Sorry this is a long post because it covers a couple of stellar days. And it was written over a few days so hope the time references make sense. Also, the wifi here is not great so I can’t get pictures to upload using Word Press. So I’ll add them when I can, and post the pics to Facebook which loads OK.
So, first some back ground on Machu Picchu. I am writing this from memory and brief notes written on the fly so I apologize for any errors which are of course the tour guide’s… ….no, they’re mine alone.
In the early 1900s Hiram Bingham, a Yale University professor and archeologist was travelling in Peru looking for “the lost city of the Incas”, a secret mountain stronghold used during the 16th century rebellion against Spanish rule, but instead on July 24 1911 he discovered the Inca settlement which is known by the Quechua name Machu Picchu, or Old Mountain. He supposedly paid 1 soles for the rights to the site which today doesn’t even buy you the entrance to the public washroom on the World UNESCO Site.
Most of the site was covered in jungle and he went back in the following year with a group of his sponsors, including National Geographic. The pictures taken during that exploration were on the front cover of National Geographic in April 1913.
When it was built In the 14th century, life for the Inca people centred around Cusco which means Centre, but Machu Picchu was important as the entrance to the jungle to the east and as a spiritual place. It was continuously worked on for 100 years mostly likely by up to 20,000 people but it was meant to be home to only approx 500-1000 of the Cusco elite.
The site’s location was important, as the location on a mountain top and Urubamba River provided natural protection, a source of building materials (granite) and most importantly water. And spiritually it was a good spot because it was near the Sun and the moon and the earth, elements important to the Incan culture.
The best architectural and masonry skills were used for the most important structures of the city, such as the Temple of the Sun and priest’s quarters.
You can see from the pictures the workmanship of the round building, which was the Temple of the Sun. They didn’t use mortar and the granite pieces fit so tight that a piece of paper couldn’t be slipped between them. To make the pieces fit, they looked for natural fault lines in the rock and then drilled into the rock using natural iron tools, and then pounded wooden pegs into the holes and wet them. As the pegs expanded from the moisture the rock broke along the fault line.
The Incas, much like the Mayans on the Yucatan in Mexico were smart mathematicians and paid a great deal of attention to the cycles of the sun and the starts. there are examples of this throughout the site. The Temple of the Sun has one window that is perfectly aligned so that on the spring solstice the light comes through a V in the mountain ridges casting a light through that window. Likewise the fall solstice, and another V in the mountains. One of them is the famous Sun Gate on the Inca Trail which goes through the Sacred Valley between Cusco and Machu Picchu. I remember Gill telling me how moving it was to come throug h the Sun Gate to see the sun rise on Machu Picchu before tourist buses had started to arrive. Two of the people from our group did the last 11 km of the Inca Trail and had the experience of coming throught the Sun Gate, although not at sunrise. You may say, hey, 11 km, that’s not far, but at the altitude of the pass they had to go through it was tough slogging which took them approximately 7 hours. There was a “sun dial” of sorts in a prominent location of the city that showed not the hours or the day but rather the seasons which is how they structured their lives. Preparing the terraces, planting, harvesting and celebrating the harvest.
One of the areas that has required no restoration work at all is called the Royal Tomb, although they’re not sure if it was since a tomb since no mummies were found in the cave.
The construction of the walls was hierarchical in that the high ranking leaders and priests had very precisely placed stones, with no mortar,, and the “middle class” had rooms made with smaller mostly rectangular stones, that required mortar, and the the lower classs had walls made from irregular stones and mortar.
It was a simple life, with only three real rules of living: Don’t lie, Don’t be lazy and don’t steal.
So now more about my time at this magical place high in the cloud forest of Peru.
We spent the night before last at the same hotel in Urubamba but in the morning we packed up all but a small overnight bag and after breakfast left our other belongings in safe keeping at the hotel and headed by bus to Ollantaytambo. It is here that we caught the train to Aguas Calientes, the only way in or out. It was a lovely 1 hour and 40 minute ride in a very comfortable coach with a snack and coffee service part way through. The tracks followed the Urubamba river through the mountains and we caught glimpses of snow capped mountains and smaller Inca ruins along the route. We were all very chatty in anticipation of the primary reason we had all come to Peru, like 95 % of all tourists, Machu Picchu.
