This fabled river begins life in the snows of the Vilcanota Knot, a range among the 4000m (13,000foot) high peaks in the southern Andes of Peru. There among the swampy punas , the high Andean grasslands, clear mountain-fresh water begins a 6100km (3800 miles) journey to the Atlantic. The roots of the name Vilcanota comes from a word in the ancient language Quechua, pronounced 'willka' or sometimes as 'huilca'. The word has several meanings including 'sacred'.

Among the ancient gods or apus of this mountain realm are the snowy peaks themselves. They are still revered by the country people who make offerings to placate the spirits.

The river flows in a northwards direction to begin a long descent taking it from the mountains to the immense Amazon basin. .

The people of the valley are largely descendents of the Inkas. Many still speak Quechua althought the children learn Spanish at school. Life is traditionally rural with many people still living with their dawn to dusk work in the fields. Produce is natural and harvested, winnowed and ground by hand.

Family life is paramount and everyone knows everyone - that's to say within walking distance which may be several days hike away.

Five hundred years ago the Inka rulers were masters here. The spiritual centre of their realm was Cusco or Qosqo which they saw as the 'navel', a kind of solar plexus of their world. Cusco stands beside a small tributary of the Vilcanota just slightly to the west and somewhat higher. The Inka rulers had palaces and farms in the warmer valley of the Vilcanota. There they kept some of their favourite acllas or handmaidens to prepare chicha, a maize beer used for rituals and festivals. The warmer part of the valley is still immensely fertile and today some of the largest villages have become important agricultural centres. One of these is the small town of Urubamba from where you will receive our regular Country Notes.

Below Urubamba which gets its name from an ancient word meaning 'an insect grub', the valley begins to change its form. The river too gets a new name and becomes the 'Urubamba'. Soon the course becomes torrential. Inka ruins are everywhere and when the river enters a deep canyon the outside world is suddenly excluded.

The vegetation changes from mountain grasses with tiny wild flowers to a tropical forest festooned with orchids and bromeliads. Machu Picchu the' lost' Inka city is only a short distance away. We will be looking at the story of Machu Picchu and its discovery by the American traveller and politician, Hiram Bingham in a special feature.

Today the ruins are one of South America's greatest tourist attractions. More than 1500 visitors each day is normal and sometimes more crowd into the site. Many arrive by the special tourist train and others walk the ancient path known as the 'Inca Trail'.

Nicholas Asheshov or 'Nick' to his journalist colleagues worldwide, has lived in Peru for thirty five years. He has reported on wars in Africa and Central America, he has a frequently envied knowledge of all that is best and worst in his fields of politics and economics, and his love of out-of the way places has led to some extraordinary scoop stories. Nick will be writing Country Notes from Urubamba where he has settled. Country Notes areCopyright but may be downloaded and used in full or in part as long as full credit is given to the author

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