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From about 1300 to 1532, a major
part of South America prospered under
the enormous empire of the
Incas. The Incas occupied a vast territory from Ecuador to northern Chile
and Argentina.
A large part of the Inca's success was due to their
excellent communications system, made possible by an extensive and
stunningly well developed road network.
The Spanish conquerors were astonished with the
perfection and finish of the Inca roads. Several chronicles give testimony
to the beauty of these roads. Hernando Pizarro, brother to conquistador
leader Francisco Pizarro and one of the first conquerors to arrive in
Cuzco, wrote: "The road through the mountain range is something to
see, because truthfully in earth so rough, nowhere in Christendom have
been seen such beautiful roads. All the streams have wood or stone
bridges. Spanning one large and dangerous river, that we crossed twice,
there were even bridges made of net, which are incredible to see."
The 43-kilometer Camino del Inca (Inca Trail) in the
Peruvian Andes embodies geography and jungle, the history of a race, the
roots of American civilization. The trail starts at Kilometer 88 of the
Cuzco-Machu Picchu railway and continues all the way to the sacred city of
Machu Picchu itself, the objective of thousands of travelers who have
prepared their spirit for an encounter with the ruins. A four-day trek on
the Inca trail is not the only way to get to Machu Picchu-the tourist
train can get a person there much more quickly and easily-but it certainly
is the most beautiful and spiritually satisfying way to make the journey.
The Spanish discovered neither the Inca Trail nor the ruins of
Machu Picchu when they conquered this part of America. Instead, American
Explorer Hiram Bingham rediscovered the Inca Trail in 1911 after it had
lain abandoned for nearly 400 years. |
