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Scaling Putucusi, one of the familiar, jagged green shards that surround the fabled Machu Picchu, one thought keeps coming back to me: This country must not have strict personal injury laws.
If you hike, you know what I mean. Whether it's the White Mountains, Adirondacks, or the mighty Rockies, any well-traveled trail usually offers a lodge at the bottom, weather warnings, the occassional ranger, and a splattering of maps along the trail. There's a well-conceived plan to prevent hikers from getting lost or hurt.
But at 8,000 feet above sea level in the mountain highlands of Peru, no such structure exists. Despite being one of the most photographed and visited vacation spots on Earth, Machu Picchu and its surrounding peaks still remain a mystery buried deep in the Andes Mountains.
My fiancee and I found Putucusi much like Hiram Bingham re-discovered Machu Picchu -- through rumor. We took the four-hour train ride from Cusco, the nearest hub, through the mountains to Aguas Calientes, the makeshift town where travelers lodge before setting out for the ancient city. Arriving in the afternoon, we put off our trek to Machu Picchu until the next morning so we could arrive during the sunrise.
After grabbing lunch at one of the nondescript, numerous restaurants in town, we decided to kill the remainder of the day with a hike to explore the area. I read in a guidebook that a nearby peak offered a spectacular view of Machu Picchu, which otherwise remained hidden from sight in Aguas Calientes.
