Are You Up to Machu Picchu?

Our first view of Machu Picchu

First and most important, Machu Picchu is worth getting there. Not just a marvel of technology and engineering, it's breathtakingly beautiful. Also breathtaking is the notion that 6oo years ago someone decided to haul several tons of rock up to the top of a mountain so high that you're now wondering if you can manage walking up. Nearly 8000 feet above sea level in a valley between Machu Picchu and Huayna Picchu, the Inca conceived a Temple town with guardhouses to detect entry from any direction and terraces to grow food for a population of 750 to 1000.

There are many ways to make the assent to this marvelous place. Most start with a flight to Lima and a connection to another flight to Cusco.  The elevation requires that you drink lots of water, limited coffee and alcohol (even though you will have many offers of Pisco sours) and try to keep your electrolytes balanced. The key to tolerating this altitude appears to be speed. Slow down, don't push. Jimmy, our guide, held us back-we could have walked faster, but he explained that we could do more if we went more slowly. He was right.

From Cusco, the Inca trail can be hiked in three and a half hours. By someone with lungs the size of Volkswagens and legs like pistons. He will probably wear sandals. All the mountain people do. Assuming their clients are not built like the locals, most trekking expeditions take four days; some allow six. There is also a two-day trek that covers the last part of the trail from Ollantaytambo.

All sorts of people make it to the top!

Demand has been so high that Peruvian officials have begun to manage the use of the Inca trail-no more than 500 people including porters and guides can be on the trail at any one time. However, there are other ways to approach Machu Picchu. Besides the Inca trail, there are trails the Inca used. National Geographic has come up with at least six alternate ways to get there. A group called Mountain Lodges of Peru leads people in by foot or horseback. Guests stay in lovely cabins with one hour massages available for $50, three course meals with wine for lunch and dinner and a horse or mule to carry their packs.

We elected to go by train from Cusco to Aguas Calientes and a bus up to the top. We saw one woman in a wheelchair and many people I'd consider elderly and infirm. Machu Picchu isn't just for buff 25 year olds. Depending on your level of fitness, ability to deal with altitude and willingness to sleep in tents, you can pick what works best for you. Now that I've seen the mountain and walked on the trail, I'd be willing to trek in. I can picture myself strolling through that Sun Gate at dawn, ready to experience Machu Picchu like an Inca and then have a good meal and a shower.