Machu Picchu

The Inca Trail leads through the Andes along the Urubamba River ultimately to the heights of Machu Picchu. In the rainy season, especially after two days of altitude sickness, the alternative to the trail, the train from Cusco is a much more attractive, comfortable route for tracing Incan history. The anticipation created by the early train departure - 6 AM, the four hour trip to Aguas Calientes, the switchback bus ride up the mountain, is satisfied by the first glimpses of the stone city atop the mountain. The city and the site take the breath away; no photograph can do justice to the vista - of terraced walls and structures for living, worshiping, working, punishing - set among high peaks, shrouded in cloud cover. The lively llamas are the only link with the reality of the day - although groups of tourists dutifully follow flagged leaders and absorb the history of several hundred years ago. Machu Pichu is both frozen in time and in constant flux. The walls present a fortification against civilization, but the relentless sky brings mist, rain, sunshine like a kalaidoscope, and the distant peak of Machu Picchu and its sister climb show the tiny crawling people, toiling to get to the top, as their Indian predecessors did - perhaps to pray to the gods or preach to the world or simply to acclaim a new height. The beauty is in the magnificent and the detail. The large sacred stone invites guests for photos; the small, beautiful flower grows along the path. The structures offer solemn amazement as multi-faceted stones bond together seamlessly, confounding understanding, with the knowledge that no iron tools existed. The steps up and down do not seem to wear away under the countless shoes that trespass today. Mystical, Machu Picchu minimizes the accomplishments of modern man and expands personal horizons to eternity.