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Vendors congregate as train stops on way to Machu Picchu.

Perhaps it was the stunning beauty of this fertile red clay valley framed by the imposing green Andes mountains. Travel seldom affects me this way, and I knew these were not tears of sadness.

The mystery of the Inca Empire has lured visitors for centuries. Most of the 16 persons in our tour had "always wanted to see Machu Picchu" but weren’t quite sure why. It’s that kind of place.

Now that terrorist attacks seem under control, tourists are hurrying back to see what this interesting country has to offer. The tour of Lima included a drive past the Japanese Embassy, where hostages were being held in the isolated renewal of activity.

My husband and I were among those expecting to be impressed by Machu Picchu, the remains of the ancient city discovered beneath jungle overgrowth in 1911 by Hiram Bingham, an American historian. We also expected to have to pay for our trip with cranky co-travelers, various tourist ailments and unpleasantly rustic accommodations. Instead, we had interesting and interested companions on our Overseas Adventure Travel tour, felt better than we had in years and adored the hotels and inns.

The people of Peru seemed truly happy to have us there. While street vendors were often insistent, they were not harassing. It was difficult not to stare at the wonderful weathered faces and deep brown eyes that seemed so full of wisdom.

Cusco

Women in Chincero using drop spindles and backstrap looms

Flowers seemed to be everywhere we looked. Species we’re delighted to grow to mid-calf height in the States produce huge, lush bushes at eye level and above in Peru. Hydrangeas, orchids and dahlias grow wild.

The haunting folk music, played on pipes, flutes and drums, seems the perfect accompaniment.

The trip began at about 7 p.m. the first night at the Miami International Airport. A five-hour flight, including a good dinner of chicken and rice, took us to Lima, which is in the same time zone as Florida. Getting through immigration and customs at the Lima airport took a while, but Holger, our guide, was waiting on the other side.

A half-hour bus ride through the dark city took us to the Jose Antonio Hotel in Miraflores, a seaside suburb. We were on our own, except for the orientation meeting, to rest or explore until the afternoon tour of the gold museum and the city.

Lima is on the west side of the towering Andes, where it is barren because there is little rain. It is a stark setting for the even starker reality of the multi-story clay homes that precariously hug the hillsides. The crowded downtown plaza is flanked by Spanish colonial buildings, including the cathedral and government offices.

Miraflores is home to "Lovers Park," where whimsical tiled walls with poets’ quotations about love curve along the hillside by the Pacific Ocean. Not far from here is the ornate white frame restaurant on a pier where we had our seafood dinner. Waves occasionally crashed under the floor, causing the building to shudder.

A short flight early the next morning took us to Cuzco.

Many books are written on the Inca Empire and the pre-Inca civilizations. The Incas were actually the rulers, but the name is now used for all who were part of the empire. Cuzco, the capital of the Inca Empire, is thought to have been founded around the 12^th century by the first Inca. Its name is from qosqo, which means the "earth’s navel" in the native Indian language of Quechua.

It was in this area of Peru in the 16^th century that the bitter battles between the Incas and the Spanish were fought. The Spanish eventually destroyed the Inca settlements, especially anything that appeared to be of religious significance. They raided the settlements and graves for gold and killed many of the native Peruvians in their quest.

For example, what is left of Coricancha, an Inca ruin, forms the base of the colonial church of Santo Domingo in Cuzco. The enforced melding of the two cultures is seen throughout the area.

Frothy Urubamba River.

We got just a quick taste of Cuzco (also commonly spelled Cusco) that first day. A bus took us to the El Dorado Inn, where we took our "medicine." Cuzco is over 10,000 feet in the Andes, and many visitors suffer with soroche, or "altitude sickness." This can produce light-headedness, dizziness, nausea and more serious effects. The Peruvians have combated this for centuries with mate de coca, or coca-leaf tea, and so did we. (More on food and drink)

Soon, we were back in the bus and on the way to Chincero for a taste of native Peruvian food and a demonstration of weaving using backstrap looms, in which the weaver actually becomes part of the loom. The women start with the raw wool of the llama, alpaca or sheep. Using a single large "drop spindle," they twist the wool into a yarn as they walk or go about their daily work. Here we learned how to tell handcrafted works from those produced by machines.

