Cusco and Machu Picchu

Getting there

1. Lima → Cuzco Fly to Cusco About an hour and a quarter from Lima, by PROMPERÚ's reckoning.
2. el soroche Take the first day slowly Cusco lies at 3,400 metres and altitude sickness gives no warning. Guides hand out coca tea and tell you to walk slowly.
3. Ollantaytambo Bus or car to Ollantaytambo About an hour and a half.
4. el tren Train to Machu Picchu About two hours; the Urubamba river runs below, between the mountains.
5. a pie Or walk the Camino del Inca Many go up on foot along the Inca Trail.

• Cusco lies at 3,400 metres; altitude sickness, el soroche, gives no warning, and guides give coca tea and advise walking slowly on the first day.
• One route: fly Lima to Cusco (about 1 h 15), bus or car to Ollantaytambo (about 1 h 30), then train to Machu Picchu (about 2 h).
• Tourists arrive by train from Cusco; many walk up along the Inca Trail.

Cuzco está a tres mil cuatrocientos metros, y el soroche no avisa.

Cuzco lies at three thousand four hundred metres, and altitude sickness gives no warning.

Rodrigo les da mate de coca y les dice que caminen despacio el primer día.

Rodrigo gives them coca tea and tells them to walk slowly on the first day.

Muchos suben a pie por el Camino del Inca.

Many walk up along the Inca Trail.

A day with a licensed guide

what

Rodrigo speaks Spanish, Quechua and English. He studied three years and passed history exams for his licence; guiding without one is illegal in Peru, and at the ruins they ask for the card.

when

His day begins at half past seven at the hotel. High season is May to September, when it does not rain; in January and February there is hardly any work, and many guides drive taxis or farm.

where

From the Plaza de Armas down to the Qorikancha, the temple of the sun, and to Hatun Rumiyoc street, where everyone photographs the twelve-angled stone.

who

Groups who arrive breathless. The first question is not about history but about who has a headache.

why

He explains the same wall four times a day and looks for a new way each time. At home he speaks Quechua again.

• An official tourism guide in Cusco needs a licence, which takes three years of study and history exams; guiding without one is illegal.
• High season runs May to September, when it does not rain; in the rainy months there is far less work.
• The twelve-angled stone in Hatun Rumiyoc street fits its neighbours without mortar on twelve sides.

Lo primero no es la historia: es preguntar quién durmió mal y quién tiene dolor de cabeza.

The first thing is not history: it is asking who slept badly and who has a headache.

En la calle Hatun Rumiyoc enseña la piedra de doce ángulos, y todos sacan fotos.

In Hatun Rumiyoc street he shows the twelve-angled stone, and everyone takes photos.

La temporada alta va de mayo a septiembre, cuando no llueve.

The high season runs from May to September, when it does not rain.

The city in the clouds

Machu Picchu stands at 2,400 metres in the Andes, an Inca city built in the fifteenth century; PROMPERÚ, Peru's tourism board, dates it to around 1450 under the Inca Pachakuteq. Houses and temples are stone, set together without mortar so closely that not even a knife fits between them. Green terraces held maize and potatoes. In the morning the clouds come and the city is in the sky.

The name is Quechua: old mountain. The site was brought to the world's attention by Hiram Bingham in 1911, and is today a UNESCO World Heritage site.

• Machu Picchu is an Inca city of the fifteenth century at 2,400 metres in the Andes; its stones sit together without mortar, and its terraces grew maize and potatoes.
• The name is Quechua and means "old mountain".
• Peru's tourism board dates its construction to around 1450 under the Inca Pachakuteq, and its scientific rediscovery to Hiram Bingham on 24 July 1911; it is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Está a dos mil cuatrocientos metros de altura.

It stands at two thousand four hundred metres.

Las piedras están juntas sin cemento, y no entra ni un cuchillo.

The stones sit together without mortar, and not even a knife fits between them.

Por la mañana hay nubes, y la ciudad está en el cielo.

In the morning there are clouds, and the city is in the sky.

El nombre es quechua: "montaña vieja".

The name is Quechua: "old mountain".

Words for the altitude

el dolor de cabeza

the headache

caminar despacio

to walk slowly

el carné

the licence card

las ruinas

the ruins

subir / bajar

to go up / to go down

en tren

by train

Empiezan en la Plaza de Armas y bajan al Qorikancha, el templo del sol.

They start in the Plaza de Armas and go down to the Qorikancha, the temple of the sun.

Los turistas llegan en tren desde Cuzco.

Tourists arrive by train from Cuzco.