The Inca Trail to Machu Picchu

Starting with some historical background, Stafford was presenting photographs and a fact-filled narrative of his “trip of a lifetime” – a multi-activity trip to the Peruvian Andes culminating in a trek along the Inca trail to Machu Picchu.

The Spanish were the first Europeans known to have arrived in Peru.  Christopher Columbus discovered South America (1498).  And conquistador Francsico Pizarro, attracted by rumours of a rich and fabulous kingdom, invaded (1532) and conquered Peru and the Inca empire.  He captured and killed the emperor Atahualpa because the Incas would not accept Christianity.  Thereafter, the Spanish tried to eradicate everything to do with the Incas.

Stafford’s adventure started in the city of Cusco, once the capital of the Inca Empire and now a UNESCO World Heritage Centre.  It is the largest city in the Peruvian Andes and contains a mixture of Inca foundations and Spanish colonial architecture.  Notable sights included the Cathedral, which is “stuffed with gold and silver (sadly, no photography inside) and the local markets.

Several days were also spent exploring the many fascinating sights in the surrounding area, with added activities for the tour party.

Horse-riding included visits to Tambomackay (The Water Temple, with a sophisticated system of aqueducts, canals, and waterfalls) and Sacsayhuaman (an enormous, ruined fort on top of a hill overlooking Cusco).

Canoeing on the Urubamba through the Sacred Valley took them to Pisac, a small town with a large market selling locally made products.

Three days of mountain biking then took them to Lares (where they camped overnight by some geothermically heated pools) and to Calca.  However, somewhere along the way, Stafford came off his bike (he knows not how) and spent a night in hospital being checked over and patched up.

Consequently, he missed a visit to the circular ruins (storage silos for potatoes and grain) at Ancasmarca.  But, with painkillers etc, he was able to rejoin the party at the town of Urubamba for the strenuous trek to Machu Picchu.

The trek began at Ollantaytambo (where there is another Inca fortress).  It is “only” 26 miles in 3-4 days.  But it is one of the world’s highest walks at altitudes ranging between 2,650m (8,600ft) and 4,200m (13,650ft).

First stop was Llactapata, where several of the party retraced their steps back to civilisation as the real uphill stuff started.

Then it was on up to Warmiwanusca or Dead Woman’s pass (at 4,200m (13,800ft) the highest point of the trail), down into the Pacasmayo valley (Cloud Forest), up again to the mountain pass of Runkuraqay, and through some tropical rain forest to Phuyupatamarca (Place Above the Clouds) where they camped overnight perched on the top of a mountain pass with views of snow-capped mountains all round and deep valleys below.

On the final day of the trek they descended through the Cloud Forest, passed through the ancient Inca ruin of Winay Wayna, and reached a very steep set of steps referred to by locals as “Gringo Killers”.

They led to Inti Punku (Gateway of the Sun) from where they got their first view of Machu Picchu, the lost city of the Incas, laid out below them with fine panoramic views of the entire citadel framed by mountain peaks.  It is perfectly landscaped and contains royal, ceremonial, and religious architecture along with astronomical alignments.  It survives as a perfect example of Inca planning and engineering.

They took a bus down to the nearby town of Aguas Calientes to be reunited with the rest of the tour party.  But they returned early the next morning for a tour of Machu Picchu before the hordes of tourists arrived.

The trip was rounded off with a visit to Puerto Maldonado from where they were taken by small boat to Rainforest Lodge in the heart of the southern Amazon rainforest.  Activities there included a climb up a 40m tower to view the rainforest from above, rising at 4.00am to see the sunrise, plenty of wildlife viewing (particularly exotic birds) on an oxbow lake, and even some fishing for Piranhas.

They also visited a Shaman (a local medicine man).  His garden contained all the plants etc needed for his medicines – which covered all the major diseases, including an alternative for Viagra.

Then it was the arduous two-day journey back to the UK.

This was a great evening of travel pictures, especially for those taken with such adventurous holidays.  But we all enjoyed Stafford’s interesting images of a busy Peruvian city, ancient Incan sites, Andean mountainscapes, cloud and rain forests, local people and activities, and more.