Magical Machu Picchu
Sometimes you travel around the world only to find the things you went in search of are a bit of a anticlimax.
But a four-hour winding train journey through Peru’s sacred Andean valley will take you to one spot that is guaranteed not to disappoint.
I was not brave enough to do the five-day Inca trail hike through the mountains to reach this sacred spot, but why would I when there is a perfectly good public transport system to take me there.
In truth, just walking around the site is exhausting so I respect anyone adventurous enough to trek the 50 odd miles in true 15th century Inca style.
There are plenty of intrepid travelers doing it, equipped with walking sticks and laden down with rucksacks. The train taking those less adventurous to Machu Picchu passes trail points which count down the days to the top.
Photographs of Machu Picchu don’t do it justice, and of course it would be foolish to expect them to.
Nothing can describe the moment, after climbing steep stone steps to the the viewing point, when the stunning picture opens up before you.
It is everything everybody who has been says it is, a truly magical place.
Although located high up in the mountains, it is actually lower than the city of Cusco - the starting point for visitors so the effects of the altitude are slightly less.
It was also much warmer than I was expecting, and much more so than the market lady who the day before had insisted I buy an alpaca jumper, hat and gloves for the trip said it would be - as we say she probably had big windows and saw me coming.
The actual Machu Piccu historical tour takes around two hours as a guide explains the significance of the ancient Inca ruins which were discovered by American explorer Hiram Bingham in 1911.
I say discovered, but according to our expert, Mr Bingham was more intent on pillaging the place, greedily relieving it of gold and treasures left by the Incas.
He was apparently less than transparent about the spoils he uncovered during excavation of the site and much of it is now either being kept at Yale University, in Connecticut, or is still missing.
Some people think Bingham stashed much away without the knowledge of any authority, another theory is that when the Incas left they took their treasure with them to the Amazon basin, and that there are still undiscovered lost cities of gold.
This is a conundrum only time and research will reveal the answer to.
Visitors to the ruins can see first-hand where the incas lived and worked, and how they used to interpret time using primitive sun dials carved from rocks.
They also shaped colossal lumps of granite to mark patterns in the stars, and grew their crops depending on the position of the sun whose shadows let them know the seasons.
There is a deep history at this site even though the Incas only lived here for around 60 years.
There is also an energy, maybe its something to do with the stunning location, the way the clouds hover over the mountains, or perhaps it is really a shadow of something ancient and sacred left behind - who knows?
Like most places in the world, a five minute walk away from the attraction leads you into the land of coffee shops, restaurants and souvenir shops.
The base of Machu Piccu is home to a vast choice of budget traveller hostels, bars and the odd hotel.
The question is, should this place have been turned into a commercial tourist attraction?
It’s a hard one and I can’t really comment as I turned up camera in hand after a pretty comfortable journey courtesy of Peru Rail along with about 300 other tourists from around the world.
Maybe this is the price for keeping something like this ‘alive’ and accessible to thousands.
In any case it is a beautiful and thought-evoking experience, and one I am glad to tick off my to-visit list.
And Paddington enjoyed it too...
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