We dropped off our two hikers at mile 93 of the Inca Trail, along with what seemed like 100s of others. They got a rousing send off, looking a little overwhelmed and nervous. We then carried on to the train station in Aquas Calientas and were in to town by 9:30 am or so. We had an orientation walk around town while waiting for our hotel rooms to be ready. It’s an odd little town that has grown exponentially in the past 10 years, and really hasn’t been able to keep up the infrastructure. Ten years ago 3000 people visited MP a day in the high season. Now over 7000 a day in peak season of August, Sep and Oct make the winding bus trip up Machu Picchu Mountain. The train track runs right down the middle of town and the slope from the river is really steep with hotels and shopping areas a challenging walk uphill.
After checking in to the hotel, 6 of us opted to make an additional trip to go up to Machu Picchu that afternoon. The next day we would have an included guided tour of the lower section of more urban buildings but today, we could take our time and see which ever parts of the site we wanted without the restrictions of the group or the guide. All visitors must take a bus up to the site, and I was more than happy to leave the driving up this crazy road full of switch backs up the side of the mountain.
Our guide had suggested that since we would be visiting the lower portion of the site the next day that we hike up (“up” being the operative word) to the top section, where the iconic pictures of Machu Picchu are taken. So up we went. Although Machu Picchu is at a lower altitude than the Sacred Valley or Aquas Calentes, we still felt the altitude and had to stop to let our hearts and lungs settle down after every 15 -20 steps or so. And although the Incas were supposed to have been pretty short, you couldn’t tell by the height of some of the stairs that we had to manage.
But that first glimpse of the iconic view made it all worth while. And, yes, of course I teared up. It felt somewhat like I’d been photoshopped into a scene because of all the times I’d seen this view in pictures. There were various routes to take to get different views and we spent quite a lot of time getting shots of each other from various angles. We walked part way to the Inca Bridge, past a check point where we had to sign in so they could keep track of everyone. This section was mercifully flat. We had split up from the Mom and Daughter on our tour and found out later that Erin, the daughter, hiked up to the Sun Gate which is where the Inca Trail trekkers arrive into Machu Picchu. We tried heading in that direction, but knowing it was a 2 hour round trip and the first half up a really steep track, we opted not to go. Eddie, wanted to hike part way up at least, and so we sat on a rock by the side of the trail and soaked up the atmostphere and rested. In order to make our way out we had to go down a long stairway, (150 stairs or so) with no railing and a wall only part of the way down to keep a hold on. My poor knees toook a lot of abuse.
Done for the day we got a stamp for our passports and queued up for the wild bus ride down. I caught air a couple of times. We didn’t want to walk up to our hotel twice more in the evening so Cara and I decided to have dinner in one of the many restaurants looking over the town square on the second floor, where the people watching was great. We split a set menu and add a delicacy to our meal, the ubiquitous cuy, or guinea pig. It was delicious. It tasted and had the texture of dark turkey meat. Many of our group were appalled we’d either a) eaten a pet or b) eaten a rodent. But hey, when in Rome.
We had a group meeting at 6:30 to talk about logistics for today and after that I headed for my room, and by 8pm I had turned out my light for a well deserved rest. I was bagged.
This morning we were on our way to the bus station by 6:45 to try and beat some of the crowds and we did as we could see it getting busier and busier after we got to the site. The weather was glorious, even better than the today before. We visited the lower areas of the site for 2 hours with an excellent guide, José. It was incredibly interesting and great to now have some context into what we were seeing. We had some time left over to explore the site on our own, but by then it was so crowded and the sun was so hot that Cara and I decided we’d had enough, so we jumped on the bus and headed back into town. I’m so glad we made the decision to go in on the extra trip yesterday because first of all, our first impression was from the Guard House which is the iconic view and tear inducing. Secondly, it allowed us to break up our visit over two days which was less wear and tear on our bodies.
We all met for lunch at a great restaurant, right on the Main Street, with the trains coming and going. One VIP train that went by was obviously well appointed, with little lamps on each table and beautiful seats. We were told that the cost of a two way trip on it was $600 US vs the $140 US of our train, which was very comfortable. At lunch, in keeping with the “when in Rome” theme, I had Alpaca. It was really nicely prepared medium-rare and was really tender, with a red wine sauce. Have I mentioned that the main daily meal here is at lunch time? We frequently have had big lunch meals and then just soup or something else light for dinner.
The day was long having tramped all over Machu Picchu in the morning, then taken the bus down, jumped on the train, and then transferred to a bus for the 2 hour drive to Cusco. Thankfully we had a big bus for that portion and so we could spread out with each of us having our own seat.
I was afraid that I was going to be disappointed with Machu Picchu since I had such high expectations going in, but that couldn’t have been further from the truth. Now I know why we got that call from Gill all those years ago, and I didn’t even hike the Inca Trail with Machu Picchu as the reward along with the huge sense of accomplishment.
Lois' Adventures 