SITTING on a high ledge we await the sunrise at wondrous Machu Picchu in Peru's High Andes. Several groups are also here to tap into the vibrations of this ancient city hidden at an altitude of 2,350m.
The morning mist shrouds the steep green terraces and stony walls under towering Huayna Picchu, the Young Mountain.
The Lost City of the Incas rulers, built around 1450, has us lost in thought. Why did the Inca rulers build, occupy and abandon Machu Picchu? How did it remain a secret during 300 years of Spanishrule? Was it a religious centre for educating virgins, an astronomical school or a royal Inca hacienda?
Sunrise dissipates the mist along with our reflective mood and reveals Machu Picchu in its full glory.
Lima
Our Andean encounter took us from Lima to Cuzco, Machu Picchu and Lake Titicaca (Puno). Lima, the capital, fans out from an imposing centre of colonial buildings with beautifully carved wooden balconies.
The Anthropology and Archaeological Museum introduced us to a history studded with stories of Spanish conquistadores who had arrived in search of gold.
Cuzco
Cuzco, an hour's flight from Lima, is one of the world's highest and most beautiful cities. The rapid ascent to 3,400m (11,000ft above sea level) could cause altitude sickness but at magnificent Hotel Monasterio we could call room service to enrich the suite with oxygen.
The former monastery (1595) became a grand Orient-Express hotel in 1999. Its Baroque chapel and ancient cloisters are unique features in one of the world's best hotels. Cuzco's red-tiled roofs form a picturesque collage along mountain slopes.
Wandering through the lanes we observed a unique blend of Inca and Spanish cultures. Boys trailed us with paintings for sale and Quechua women offered silver trinkets and knitwear.
We visited the imposing 17th century Cathedral and La Compania (church) at the Plaza de Armas. At the Temple of
the Sun, an important Inca site, our imagination re-gilded the excavated walls with Inca gold.
Colossal hilltop fortress Sacsayhuaman is a powerful locale where ceremonial animal sacrifices still occur. At the temple-fortress Ollantaytambo, admiration for the Incas mounted with each steep step.
How were the huge stones hauled from mountains 6km away? How had the isolated people acquired the technical
skills to create such architectural wonders?
Closing our eyes, we traced the seamless joints in stony walls, an incredible Inca art seen in temples, tombs and homes.
Machu Picchu
Cuzco is the gateway to Machu Picchu and the nearby Sacred Valley. To reach Machu Picchu, one can hike the famous Inca Trail and camp along the way, ride Peru Rail's Vistadome or travel in luxury on the Hiram Bingham, a Pullman-style luxury train named after the man who discovered Machu Picchu in 1911.
Swift images whizzed past as we travelled - adobe homes, patchwork quilts of corn, potato, beans and quinoa fields, farmers tilling Inca terraces and women carrying babies in colourful ponchos.
Midpoint, at Ollantaytambo, women vendors in top hats and full skirts sold us woven handbags, dolls and rugs. The train then raced along the raging, red Urubamba River, taking the curves and tunnels before emerging in the woods.
The final ascent by bus involved a series of exciting switchbacks along the steep mountain.
Early Peruvians were profoundly knowledgeable about the elements and had strong mystical attitudes - wonderfully
evident in the spiritual vibes one feels in this amazing urban structure of temples, ritual places and 100 flights of stone steps. The city was abandoned by the Incas in the final phase of a splendid 3,000-year culture.
Puno and Lake Titicaca
Back in Cuzco, we boarded the Andean Explorer for a nine-hour journey to Puno's famous Lake Titicaca.
The train passed through regions of staggering beauty with rivers, mountains, meadows and herds of vicuna and alpaca. We wined and dined and were entertained by Peruvian dances, weaving demonstrations and fashion shows.
The journey ended at Puno on the shores of Lake Titicaca, the world's highest navigable lake (at 3,855m) where the Uros Indians live in seclusion on floating isles of compacted totora leaves.
A boat ride to the isles gave us an insight into a community that lived by fishing, bartering and selling crafts to tourists. Equally enchanting were the beautiful, mountainous island of Tequile where weaving is the livelihood of the Quechua Indians.
Peru had drawn us into its magnetic field like few places in the world could.
For more information: www.perutourism. com; www.orient-expresshotels.com; www.perurail.com
