Tom's Adventures in South-America: In the footsteps of Hiram Bingham...

It is a Friday in November, 5:30am and -after a race on the hundreds of big stone stairs- we arrive with quite a bunch of people from our group first at the gate of Machu Picchu... 10 minutes later the first bus with other tourists arrives. Mission accomplished: we have beaten the first bus and are in pole-position to enter the site when they will open the gates at 6:00am!

And hell yeah, it was worth the effort and sweat... these first 10-15 minutes in the morning walking around in an empty Machu Picchu, still covered in clouds of mist, are pure magic!! I am thinking about the last 4 beautiful days during which I have been walking the Salkantay trek with a group of about 20 like-minded people and 2 great guides; we have covered 100km and crossed a pass of 4700m to finally arrive at this truly amazing place! Machu Picchu is everything I expected and much more... The fact that slowly more and more people are walking around the site doesn't even bother me, I am just happy to be here at this stunning place! Huayna Picchu -the characteristic mountain which forms the backdrop of most Machu Picchu pictures- is the biggest part of the morning in the clouds, but when we begin to climb Huayna Picchu, the sun doubles its effort and breaks through the clouds. In some parts the climb is very steep and the stairs are very narrow, but we are rewarded with a crazy bird's-eye view of Machu Picchu and its surroundings! Just a perfect day, as Lou Reed would say...

After a weekend of rest and a Salkantay celebration party with our group back in Cusco (sorry no pictures of this, somehow they were all blurred;-) ) I am ready to hit the road again. This time I am going alone, a bag pack with food for three days, a tent and a sleeping bag... destination Choquequirao! Another Inca city discovered by Hiram Bingham in his search for the Lost Inca City. Choquequirao is also built in a stunning location high up the Andean mountains near Cusco, but there is no easy way to get there. And that's exactly why I want to go there! You need to walk for at least 1.5 days, descend 1500m in a canyon, cross the Apurimac river Indiana Jones' style by pulling yourself to the other side while sitting in a small crate, and then ascend again 1500m to reach the ruins... No need to say that there were not many tourists, in fact I was completely alone when I was visiting Choquequirao! What a big difference with the bus loads of tourists in Machu Picchu... Choquequirao is a much bigger city than Machu Picchu, but only 30% is visible, the rest is still covered in the jungle vegetation. Currently the Peruvian government is building a road towards Choquequirao and there are also plans to start building a cable car all the way up to the ruins... I am happy that I could still have the 'original experience'. Walking up to these Inca ruins, being lucky to have it all for myself and just wandering around the jungle and stumble up the different sectors of this city made it a very unique trip! Tom meets Hiram Bingham meets Indiana Jones :-)

And Indiana Jones was also my alter-ego in my very last days in Peru: I made a short trip into the Selva , the Amazonian jungle. A 5-hour boat trip on the Tambopata river brought me in the Tambopata reserve, home to many exotic birds, jaguars, tapirs, caymans, and of course all the varieties of fruit you can imagine! However, jungle stays jungle... the animals, flowers and trees are magnificent, but it is also so hot and humid and there are so many mosquitos, that I leave it to the real biologists and jungle lovers to spend more time there :-)

Up (down) to Bolivia now!!

The first camp site on the Salkantay trek

Apu (mountain-mountain god) Salkantay gives me magical powers...

Time to perform an Inca ritual on the Salkantay pass: blowing on three coca leaves in the direction of the most important apus (mountain gods) to thank them and then making a wish and placing the coca leaves under a stone you have carried up from lower in the valley.

Day 3 of the Salkantay trek: daydreaming...

First views of Machu Picchu early in the morning!

Pure magic!!

Yes, indeed, Huayna Picchu is out of the clouds!

Happy to have some family up there as well! I received some applause from other tourists for this picture :-) Thanks 'Bende van Schelle' en 'Bende van den Donk'!

Bird's-eye view on Machu Picchu from Huayna Picchu

Plaza de Armas in Cusco, featuring both the Peruvian and the Inca flag.

Also in the streets of Cusco you can still find many examples of the Inca stone work: no cement is used, the stones are cut such that they fit perfectly together... and are able to withstand earthquakes!