Second in a series about the wonders of Peru. Machu Picchu was chosen one of the new Seven Wonders of the World in a popular international vote announced July 7. The other six are Petra in Jordan, Chichen Itza in Mexico, Christ the Redeemer statue in Brazil, Rome’s Colosseum, India’s Taj Mahal and the Great Wall of China.



Just show up if you like. Direct flights to Lima, Peru or connections through Miami are easy to access and tour guides can help you find Machu Picchu. But if you prefer extra special experiences in Peru on top of the already-extraordinary wonders, prepare ahead.

I’m convinced that’s why I met an Inca healer on the path joining Machu Picchu to the ancient Inca Trail, and shared in a ceremony at the sacred Pachamama rock high above the retreat for nobility rediscovered in the Andes almost 100 years ago.

The books I read, the goals I set, the hopes I repeated clued me in ahead of time to the energy for which Peru is famous. Can’t say I understood it, but I felt it.

The Inca built this urban retreat in the 15th century entirely of stone, massive and fitted together without room for a feather in between. Every space has a purpose, and a harmony.

You can hike up or take a bus from the town at the bottom (helicopter access was stopped in 1998 because vibrations damaged the buildings) and explore Machu Picchu on your own, but it would be hard without a guide to figure out all the harmony stories of trapezoid-shaped windows facing mountains, summer or winter solstice shadows and pools of water aligned to reflect the sun to indicate planting times.

The hiking is incredible, and challenging, but doesn’t need to deter would-be visitors. Motor coaches suitable for long journeys careen along the paved switchbacks from the base town of Aguas Calientes all day long with barely a gap between one bus and the next.

You can’t see Machu Picchu from the town so the bus is mandatory for a first view. Startling. And different from all those National Geographic photos which were taken from up above.

I saw people determined to experience this place: lifted on the bus, and off again to use a wheelchair within the ancient Citadel.

Others moved slowly, knowing how to pace their steps and enjoying the many stone walls just right for sitting and staring.

Every view is startling, especially the ones straight down when you stand a bit close to the edge. Edges are as abundant as stone ledges at Machu Picchu, in the urban area where researchers say 1,000 people lived, and in the agricultural terraces where llama graze abundantly.

My Peruvian guide Sheila Robles Ocampo said the terraces were not sufficient for community crops so food was planted along the eight trails into Old Mountain, the translation of the Quechua word naming this place.

I didn’t find any food when I hiked some of those trails above Machu Picchu, but I saw some orchids; Sheila the guide had told me to watch for the 500 varieties of 180 different orchid types.

I hardly found my feet when I walked the cloud forest trail to the now-closed Inca Drawbridge. The early morning fog was thick, the clouds were low and I didn’t have a hiking partner. My sights were set on a more difficult hike for the afternoon so I needed this route first to test my skills at altitude 7,872 feet before I went higher.

At Machu Picchu, the Guardhouse is pointed out often as the entryway for the 15th century visitors arriving on the trails. For those arriving now from the town below, the Guardhouse stands out as the highest point.

Until you pass it heading higher to the intersection with the Inca Trail that is. Try that hike slowly, with lots of pauses. People who hire guides instead of trekking alone as I did sometimes refresh with the small oxygen canister the guide lugs along.

That’s where I met the healer. He spoke only the native Quechua language but sensed my frustration on the steep, rocky, muddy path I had chosen toward Inti Punku — the Sun Gate. Wrong path, he pointed out.

Armed with anise he plucked from my new route, mint leaves from the edge of the path overlooking the Urubamba River circling Machu Picchu and believing myself stronger because of the ancient Inca ceremonies he performed with me at the Pachamama rock altar, I was ready to go.

I walked to the top, the Sun Gate, which is the arrival point for hearty souls who hike and camp four days to get there from Cusco.

My four travel partners — a historical society photographer from Oklahoma, a photojournalist from Chicago and a writer from Rhode Island, plus tour organizer Hans Kuppers from Baltimore and Lima — doubted my tale at dinner that night, certain I could only have reached a lower gate.

Thank goodness for instant digital photos. I tried not to gloat but truth of the matter is I probably still am.

Will I attempt to hike high above Machu Picchu again when I return, which I surely want to do? Aging knees will decide that.

For certain, I want to meet more of the people in the town below. Aguas Calientes is its name, or used to be. Marketers were changing that to Machu Picchu Pueblo when I was there in April; I fear the advertising impact on this little community and its people of limited means now that the Citadel is an official wonder.

I washed with some of the residents in the public baths, found after a steep walk high above the downtown stretch of tiny family-owned restaurants serving interesting and tasty dishes. The elegant baths of Baden-Baden, Germany were my introduction to community waters years ago, and my afternoon in the baths in Budapest with survivors of wars and Communism was a highlight of being in Eastern Europe so I figured Machu Picchu’s baths would matter to me.

I was soaked when I got there, trudging in a downpour during the last week of the rainy season. Some of the pools were warm, some cold fed by the mystical Urubamba River, which flows south to north in Peru. I didn’t spot any other tourists but nodded and smiled to local families of all ages.

I was soaking; they were shampooing.

The entry ticket lists the proportions of the medicinal properties of these waters: magnesium, sodium, potassium, zinc, boron and words I can’t translate.

Local folks live in small apartments near the baths; visitors book rooms in a historic sanctuary linked to the Inkaterra Association, a non-profit devoted to conserving the biodiversity of this cloud forest and other spots in Peru’s Andes Mountains and Amazon Rain Forest.

I didn’t discover the Machu Picchu Hotel in this lush sanctuary until lunch my last day so I skipped dessert to explore the orchid trails with the naturalist; 372 native orchid species bloom here.

At my house it’s a big deal when we see two hummingbirds at the same time. This Inkaterra land has 18 species eating together, including the rare green and whites, and swordbills which reach deep into long flowers.

The naturalist said to come back from June through November for the best bird watching; 157 species have been seen on the hotel grounds. In April I could easily spot the Peruvian national bird called the Cock of the Rock.

Endangered spectacled bears are rescued and brought here in the very first phase of a national project to save these big tree-living mammals found only in the South American Andes.

Pre-Inca petroglyphs appear on these trails and ceremonies like mine at Pachamama rock can be scheduled under the stars.

The hotel rooms are lovely too, and family friendly; the dining room is excellent. I have to guess about the dessert.

Machu Picchu may be the official “wonder of the world” but the people and the places at its base and the other end of the hiking trails and train to Cusco are exceptional too.

Peru is a place of gentle people living in harmony, and in balance with the essence they call Pachamama — Mother Earth.