ABOVE: MACHU PICCHU, THE "LOST CITY" OF THE MIGHTY INCA EMPIRE, RISES HIGH ON A MOUNTAINTOP IN THE PERUVIAN ANDES.

"...great snow peaks looming above the clouds...orchids and tree ferns...the mysterious witchery of the jungle..."
– Hiram Bingham, “Lost City of the Incas”

Small wonder that Hiram Bingham’s account of his discovery of otherworldly Machu Picchu sometimes takes a poetic turn. And these words from Bingham’s book describe only the setting of the jewel of the Peruvian Andes. More splendid by far is the treasure itself, a wondrous relic of the mighty Inca Empire that once ruled an Andean expanse reaching from Columbia to Chile.

It was a city dedicated to the sun–a sanctuary for the priests and virgins who served the sun god. Though it’s a mere 43 miles from the Inca capital of Cusco, the conquering Spanish made no mention of it, and the Incas had no written language for leaving a record. The storied, steep-terraced site remained a secret for centuries, serenely hidden high above the roar of the Urubamba River, wrapped in a tangle of tropical vegetation and protected by emerald peaks.

The secret was unveiled in 1911 when Bingham, a Yale explorer-archaeologist and something of an Indiana Jones, ventured up a steep hill and stumbled onto the fabled citadel that beckons visitors today.



ABOVE (L-R): IN HISTORY-RICH CUSCO, THE SPANISH RAISED THEIR STRUCTURES ON THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE INCA CAPITAL; A CHARMING COURTYARD IN THE SACRED VALLEY; THE ATTRACTIONS OF LIMA, THE COUNTRY'S PULSATING CAPITAL, RANGE FROM ANTIQUE ARCHITECTURE TO VIBRANT NIGHTLIFE.

Constructed over more than half a century beginning about 1450, historians say, Machu Picchu’s parts are connected by seemingly countless stone steps that lead to the likes of the Temple of the Sun, the Temple of the Three Windows, and the Intihuatana – a strategically-positioned block of stone that some call “the hitching post of the sun,” used in the planning of spiritual ceremonies and seasonal celebrations. Particularly astonishing is the precision of the stonework that sculpted some 200 structures – architecture that blends seamlessly and artfully into the spectacular natural surroundings.

Most Machu Picchu-bound travelers fly into Lima, journey on to imperial Cusco, and take a train to the site. Orient-Express, an expanding presence in Peru, serves up handsome accommodations at its stunning Miraflores Park Hotel in Lima. It overlooks the Pacific beaches of the chic Miraflores district, base for the pulsating city’s hottest restaurants and nightspots. In Cusco, the company’s charming Hotel Monasterio was constructed in the 16th century as a Spanish monastery, on the site of a onetime Inca palace. A boon for newly-arrived vacationers adjusting to the city’s perch at 11,000 feet above sea level: the recent addition of oxygen concentrators to most of the guestrooms.

Late last year Orient-Express whipped a major component into the maximum-comfort mix. Now linking Cusco to Machu Picchu is the aptly-christened Hiram Bingham luxury train operated by PeruRail, a notable upgrade in the train service offered along this route. The 84-passenger train re-creates the style of the 1920s Pullman era with its painstakingly restored Victorian rail cars–a bar car with observation deck, and a pair of dining cars that present a tasty champagne brunch on the outbound trip, an elegant dinner with excellent wines on return.

The company’s comfortably rustic Machu Picchu Sanctuary Lodge – the only hotel within the storied Inca site – is only a few steps from the entrance to the ruins, which makes for easy explorations at any hour.

Once lost, now found Machu Picchu should be visited when shrouded by mist in the morning, when bathed in its sun-god glory at midday, and when magically lit by the moon. It’s an experience a traveler is not likely to forget.

Information: (800) 237-1236 or www.orient-express.com.