Urubamba Valley, Peru
Feeling important makes one heavy, clumsy, and vain. To be a warrior one needs to be light-hearted.
—Carlos Castaneda (1925–1998), Peruvian-born anthropologist
Perched on an emerald-green hilltop rising almost 8,000 feet above sea level and cradled between two craggy peaks of the Peruvian Andes, the famed “Lost City of the Incas” looms above the Urubamba Valley. Upon seeing the mist-enshrouded, fifteenth-century ruin with its remarkably preserved granite structures and terraced fields, travelers describe a sense of awe and intense spiritual power. Unknown to the outside world until 1911 (thus escaping Spanish conquistadores), Machu Picchu (Old Peak) was for centuries a secret Inca ceremonial center, retreat, and perhaps a fortress, and is now a New Age mecca and World Heritage site.
You can journey to Machu Picchu to draw strength from the sacred mountain, the mystical Lost City, and its unspoiled 80,309-acre nature reserve. Go during the dry season, May through September. Wear sunscreen and comfortable walking shoes, take a hat, and explore this 5-square-mile wonder that is roughly 70 miles from Cuzco.
As you explore the ruins, feel the spiritual potency of this fiercely beautiful mountaintop sanctuary. At Intihuatana (the Temple of the Sun), in what archaeologists call the “Sacred District” of Machu Picchu, offer a prayer for strength.
Machu Picchu, where some believe the energy of the world converges, has an urban section with temples, fountains, palaces, and homes and an agricultural section of terraced gardens (andenes).