Machu Picchu, Peru

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Machu Picchu

I was so utterly exhausted by the altitude of Cuzco that I would have refused to go to Machu Picchu if it were any higher. However, I was assured by our travel agents that contrary to the popular conception, Machu Picchu is a good deal LOWER than Cuzco.

For dry details, of the history, geography etc. of Machu Picchu, please follow the following link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machu_Picchu

This ‘Lost City of the Incas’ is the cause of the tourist influx of Peru. I have never heard of a tourist who did NOT visit Machu Picchu while in Peru, after it was discovered on 24th July 1911 by Hiram Bingham III of the Yale University. (I am not counting business travelers as ‘tourists’.) Many tourists even follow the original ‘Inca Trail’, trekking for four days from Cuzco to the Sun Gate of Machu Picchu, instead of traveling comfortably by railway and bus. Masochism exists in this world.

This is by no means the last or the latest discovery of archeological importance in Peru. The discovery of an intact Royal tomb near Chiclayo in 1987 proves this point. The discovery of the tomb of the ‘Lord of Sipan’ in the New World compares well with the discovery of Tutankhamen’s tomb in the Old World.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sip%C3%A1n

So, those of you who want to specialize in Archeology, should make tracks for Peru. There is ‘Future in the Past’ for them there. (This phrase ‘Future in the Past’ is coined by me and I hold the copyright over it.)

Traveling by the Vistadome from Cuzco to Aguas Calientes is a highly enjoyable experience. It is a glass-paned luxury train. We had traveled by similar luxury trains elsewhere, but this train was different because every carriage was also glass-domed. We thought this was rather extravagant, but to our surprise found later that the glass dome is absolutely necessary, because the tall Andean peaks loom so large on both the sides, that their tops have to be seen through the glass dome above.

The train started. I was looking up through the glass dome when Avi said, “we are going to crash”.

I hastily looked through the glass window and saw that the train was rushing headlong towards a cliff. On either side, very close to the tracks, rose the tall Andean peaks.

“Oh! We must be going through a tunnel.” I tried to reassure Avi, though I could not see any tunnel.

“There is NO tunnel” Avi said with conviction.

The train was still rushing headlong towards the craggy Andean cliffs with suicidal intentions, and yes, there was no tunnel. I closed my eyes and waited for the crash that would sniff out our lives in a matter of seconds, and thought of my daughters in the far off lands. Oh! To die just when our responsibilities were over and we had started enjoying the life, at the hands of a maniacal engine driver with angst!! Oh Gods, is it fair?

The train stopped and I opened my eyes to see that it was just meters away from the cliff. Thank God, the mad engine driver had a glimmer of sanity somewhere in him after all. He had managed to stop the train just in time.

Slowly the train started moving backwards. We were going back to Cuzco. The accident was averted and now we will be offloaded in Cuzco and they will take away the train to evaluate for repairs. (and the engine driver to evaluate for psychiatric treatment, perhaps!) We won’t be seeing Machu Picchu after coming so far.

Still I was thankful to Gods that we were alive.

But the train did not go back to Cuzco. It reversed direction and again charged towards another cliff without any tunnel.

This time I did not close my eyes.

In this way, the train zigzagged three times in the shape of the letter Z before it started moving in a steady forward direction along the narrow Urubamba river valley with mountains on both sides.

This was the first time we had come across of this type of train maneuver. There are quite a few ‘mountain-climbing’ trains in India. The train to Matheran just curves round the hill and tunnels through. The trains at Ooty and Darjeeling are the ‘cog and wheel’ type which just climb up the incline. Perurail’ Vistadome just shunted its way out of the cul-de-sac.

After this initial fright, the Vistadome journey was highly enjoyable.

I would highly recommend half a tablet of Avomine for the bus journey from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu.

The first sight of Machu Picchu surprises you because it looks EXACTLY like the umpteen numbers of photos you have seen, but not fully believed. The ruined settlement spreads out below the brooding peak of Wayan Picchu (which majority of the people think IS Machu Picchu) does evoke a sense of wonder and ecstasy. ‘The Lost City of the Incas’ is a very apt moniker. The sight of Urubamba river snaking through the valley far far below (600 meters to be exact) makes you appreciate why it remained ‘undiscovered’ till 1911. It was practically inaccessible.

Why did it remain untouched by the Spanish? I believe there is a sordid monitory reason behind it, apart from the inaccessibility. It was only a transient Inca settlement without much importance and without any GOLD. So, it was not worth looting. Cuzco, which is another 1000 feet HIGHER, did not escape the conquistadors’ greed.

However, now the view of Machu Picchu with its partly reconstructed structures, is so romantic with the Andean panorama as a backdrop, that it has become the number one tourist destination in Peru. The llamas and alpacas wandering in the ruins and cropping grass nonchalantly, makes it even more exotic.

The guide asked us how many types of ‘cameloids’ we could name. Most of the people in our tour group did not know what a cameloid is, but I proudly came out with the answer ‘llama, alpaca and vicuna’. The guide was totally zapped, I can tell you. However, I had missed out on guanacos. Still, three out of four is not bad.

Stored away in my brain, are what Avi calls “useless pieces of knowledge”. Maybe, the selfsame trivia would be useful if ever I get a chance on KBC.
However, I will not trivialize Machu Picchu by going into the descriptions of its structures, temples, stonework etc. It has to be experienced to appreciate it fully. Maybe the photos would give you some idea.

I will just mention in passing that like the present day observatories, Incas also built their astronomical observatories high up in the mountains. Machu Picchu was one of them.

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Photos

Vistadome
The Vistadome

Urubamba valley
The Urubamba valley from the top

Wayan Picchu
The Wayan Picchu which everybody mistakes for Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu
The real Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu settlement
The Machu Picchu settlement with Wayan Picchu in the background

Baby alpaca
The baby alpaca peacefully cropping grass unmindful of tourists

Southern Cross
The stone representing Southern Cross, a star constellation

Model
The model of Machu Picchu landscape