There’s a point on the Inca Trail when you suddenly forget the
accumulated aches and pains of four days’ hard slog across the
Andes. You’re standing at Inti Punku, the Sun Gate, the first
golden rays of dawn slowly bringing the jungle to life. Down
below, revealing itself in tantalizing glimpses as the early-
morning mist burns gradually away, are the distinctive ruins of
Machu Picchu, looking every bit the lost Inca citadel it was
until a century ago. The hordes of visitors that will arrive by
mid-morning are still tucked up in bed; for the next couple of
hours or so, it’s just you, your group and a small herd of
llamas, grazing indifferently on the terraced slopes. That first
unforgettable sunrise view from Inti Punku is just the start:
thanks to its remote location – hugging the peaks at 2500m and
hidden in the mountains some 120km from Cusco – Machu Picchu
escaped the ravages of the Spanish conquistadores and remained
semi-buried in the Peruvian jungle until Hiram Bingham, an
American explorer, “rediscover