In 2015, Country Walking Magazines’ Rachel Broomhead joined our Choquequirao to Machu Picchu trekking holiday in Peru. Take a look at a snap shot of her adventure below and then read about the whole of Rachel’s adventure in the March 2016 issue of Country Walking - on sale now!

At 3000m, the air is thin but warm. On our right the ground slopes steeply in patches of arable green, a vision of civilization which slips further away with each step. The mountains are growing in size –­ verdant prisms split by waterfall-carved ravines. Abruptly, the road slingshots us round a spur in the cliff face and we’re left staring into the hollow of Apurimac Valley. This deep cleft of cloud forest is what stands between us and Choquequirao – the ancient Incan city no one’s heard of.

Our guide, Ruben, leads us down the switchbacks without hesitation. He’s walked this route over 40 times and entertains us with his quick grin and humour. After a couple of hours, he stops to point out our path for tomorrow. It’s a zig-zag lightning bolt climbing vertically to the top of the opposite hillside.

With a team of 11 porters who will be setting up camp, preparing meals and mollycoddling us for the whole trek. They overtake us with their long line of sturdy mules and Enero, the head chef, greets each one of us as he strides by: “Buenas tardes, buenas tardes!”

It’s unknown if the Incas used this route. Their road networks were legendary, but most were lost after the Spanish arrived. Hiram Bingham, the American archaeologist who discovered Machu Picchu in 1911 forged a path to Choquequirao in 1909, but the onward route linking the two cities wasn’t developed for another 85 years. Even now, there are no short-cuts across the valleys. It’s hard work for the legs, but a joy for the soul.

Classic five-day Inca Trail. That trail has to cap numbers at 500 due its overwhelming popularity, but here you’ll find no more than 20 on the path at the same time. We’ve yet to meet another group.

On the climb the next day, Ruben sets a steady pace and after the initial shock to our lungs, we start to breathe – and see – more easily. Ruben is partnered on this trip by Kantu Valer, a 24-year-old local who has studied for four years to become a guide. Along the way, she presses cuña into my palm – a sweet, mint-smelling herb used locally to relieve headaches – and picks a tiny insect off a cactus. When squashed, she says, they secrete a vibrant red liquid which is used to dye wool. More appealing are the tree-loads of tropical fruits – tumbo, avocado and grenadilla, a delicious orange-shelled passion fruit.

At the top, the scenery is bewitching. We lie in the sun and gaze across the cavernous Apurimac Valley at a crowd of feltgreen peaks. White butterflies dance by on a cool breeze and a black-chested buzzard-eagle carves silently through the high clouds. We let our legs relax, knowing that tomorrow we’re in for a rare treat ­– a tour of Choquequirao.

It’s a damp start, with low cloud condensing among the silent trees. Inching along tangled forest paths, we emerge onto an ancient stone walkway and follow Ruben into the mist one by one. Choquequirao means ‘Cradle of Gold’ and it’s thought to have been one of the last refuges of the Incas when they fled the Spanish in 1532. It’s bigger than Machu Picchu but more dispersed, dotting the landscape’s humps and hollows with precise stonework. In the main plaza of the ancient city, the fog reduces the buildings to shadows, so Ruben leads us downwards beneath the clouds. When the air clears, we’re looking down hundreds of vertiginous steps. Built into the mountainside beneath us are a series of narrow terraces with rocks arranged into the shape of llamas. “They’re unique,” Ruben says. “Archaeologists have discovered nothing else like it.”

We turn back and climb to a flat-topped hill which overlooks the entire ancient city, now emerging brick by brick from the cloud. In an ancient Incan ceremony, we offer coca leaves to the earth and mountains, place them under a stone and make a wish. I wish for this place to remain exactly as it is.

Read about the whole of Rachel’s adventure in the March 2016 issue of Country Walking - on sale now!

>> Choquequirao to Machu Picchu