Virtuoso Life - May/June 2008 - (Page 110) STONEWALLING Love a good Mystery? The Power of Machu Picchu grows stronger with each trip. HISTORY BY JEFF GREENWALD alking onto the platform at Ollantaytambo, hefting my bag onto the lapis-blue coach that will carry me deep into Peru’s Sacred Valley, I feel a visceral sense of being on a journey. Schoolgirls with clear skin laugh at me through the train windows; a stocky Andean woman in a felt hat strolls beside the carriages selling huge ears of corn. The whistle blows; steam explodes from the locomotive; the wheels begin to turn. It’s as if the entire tableau were lifted from a classic film or a Kipling novel. Ninety minutes from Cuzco by car or roughly three hours by train, “Ollo” (as the locals call it) serves as the gateway to Machu Picchu. Narrow-gauge trains leave the station frequently, taking two hours to reach Aguas Calientes, the busy tourist hub near the base of the famous ruins. Adventurers can also get to the ruins by foot via the Inca Trail: a grueling, glorious three-day hike. W I’m glad I did it that way – once – because this is one of those great train rides, a passage through storybook territory. Precipitous foothills and the wild, turbulent Urubamba River run beside the rails, vanishing as we dip through narrow tunnels. A waterfall feathers from a distant precipice. To our right, the cliff is close enough to touch. It’s a vertical garden, a living mural of vines, cacti, and wildflowers. This time, my base for exploring the area will be Inkaterra’s 85-cottage Machu Picchu Hotel, a nice upgrade from the tent camps on the Inca Trail. Even this train, with its panoramic skylights, seems to anticipate a general rise in my comfort. Stewards in pressed shirts glide through the car, offering coffee and maté coca: coca-leaf tea, which helps acclimation to the altitude. In no time, it seems, we reach our destination. There’s no sense of anticlimax; if a ride like this is going to end anywhere, Machu Picchu would be the place. 110 V I RT U O S O L I F E
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