Arms linked, they stand together, a bright blaze of colour unfurled like a ribbon amid the muted green tones and ethereal mist of the cloud forest. A low rumble of thunder reverberates through the jungle-coated mountains, bouncing off Machu Picchu's vertiginous terraces and threatening to shake the 15th-century fortress off its improbable perch and send it crumbling into the frothing brown Urubamba River, 600 metres below. But the 16 women from Huilloc Alto, a tiny mountain village high in Peru's Sacred Valley, look completely at peace, gazing down silently – almost defiantly – on the famous citadel their ancestors built, a place they never thought they'd see with their own eyes. Today is their ultimate homecoming.
“The mamas were so happy when they learned they were going to Machu Picchu,…
You're reading a preview of
International Traveller (Digital) - 1 Issue, March - May 2025