The Sacred Valley of the Incas, in Peru, is just outside of the UNESCO World Heritage city of Cusco and close to everyone’s favorite mountaintop maze of Machu Picchu. Carved by the Urubamba River, the valley was home to vast natural resources, agriculture, and Incan settlements. Today, the Sacred Valley is still an important farming region, with fields dotted among the archeological remains.
Four hundred meters above the fertile floor are a few decidedly non-Incan artifacts that look like they came more from the mind of James Bond’s Q than an ancient civilization. They are essentially clear, bubble portaledges called Skylodge Adventure Suites, and for $300-plus per night, you can sleep in your very own. That price includes transportation from Cusco, snacks, a gourmet dinner on the mountaintop, and a night’s stay.
Owned and operated by Natura Vive, the Skylodge Adventure Suites, are accessed via ferrata-style. The relative security of the cabled ascent and the fully enclosed, yet ventilated, acrylic pods provide a little taste of big wall portaledging to mere mortals. Purist climbers may raise an eyebrow, but then again, how often are big wall climbers offered a fine bottle of Malbec midway through their seventh pitch?
Chilling on the side of an Andean mountain – with the comfort of a hotel no less – just try to shake the old Simon and Garfunkel El Condor Pasa earbug. Because in this “hotel” room, it’s more likely than not that an actual condor will be flying by…at eye level.
Weekend Cabin isn’t necessarily about the weekend, or cabins. It’s about the longing for a sense of place, for shelter set in a landscape…for something that speaks to refuge and distance from the everyday. Nostalgic and wistful, it’s about how people create structure in ways to consider the earth and sky and their place in them. It’s not concerned with ownership or real estate, but what people build to fulfill their dreams of escape. The very time-shortened notion of “weekend” reminds that it’s a temporary respite.
Photos by Natura Vive
I don’t find this very responsible. The Sacred Valley should be given some respect for what it meant to the Incas, not defaced with plastic bubbles on the valley’s cliffs that mar the idea of a “sacred” valley.
Will, I hear you, but it’s all relative isn’t it? How much harm is *really* being done? Look at the valley below in the photo, humans have carved it up for agriculture for *hundreds* of years, that is a massive impact, much more than a few cabins on the side of the mountain. There are also thousands of tourists down there daily, but nobody is studying their visitation habits.
This particular style of accommodation might not be completely palatable to your personal tastes, but using your open mind, looking at the bigger picture, is it really all that irresponsible? Isn’t it also possible that people who stay here may actually develop a love and affinity for the area (or already appreciate it) and want to protect and share it just like other visitors to the area?
Is it really that harmful, a few adventurous souls sleeping in a self-contained cabin attached to a cliff? Where do you live, and what is your impact on the world? Do you live in an environmentally pure structure? Do you not impact on your environment?
If you visit this area in a more “socially acceptable or typical” format, where would you stay and what are your impacts? Is a hotel room on the horizontal surface (in the valley) OK, but not on a vertical surface (on the cliffs)?
That was a really good reply, very validating yet thoughtful and offering of the other-side.
Those look pretty sweet. Too bad about the price. I’d forgo the fancy dinner and bring my own wine!
This thing is awesome, but I don’t think I could do it. Wake up in the middle of the night after drinking that bottle of wine–slightly disoriented; forget about it. Beautiful view, though; amazing concept!
Love it! Adding this to the good ol’ bucketlist.
Worst place in the world to have an argument. Especially if it gets to stepping outside to settle it.