HOST to several natural and cultural World Heritage sites, regions such as Machu Picchu and Cusco remain important assets for Peru’s tourism industry. The country’s National Chamber of Tourism has reported that luxury travellers visiting Peru will climb 9 per cent to 180,000 visitors, compared to 7 per cent in 2013.
Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley of the Inca are some of the most spectacular, awe-inspiring archaeological regions you will ever experience. Typically reached by the gruelling Inca Trail, rated as one of the top five treks in the world, these sites offer stunning vistas of mountain scenery, lush forests and an impressive mix of Inca ruins.On route to one of the world’s most inspiring destinations, I was lucky to experience a new way of travelling to Machu Picchu, with the newly rechristened Belmond, which offers exceptional luxury travel adventures. Providing a fresh opportunity to explore Inca history, my days of luxury began in Cusco, a city declared a World Cultural Heritage site by Unesco in 1983. “Yes, the Spanish conquered and destroyed, however, the Incas also had their ways of ‘one-upping’ the Spanish,” winked my guide, Fernando. Slightly eccentric, yet highly passionate about history and anthropology, Fernando took me on a private art tour inside the historic 16th century Belmond Hotel Monasterio, a stunning monastery turned hotel, oozing 400 years of history and religious art.An expert in Peruvian history, Fernando showed me examples of hidden messages disguised in antique religious paintings, offering a fascinating insight into how the Inca’s managed to preserve their traditions and culture. Observing hidden images of mountains (Inca’s Gods), terraced fields and even Jesus Christ chewing coca leaves, these disguises were clearly ‘touches’ the Spanish had overlooked.I spent the afternoon in the hilly alleyways of San Blas, Cusco’s bohemian district teeming with art galleries and boutiques selling the softest of hand-woven alpaca textiles. One of the advantages of spending time in Cusco before venturing to Machu Picchu is having the luxury to acclimatise to the high altitude. However, in the comfort of Cusco, your biggest worries will be which colour alpaca shawl looks better! Abandoning my plans to hike up to Cusco’s nearest Inca ruin, I decided instead to retreat back to my oxygen-enriched suite at Palacio Nazarenas. What followed was an evening of opera in the elegant El Tupay restaurant, which used to be the original vaulted refectory in the Hotel Monasterio. Not to be outdone by its past, present-day Cusco features an abundance of Peruvian fusion cuisine, trumpeting influences from Africa, Japan, China, and Spain. Renowned for their avant-garde techniques, ingredients including quinoa, alpaca, guinea pig, native flora, cacao, and coca all feature regularly within their fare. Wonders of the World all tend to have a few things in common: an ancient history, awe-inspiring natural beauty and crowds. Crowds can be avoided by not heading straight for the highest vantage point upon arrival – everyone will have the same idea. Instead, head into the heart of the citadel, wandering the ancient alleyways in solitude. Next, at the end of your epic journey of exploring the magic of the Lost City, there is nothing more rewarding than retreating to your suite and preparing for a sunset Jacuzzi overlooking the citadel, followed by a massage inspired by ancient Inca treatments. Trumping the most stylish way to depart from Machu Picchu, my journey was to end on board what readers of Condé Nast Traveller UK (2011) selected as the best train journey in the world. Transporting guests to an era of old-world elegance on board its palatial 1920’s pullman carriages, the journey involved us winding our way through the Urumburra valley, while we ate like the top-deck guests of the Titanic. With a Peruvian band playing Andean classics including ‘guantanamera’ and ‘la bamba’, the Hiram Bingham marked a great way to end the journey. By Laura Snook