It was after the stop at Chincero that we headed toward the Urubamba River Valley, which the Incas called The Sacred Valley. The Incas called a lot of places "sacred."

I still am not sure why my first view of the valley affected me deeply. The entire region of the Incas is bathed in much mysticism, which I was unaware of until we began reading in preparation for our trip. The Incas believed their god was in everything, a tree, a rock, a wild animal. The beauty of the Andes certainly is a good selling point for existence of a higher power.

From Yucay, we would visit two Inca ruins, where the amazing stone work and invigorating climbs set our minds racing. But our hearts beat even faster the second day when took the unpaved road along the side of a mountain so those who wished could go rafting on the Urubamba. Our driver Mariano, who formerly drove heavy trucks through the Andes, negotiated with skill past rock slides and road construction, with a little help along the way removing boulders and smoothing gravel.

The road also took us past several dozen villagers outside a relief tent for flood victims. The overflowing Urubamba River had left its banks and stood about two feet deep in nearby farms and clay brick homes, which could be seen from the road.

Back in Cuzco for two nights at the El Dorado Inn, we learned more of the Incas and the Spanish Conquest and had a chance to shop for handcrafts.

A view within Machu Picchu (more on other pages).

As we toured ruins on the outskirts of Cuzco, Holger and Ivan recounted tales they heard as they played "cowboys and Indians" among the ancient stones and slid down the well-worn groves in some unusual rock outcroppings. The ruins and still operating fountain on the edge of the city were important in the Inca beliefs and still believed to contain much spiritual power.

Then the big morning, off to Machu Picchu, the Lost City of the Incas. A pre-dawn bus trip took us to the "tourist train." Modern and similar in appearance to a well-kept subway train, this zigs and zags for four hours up the mountains and through the Sacred Valley to the ancient city that the Spanish apparently did not find. The theory is that perhaps the Incas did not even know of its existence. Nevertheless, it appears to have been inhabited for only about 100 years.

The train stopped in a gorge to let us off at our hotel, the Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel, just outside Aguas Calientes. A short walk into Aguas Calientes and we were at the bus stop for the last leg of our journey. Nearby, the muddy Urubamba River roared downward over the rocks, resembling chocolate milk in a blender.

A bus took us to Machu Picchu, which soon spread before us, looking like the cover of a fantasy novel. It was even more mysterious the next morning when we were the first bus there and looked down on wisps of clouds hanging below the peaks.

Machu Picchu (Ancient Peak) is actually the name of a large mountain to the south of the ruins. Another mountain to the north, called Huayna Picchu (Young Peak), has a steep trail that takes about two hours to climb.

There are many theories about the purpose of Machu Picchu. It appears to have been a place of learning of some kind and an important ceremonial center. Of about 50 bodies found there, more than 75 percent were of women. An early theory was that it was a place to protect the Chosen Women of the Incas. A new theory is that it was a "country estate" of one of the Incas. Some believe the city was uninhabited and forgotten before the Spanish arrived.

The first afternoon, Holger and Ivan guided us through the major sections: agricultural, civil and urban. They pointed out how this city, so whole yet so mysterious, compared to other ruins we had seen. They talked of the Temple of the Sun, the Hitching Post of the Sun (believed to be a solar calendar), the place of the Condor. As we waited to return to our hotel, a double rainbow formed in the surrounding Andes, just barely clearing the peaks.

The next morning the tour members were on our own at Machu Picchu. My husband and I made the easy climb to the hut of the "Guardian of the Arriba (Above)," from where you see the classic view of the ruins. Then we walked among the streets in the lower sections.

It had carved stairs, three windows and several small "grottos," fern-edged pits in the stone. My husband wandered up ahead and saw a small, brown furry animal sunning on a pile of rocks. We found out later that it was a chinchilla. They are wild in the ruins, but are seen only in seldom visited sections.

Perhaps the sighting was a reward for following our lizard to places less traveled.