Mountains have always been special to me. But in Peru, there's a reason it feels like you leave part of your soul in the mountains.
According to Incan religion, the mountains are the closest one can get to reaching the gods in the hanan pacha, or upper realm, from the kay pacha, the human realm. Each great mountain has a distinct apu, or powerful mountain spirit, that aids in connecting the two universes and used to be honored with sacrifices. So despite the cold and isolation, many of the greatest civilizations in South America were born in the high mountains.
After the Spanish invaded, however, andean traditions were threatened. According to my Salkantay trek guide Nico, 60% of Perú is of the Catholic faith while just 10% stick to Incan traditions and 30% are make up different religions, typically other branches of Christianity. The Quechua language was also written for the first time by the Spaniards, so even that native tongue of the Andes was altered by documentation mistakes and mixed with Spanish over time.
But the Quechua language and Incan traditions still live on, adding to the mystique of the Andes.
After the Spanish invaded, however, andean traditions were threatened. According to my Salkantay trek guide Nico, 60% of Perú is of the Catholic faith while just 10% stick to Incan traditions and 30% are make up different religions, typically other branches of Christianity. The Quechua language was also written for the first time by the Spaniards, so even that native tongue of the Andes was altered by documentation mistakes and mixed with Spanish over time.
But the Quechua language and Incan traditions still live on, adding to the mystique of the Andes.
The most famous Incan ruin site of course is Machu Picchu. It was likely home only to the most wealthy, intelligent, and important people in the Incan empire, originally created as an estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti, and was perhaps as well an important pilgrimage site. It is theorized that Incans made pilgrimages along many of the same trails buckets of tourists hike along today like the Inca trail, and Salkantay and Ausangate treks. When the Spaniards invaded, the Inca empire was already in pieces, undergoing a civil war and a war with a neighboring civilization, but some very wise souls destroyed the evidence of these trails to protect Machu Picchu. Today we are lucky enough to have Machu Picchu 75% in its original state.
The man credited with rediscovering Machu Picchu was, classically, looking for a different site but was led to this one instead. There was just a family or two that knew of its location, and they tried to keep it hidden, but a little boy of 11 years, not knowing any better, was too excited to share the beautiful abandoned city with this stranger and blew the secret. As much as I am grateful to have seen a site so entwined with a part of world history I’m growing to love and respect more every day, part of me wishes Machu Picchu was still undiscovered. Every day it is swarmed by over a million tourists, and the cynic in me wants to say that a lot of the people who visit don’t know half of what makes the site so cool.
The Salkantay trek to Machu Picchu was my last big adventure in Peru before I headed home. I couldn’t have asked for better hiking crew or a better way to spend my last moments in South America.