Hidden in the Andes Mountains of Peru are amazing sanctuaries ancient and new. That’s good news for those who want to tour one of the wonders of the world but travel, dine and lodge in luxury.
On a cloud-piercing mountain 7,970 feet high, Machu Picchu mesmerizes with palaces, baths, temples, residences and plazas built in the early 1400s by the Incas and 60 percent intact, said tour guide German Perez. Serving as spiritual sanctuary and outpost for reading the skies for agriculture, Machu Picchu (Quechua for “Old Mountain”) displays architectural genius. The building blocks, sculpted from granite on the mountain, were angled for earthquake-resistance and so precisely fitted that, after centuries, no gaps appear in the mortarless joints.
Escaping notice of Spanish conquistadors, the mountaintop city was revealed to the world in 1911 by an American named Hiram Bingham. Don’t want to hike four days to get there? Travel in style by crossing the Sacred Valley on the Hiram Bingham luxury train. A ticket includes gourmet lunch and dinner, bus service up-mountain to Machu Picchu and back, and tea time at Sanctuary Lodge. The train and bus provide surreal views of the Andes carpeted with velvety brown and green and capped with ice.
Travelers seeking personal sanctuary have a new Sacred Valley base camp. Since opening this spring, Tambo del Inka has earned 5-star ratings and best-hotel raves from reviewers on travel Web sites. Soaring design showcases mountain views, decor soothes with natural elements, attentive service and beautiful rooms make visitors feel like Inca nobles, and fine cuisine features regional foods and pisco, the national liquor. The two-level, multipooled spa offers Andean chocolate facials and a regenerative Incas quinoa treatment using the high-protein indigenous grain enriching many Peruvian dishes.
Steps from the resort in the old mountain village of Urubamba, residents rise early to gather sacks of fragrant herbs such as cilantro and load hand-dyed handcrafted textiles on pedal-powered tricyclos.
Adjusting to the high elevation is aided by the local coca tea and the tradition of placing coca leaves along the gumline, explains tour guide Jaime Vasquez. The leaves have a faint spinach flavor. These forms, he says, don’t have psychoactive effects. Here, euphoria comes from the sky-high mountain views.
