Travel

Editor's note: This is the third in a three-part series about a recent trip that David Boozer took to the Amazon River in Brazil and Machu Picchu in Peru.

Five hundred years ago, Cusco was the center of the sprawling Incan Empire in what is now Peru. At its peak, it was a sophisticated metropolis with paved streets, water systems and no poverty. Its temples, filled with gold and silver, were pillaged when Pizarro and his conquistadors invaded the city in 1538, however, much of the splendor remain.

A friend gave me some high-altitude pills to start taking two days before we were to arrive in Cusco, which is 10,909 feet above sea level. Once in the city, I purchased additional pills. And each time that I passed through our hotel lobby I had some coco tea which is the very best thing for altitude sickness. Fortunately, I did not have any problems.

After settling in to the hotel, we took a walking tour of Cusco. We explored the cathedral as well as the Qoricancha Sun Temple, which was the city's most important ceremonial structure during the Incan era. Historical records of the time note that its walls were once covered with sheets of gold studded with emeralds and turquoise; when the sunlight streamed through the windows, the reflections off the precious metal was blinding.

On Monday we motored to a rather large and important Incan site which, for some unknown reason, the Spanish Conquerors named Saesayhuaman, which means "sexy woman." The huge rocks, some of which were about 15 feet high, were fitted together with such precision that a piece of paper would not slide between them.

Lunch was at a local upper middle-class family's home. Guinea pig was the main course. It was cooked whole and displayed for us to see. We did not have much of an appetite for it but according to our tour director, it was served only for dignitaries.

We got up early the next morning, as usual, to catch a train to the Urabamu Gorge, where the village created by the discovery of Machu Picchu is located and where you can find hotels for visitors. Usually people visit Machu Picchu on a day trip, which makes for a rather hectic pace. But we made it a two-day trip.

We had lunch at a local restaurant before proceeding to the ruins — 6 1/2 miles away and about a half-hour bus ride that follows a zigzag, single lane road up a very steep mountain.

After climbing a dirt walkway and negotiating high steps to a high vantage point, our tour director gave us a first look at Machu Picchu. It was certainly compelling, looking at the fabled "Lost City of the Incas," discovered in 1911 by a Yale archaeologist (and later a U.S. senator) Hiram Bingham. Actually, the locals in the valley led him to the site. Subsequent discoveries (such as his later unearthing of the Inca Trail and the 1941 discovery of nearby Huayna Picchu on the summit of a sharp peak behind the ruins of Machu Picchu ) suggests that Machu Picchu was not a lost city but rather a part of an entire lost region. More than 172 tombs have been excavated and, in 2002, Peruvian archaeologists uncovered the first complete burial, unearthing a woman's skeleton, bronze pins and a clay pot.

We spent four hours climbing up and over the ruins visiting such sites as Ritual Baths, the Palace of the Princess, the Main Fountain and the Temple of the Sun, all part of what certainly was a mysterious civilization. We were seemingly either walking uphill or down and I admit that I was tired at the end of the day. Thank goodness that I usually work out three days a week or I for one could not have made it. However, being a glutton for punishment, I awoke the next morning at 3:30 a.m. to join two ladies to go beyond the ruins.

We hiked with a guide up a section of the Inca Trail, passing by a sacrifice area and sometimes climbing over boulders. Our goal was the "Gate of the Sun" at the peak of the mountain, where on one side waters flow to the Pacific and on the other side to the Amazon and on to the Atlantic. At that location was a small Incan ruin set in the mountain pass. The entire way we were in the clouds until about 20 minutes after we reached the top. We were certainly feeling disappointed after such a climb to be "socked in," but the clouds parted for some very breathtaking views of Machu Picchu and all of a sudden it became well worth the climb.

Upon returning almost down to the upper reaches of Machu Picchu, we allowed our guide to talk us into a hike to the "Inca Bridge." He said it was "only up there." An hour later, after conquering a vertical trail, and again crawling over large boulders, we arrived at the point where we viewed the bridge, which was constructed of wood and followed the face of a cliff down to a city that has existed since the days of the Incan Empire. Some years back, however, the bridge collapsed with hikers, and that portion of the trail was closed. It appeared that the bridge was still intact but we had come as far as we would go, having enjoyed as much of this hiking business as we wanted.

We returned to Cusco that afternoon. I arose very early the next morning, this time to catch a flight back to Lima, arriving mid-morning. I checked into a room for the day and repacked one more time. Back to the hotel for a rest, I purchased a phone card and called Pat. It was good to hear her voice. We left the hotel in a group at 8:30 p.m. for the airport, where I waited for a 1:20 a.m. flight arriving in Atlanta at 8 a.m. The repeated early mornings arisings were all worth it and I did not need prescription pain medication nor did I wade in the Amazon mud.