Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Cuzco & the Sacred Valley
Includes »
Why Go?
Incas deemed this spot the belly button of the world. Sure enough, a visit to Cuzco tumbles
you back into the cosmic realm of ancient Andean culture - one that was knocked down
and fused with the finest colonial and religious splendors of Spanish conquest, only to be
repackaged as a thriving tourist trap. Welcome to a mystical and whimsical world of para-
dox. But Cuzco is only the gateway. Beyond lies the Sacred Valley, Andean countryside
dotted with villages, high altitude hamlets and ruins linked by trail and solitary railway
tracks to the country's biggest draw - Machu Picchu.
Old ways are not forgotten. Colorful textiles link to the past, as do the wild fiestas and
carnivals with the fiber of pagan tradition in solemn Catholic rituals. Just as dynamic is a
landscape that careens from Andean peaks to orchid-rich cloud forests and Amazon low-
