From Intipunku (the Sun Gate), the Inca ruins below Machu Picchu mountain come into view for the first time for those arriving on the classic Inca trail. We hadn't followed this route, but had arrived here on the fifth day of some tough high altitude trekking over the Salkantay pass at 4629m, and this also gave us an early sighting of the ruins from Llactapata the previous day. It was a beautiful and varied hike, passing the unclimbed peak of Salkantay before dropping down through cloud forests and scenery that is straight out of a fairytale. An afternoon soak in the Santa Teresa hot springs on the third day was very welcome, and we were lucky to have joined a very pleasant and interesting group of people to trek with.

We had spent three days previously exploring the Sacred Valley which included a visit to the market and the high Inca ruins at Pisac. On another day we hiked from Ollantaytambo to the circular terraces set into the top of a hill at Moray which are thought to have been used by the Incas to experiment with crop cultivation. The hike also took us past the Salinas salt pans which are still in production after hundreds of years, and through indigenous villages surrounded by stunning mountain scenery.

Note that I didn't refer to the ruins as Machu Picchu, but the mountain. No-one knows the name of this city as it was abandoned before the Spaniards found it. Down the valley in Ollantaytambo where the Inca streets and steep terraces still remain, the one and only defeat of the Spanish conquistadors took place; but the residents failed to defend themselves a second time and the city at Machu Picchu was abandoned in fear. This seems a great pity since no European knew of its existence until 1912. It must have been an amazing place to live, and since it had only been completed a few decades before the Spanish Conquest, it also seems a shame that no more than a couple of generations could ever have lived here.

The climax of our long hike was the climb to the summit of Huayna Picchu, the peak in the middle of the classic postcard view. And after the hike, the only means of return towards Cuzco is via the railway from Aguas Calientes. Pity we have to do this journey after dark.

Posted from La Paz, Bolivia on 8th July 2012.