Magnificent Machu Picchu
Written: Nov 20 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Is this one of the wonders of the world? It should be!
Cons: Unpredictable weather - you might see nothing if you're unlucky.
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| cinimod's Full Review: Machu Picchu |
Review Topic: Sights & Attractions
“And now, for something completely different” – Monty Python
This Epinion has a photo album to show pictures of a place that I am not able to adequately describe in words. Details at the end of the article.
On the train from Cuzco to Aguas Calientes
The train was packed with tourists and we were glad that we had booked our seats a week in advance. It was Easter 1999, Aero Peru had just stopped operations, and it was peak season for tourists in the Peruvian Andes. We had spent the last couple of days adjusting to the altitude – Cuzco is 11,000 feet above sea-level – and we were ready to visit the place that had fascinated us since our schooldays. I remember learning about Lake Titicaca and Machu Picchu in geography class, and I had always wanted to go to these mysterious far away places.
The train went back and forth about 8 times, climbing the steep hills out of Cuzco. It was early in the morning, and we had great views of the sun rising over the red roofs of the buildings of Cuzco spread out below us as we climbed higher and higher.
Cuzco was the capital of the old Inca empire, and you can still see the Inca architecture in evidence in many of the buildings near the central square, Plaza de Armas. Unfortunately when the Spanish came, they destroyed many of the magnificent Inca buildings to build their own monuments. To save time they just knocked down the existing buildings, keeping the foundations intact, so in many of the buildings, you do see the remnants of the Inca architecture on ground level.
Once the train cleared the hills surrounding Cuzco, we had a brief view of Sacsayhuaman (one of the sacred Inca sites) and the tracks were pretty smooth for a while. It takes four hours for the train to get to Machu Picchu, the first half on the altiplano (above 10,000 feet), then descending to follow the Rio Urubamba, a wild river that appears to be in a hurry to get from the Andes to the sea! A lot of people are surprised to discover that Machu Picchu is actually at a lower altitude than Cuzco – Machu Picchu appears to be high up in the clouds, whereas Cuzco is in a valley. This is true, but the Cuzco valley is 4000 feet higher than the top of the mountain on which Machu Picchu is situated. We pulled in to Aguas Calientes on time, but a fair number of people were not feeling very well after the shaky ride, including one of my travelling companions.
Aguas Calientes and the road to Machu Picchu
Aguas Calientes is a small village spread along the railway tracks, with the rapids of Rio Urubamba on the other side of the many hostels and restaurants. Many visitors who arrive by train only have a few hours at Machu Picchu, before taking the afternoon train back to Cuzco. Those who did that on this particular day would have been very disappointed – it was raining steadily, and we were in the midst of thick cloud, so visibility was quite bad. Dran was still not feeling well, so he decided to rest at the hostel. Gus and I bought ourselves a couple of plastic ponchos and waited in the rain for the bus.
We waited for about an hour before a bus finally came (we had missed the bus that takes most of the train passengers up the mountain) – but at least we did not have to fight our way onto the bus. The road up the mountain is very winding with a never-ending sequence of hairpin turns – looking down was like looking into nothingness. Later, when the weather cleared a little, we were glad that we hadn’t been able to see just how steep the cliff face falling into the river a thousand feet below was!
Machu Picchu
I will never forget my first glimpse of Machu Picchu. Gradually dark shapes became visible out of the swirling mist, and all of a sudden I realized that I was looking at stone walls and terraces. We walked in the steady rain through the gate and we managed to hitch on to a guide after about half an hour of wandering around. A good guide definitely adds to the experience. According to our guide, Hiram Bingham who “discovered” Machu Picchu would never have found it if he hadn’t been helped by villagers living nearby. Apparently he had surveyed the area right where we were standing without realizing that there was actually a “lost city” right under his feet! All the clues were there, it’s just that our friend Hiram was not expecting Machu Picchu to be where it is. Until today, there remains speculation that there is a much grander “lost city of the Incas” as yet undiscovered. One can certainly believe this, looking at the terrain around these parts.
Our guide also didn’t have very good things to say about Mr. Bingham after he had been helped to locate Machu Picchu. Apparently lots of artifacts were carted off to America and have never been returned. Some are in museums, but some are lost to the world – perhaps sitting in an attic somewhere. After hearing of the decimation of the Inca population through war, disease and the inquisition after the Spaniards arrived, it was sad to hear that even 400 years later, the Inca continue to be robbed and plundered.
Our guide explained what each building was used for (some are clearly known, some are just speculation) and why the Inca went to all the trouble of building their cities so far away from the resources needed for such an endeavor. The precision with which they laid the stone blocks to create each structure is unmatched by modern day craftsmen. When I look at the shoddy way in which many buildings are put up nowadays, I wonder whether we have really progressed over the last thousand years! The construction was so precise that the stone blocks fit together without any form of binding (e.g. cement) whatsoever, and yet you would not be able to find a gap big enough to fit a razor blade through.
At around 4 in the afternoon, the place started emptying out as most people went back to take the afternoon train back to Cuzco. We had decided to stay overnight at Aguas Calientes, which turned out to be a very good decision. The weather improved steadily after 4 p.m., the fog and clouds lifted and we were treated to a beautiful sunset.
Huayna Picchu
As we walked around the ruins, we were intrigued by the sharp cone shaped hill towering above Machu Picchu. This was a sacred mountain of the Incas according to our guide, and it was aligned with the sundial on the temple of the sun. Gus and I decided to climb to the top early the next morning.
The trail was quite steep but manageable by most moderately fit people. From the top, you get a birds eye view of the whole of Machu Picchu (and unfortunately also the modern monstrosity, the Sanctuary hotel) spread out more than a thousand feet below. It is certainly worth the climb, but you need to have good shoes – some parts are pretty slippery when wet.
When we got down, we were happy to see that Dran had recovered enough to walk around Machu Picchu. We had flown more than 10,000 miles to get here – quite possibly Peru is the furthest spot from where I live (defined as the place I’d emerge from if I were to drill a hole straight down through the center of the earth and out the other side) in the world, and so it would be a crying shame to have missed out on it.
After another walk around together with Dran, we reluctantly went to catch the bus back down. As we left, a small boy dressed in colourful traditional garb waved to us. This same small boy reappeared on each bend in the road as the bus went down the hill, yelling “Bye.e..e..e!” each time he saw us. He would stand still until we turned the next bend, and then a minute or two and several hundred yards later, he would reappear and wave and yell “Bye.e..e..e!” – not the least bit out of breath! At the bottom of the hill, the boy reappeared ahead of us, got on the bus and collected a fair sum of money from a busload of very impressed tourists! I had experienced this the day before, but it was still a pretty good show! And so, we left Machu Picchu, happy to have fulfilled a lifelong dream and still in awe of the place. I hope to be back someday to hike the Inca trail.
Photo album
http://www.extra-income.com/Travel/PeruMP1.html
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
cinimod
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Member: Dominic Lim
Location: World citizen (in an ideal world)
Reviews written: 42
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