Maureen Santucci

Huayna Picchu is a peak that is only accessible from Machu Picchu. Most people who climb it only go up to the top and back the same way. While not much of a challenge for someone who has just done the Inca Trail, it’s a particularly nice excursion for someone who has taken the train into Aguas Calientes. It also offers some stunning views of the citadel.

As awesome an observation point as it makes, for me it’s not the highlight. I was lucky enough to have a friend tell me that you can actually loop around and go down another way. After doing this my first time around, I have made it a point to do so every time since.

This is definitely the best way to scale the peak. Every time I have done the loop, I’ve passed no more than a dozen other people. Once I’m up and over onto the other side, it’s my Huayna Picchu.

The journey to the top of Huayna Picchu is challenging in itself, being a steep climb up some occasionally treacherous stone steps. On the way, there is a sign to the left that points in that direction for the Temple of the Moon and the Great Cavern. This is where you come back onto the path when you do the loop.

This side is has a much wilder feel to it. As you follow a trail that leads through the trees and underbrush, you can feel the age of the vegetation around you. It’s easy to imagine that you’ve traveled in time and an Inca warrior or perhaps a priest could be just around the corner. The lack of other people allows you to melt into that feeling and really be at one with your thoughts and with the land.

An occasional wooden ladder down the side of a rock gives you that Indiana Jones feeling. It’s not really dangerous but you are definitely reminded that this is not Disneyland, there are no guiderails and you are here at your own peril. It’s an invigorating feeling, one that you don’t often get to feel in the so-called civilized world.

After hiking through the woods for a while, you find yourself at the Great Cavern and Temple of the Moon. Maybe it’s just because I actually get to be alone in these sites but they almost feel more magical to me than Machu Picchu. It’s amazing to be able to sit and meditate in an ancient site like this without hearing the clicking of multiple cameras.

I always spend a bit of time here, soaking up the energies of the place and to catch my breath for the trip back. It always seems to take forever, probably because I’m leaving the temple behind. But before long I return to Aguas Calientes; not much more than a stone’s throw from my tranquil peak but a different world at the same time.

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