After a long drive on rough roads (at last we understood the broad meaning of "sealed" road, according to our National Geographic map, i.e., ranging from perfectly paved to pretty much no road at all!), accompanied by some threatening thunderstorms (in case our photos would give the impression it is always sunny in Peru, see the snapshot on the left :), and an overnight stopover in infamous Sicuani, we ultimately arrive in Cusco, heart of Inca territory.
Recalling some horrifying stories of travellers who, after 3 days of sweat & tears on the Inca Trail, were greeted with a thick curtain of fog without getting the slightest glimpse of Machu Picchu, we bet on the only sun & clouds symbol (tomorrow!) amidst a steady iPhone weather forecast of rain, and hurriedly arrange train tickets for Latin America's top tourist attraction, hoping for the best!
The Inca weather gods are with us, as we are treated to some atmospheric morning clouds (during our hike to the Montaña de Machu Picchu) while enjoying a sunny afternoon walk among the ruins, learning about the fascinating Inca culture and building techniques. We feel even more fortunate once we find out that three days later a Spanish tourist lost two teeth after being struck by lightening...
“It’s better to see something once than to hear about it a thousand times.”
“It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.”
Coming back to that Montaña... Young and adventurous as we are, we decide to climb the Machu Picchu mountain, to somewhat make up for not walking the Inca Trail (far beyond reach of last minute organisers as ourselves). Fifteen minutes, and about 500 rocky stairs, later, we tell ourselves that we gotta be more strategic in the choice of our hikes (which always turn out to be strenuous climbs!), still without hiking boots too (for me). After one and a half hours, and since at least 40 minutes "only 10 minutes away from the top" (according to the hikers coming down), Jorg is struck by a serious attack of vertigo, and calls it a climb. It takes my very best lawyering skills to virtually push him to the top, 700 meters above the Machu Picchu citadel (which now has about the size of a postal stamp). At slightly more than 3000 meters, we feel on top of the world! (Thank God it is only after coming down, and a photo of my signature jump, that we learned about a German tourist falling to his death from the top of the mountain three months before...).
No, unlike what I had feared, Machu Picchu did not disappoint. But we also discover some surprisingly impressive other Inca sites in the Sacred Valley around Cusco, such as Pisac and Tipon, as well as - to Jorg's pleasure - a true Inca tobogan (at Sacsayhuaman). After a couple of days, we protest passionately against capitalism with a Dutch speaking (!) local in the streets of Cusco. Oh, and our cultural immersion is of course only complete with some typical Andean chullos (hats with earflaps)!
