Epic Hikes of the World ( PDFDrive )

been hoofed up to these Andean heights in recent days by pack mules.
“Some historians believe this hidden outpost was the last refuge of the
Inca”
© Choquequirau | Getty
depiction of a llama at the site
I overnight in Marampata and am awake on day three in time to arrive at the
ruins for sunrise. I’ve prepared a traditional cup of coca tea (from the leaf used to
make cocaine) to stave off altitude sickness. It serves the additional purpose of
jolting me awake with euphoria by the time the archaeological site’s tumbling
terraces come into view.
Sprawled across three hilltops and 12 sectors, Choquequirao is less immediately
photogenic than Machu Picchu. But this towering citadel, occasionally buried
within the clouds, offers a level of solitude unimaginable at most ancient marvels. It
also has innumerable tentacles for would-be archaeologists to explore. Abandoned
in the mid-16th century, it was ‘rediscovered’ several times over the intervening
three centuries before preservation efforts began in earnest in 1992. Modern
archaeologists believe it was geo-cosmically placed in line with its ceremonial
sister, Machu Picchu, with a temple and administrative buildings situated around a