Words | Jon Reid
In the Footsteps of the Incas, Cradle of Civilization is the term given to sites where civilization is supposed to have emerged from. Most people think of early Egyptian times or ancient Mesopotamia (Iraq), and few put Peru in the same category, but it is officially one of the Cradles of Civilization.
This was on my mind as I got to investigate Peru’s most famous civilization - the Incas. I began at the possible birthplace of the Inca, Lake Titicaca. It is South America’s largest lake and also the highest, navigable lake in the world. At 3800 meters above sea level, this altitude is no joke. I wish I could tell you about the wonders of the lake, but unfortunately, I spent all my time in bed with altitude sickness. It’s a difficult affliction to describe as it sounds just like man flu, but it's way more serious.
At first, all I had was a major headache and dizziness coupled with impaired thinking. For example, I left my passport, loose change and wallet on the airport counter and walked away. Walking up even one flight of stairs pretty much floored me. By day 3, I had developed fluid on my lungs and couldn’t go more than 5 minutes without coughing. At this stage, I visited a pharmacist who gave me a pack of Diamox. This made me well enough to do a short tour, so I visited the Uros Floating Islands. The floating islands are home to a tribe of people that spend their entire lives floating on Lake Titicaca.
This only sunk in when I saw the floating islands. They are made of reeds, woven together with grass on the top. An entire island would fit into a London bus.
Although there are hundreds of islands, the Uros spend their most of their lives on one island (which has to be rebuilt every year). After suffering high up at Lake Titica, it was a relief to be flying down to Cusco, the old Inca capital which is “only” at 3400 meters above sea level. Breathing in Cusco felt glorious compared to Lake Titicaca.
It felt like an invisible force was pushing the air into my oxygen starved lungs. Cusco may have been the Inca capital, but don’t expect to see ruins and archaeological sites. It is a vibrant, growing city. After the Spanish conquered the Incas, they built their monuments on the Inca foundations. Consequently, Cusco Old Town has a European feel to it with a distinct Incan influence. I really enjoyed Cusco Old Town. It is full of large squares, cathedrals, museums and grand villas. It has a Bohemian feel to it with plenty of art galleries and artisan stores.
My favourite site was an Inca fortress called Sacsayhuaman. It is pronounced ‘sexy woman’ which I chuckled at every time I passed a tour guide giving their tour the run down.
It is an engineering masterpiece with huge rocks fitting together perfectly with no cement. Best of all was the view over Cusco. Cusco is a fantastic city, well worth more than the two days I had to explore. The area around Cusco is spectacular and is littered with Inca sites, including one of the Seven Wonders of the World, Machu Picchu, which is why I only had 2 days in the city. The plan was to leave Cusco early and to take a slow drive to Ollantaytambo where we had a train ticket to Machu Picchu at 2pm. The evening before we left, we heard that there was going to be a strike the following day, so we left even earlier than planned, at 3am.
I promptly fell asleep only to be rudely awoken at 5:30am, surrounded by men with machetes who proceeded to slash 3 of our car’s tyres. I looked around and noticed about 10 other vehicles in the same predicament - 1.5 hours from Cusco, no vehicles on the road and about 2 hour’s direct drive to our destination. I suggested to my guide that we walk towards Ollantaytambo and maybe we could find a taxi. I guess I was too tired to be thinking straight, but after 5 miles, we came across a small town which had one taxi. After a bit of negotiation, the driver said he would take us via back routes to avoid the road blocks. We had to pay him about 100 solace (£25) which was next to nothing considering the journey – high mountain passes across wet, clay roads that seemed more like cattle paths than roads. I wouldn’t attempt the journey in a Land Rover.
This guy had a 20 year old, 2 wheel drive no name brand vehicle. To make up for a lack of power, he drove at a crazy speed. My guide and two Italian woman sat at the back and they screamed at the driver for the entire journey. Despite this situation, I was mostly oblivious, I was too busy taken in the most breath taking scenery I have ever witnessed.
The driver had to drop us off about 8 miles from our destination due to a bridge being washed away which left us with another long hike with heavy camera gear. The up side was that I was still alive and would make it to Ollantaytambo before my 2pm train. In my next post, I’ll continue this journey to finally arrive at the wondrous Machu Picchu.
