The Slow Climb

By Douglass Stinson

The narrow cobblestone paths girded by simple stone walls ring with the sound of mountain waters rushing through ancient canals. The scent of wood fires fills the air as villagers begin to stir. A woman dressed in traditional colorful skirts leans out to check the street. Above her, mysterious Incan ruins look back down over the valley. It is dawn, and Ollantaytambo appears the same as it has for centuries.

The village, along with the ruins of the same name, lies above Peru's Urubamba River, halfway between the city of Cuzco and the far better-known ruins of Machu Picchu. It is among the few remaining communities still laid out as the Incas planned: by night its residents sleep behind inward-slanting stone doorframes characteristic of Incan design; by day they farm corn and potatoes on the immense terraces their forebears carved out of the Andean slopes.

The 20th century doesn't arrive until after lunch, when the tourists show up like clockwork, each group spending about two hours. Typically, they ignore the town and climb the ruins instead, returning to their hotel in Cuzco to rest before rushing off to see Machu Picchu on the last day of what is usually a three-day tour. All the while they complain of the altitude sickness that often comes with the area's 13,000-ft. elevation. They have seen the famous ruins, but they are probably missing what is still alive in the Sacred Valley of the Inca, cradle of one of the world's great civilizations.

A better way to take in these breathtaking sights and absorb the rich culture is to stretch your visit to this aerie in the Peruvian Andes. Cuzco is worth a few nights' stay. A good choice there is the Hotel Monasterio, a newly converted Franciscan monastery. Chants echo through the interior courtyards at breakfast, and guests can stroll through the archways and choose between a monkish cell or plusher accommodations.

But to absorb the natural scale and human achievement on display here, travelers must slow down. Staying in the valley offers a more relaxed, more contemplative trip than staying in Cuzco for the entire visit. Indeed, time flows at a different rate along the Urubamba River, and getting in the groove will bring greater appreciation for the valley. Trips based out of several hotels in the town of Urubamba are beginning to gain favor among visitors. One spot, the Posada del Inca, offers beautiful gardens, resident llamas and views of peaks. Hikes and horseback rides are available, along with the traditional stops at the ruins in Pisac, Ollantaytambo and, of course, the train ride to Machu Picchu.

On my dawn walk in Ollantaytambo, I trekked to the edge of the town and followed the earthen canal back through small fields to an area known as the royal baths. The 700-year-old watercourse speeds alongside a walkway before dipping underground to re-emerge over a huge cut stone with small man-made channels that project two cascading spouts of cool, clear water. Above, a young couple claims rights to the day's first ascent of the terraced ruins. For a moment I imagine what it might have been like to live under the Incan lords. Later my guide and I travel up a dirt track through a side valley to Huitoc, a tiny village even further dwarfed by the mountains than Ollantaytambo. The men of Huitoc take turns serving as porters along the nearby Inca Trail, sprinting on rubber-tire sandals or ragged sneakers past winded trekkers while carrying huge boxes and packs. Today is the fair, and the menfolk have gathered to barter for goods while women sit in circles, gossiping and sharing home-brewed chicha, or corn beer. We hike above the straw-roofed adobe huts, along the terraces that stretch across the face of the slope and 1,000 feet up, as impressive as any of the more frequently visited ruins. Clouds dip in over the peaks across the valley as I sit listening to my guide speak of growing up as an Indian under the hacienda system, a form of feudalism first put in place by the Spaniards.

The contemplative tour attracts its share of New Age types and spiritual seekers. A woman I met said she had stayed two weeks with a shaman, working on neurolinguistic programming. You need not rely on mystical powers, however, to find this a special place.

--By Douglass Stinson