards from its unique Inca 'goldmine'. I have seen scant evidence of these profits being used to alleviate extreme poverty amongst the indigenous descendants of the Incas. whose isolated mountain communities my own trek hasjust passed through.
For to reach Machu Picchu. I have chosen a very different route to the classic Inca Trail. Quietly promoted as the 'cultural Inca Trail'. my £200. three-day trek through the Lares Valley offers a fascinating insight to the daily lives and hardships faced
i7 Feb—3 Mar 2005 THE LIST 1 1 1