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Published: August 31st 2008
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Following the hoards has never been one of our greatest pleasures. Even less when they´re shinning unnessecary torches in your face at 5 am on a hillside ascent to the ´Most exciting pile of rocks in the World´. Firstly, we´re going to have a go about American´s. I apologise as we have met some nice ones on our travels, but give them a goal and they´re ruthless to the core. It turns out, you see, that only the first 400 people to Machu Picchu each day are allowed to ascend a certain part of the site. We, personnally had no real interest in climbing Scafeld Pike and then tackling Snowdon. We were set in just being happy to be there. Our American friends on the other hand were hell bent on pushing, shoving and clawing their way past anyone getting in their way of an extra lung-bursting climb. And we would have been fine had this been conducted in a friendly and harmonious manner, but no. These were not British citizens (they weren´t even Commonwealth!), these were Yanks. Biting, kicking and screaming in a desperate struggle to ... have ... to ... be ... first.
We came in a happy
and relaxed 400ish and as we made our way to the classic viewpoint to take our obligatory lost city photos we were presented with the most glorious redemption. The god of fate was smiling on us, and clearly he is a git.
Mist, solid, unyeilding, impenetrable MIST.
The mist would of course eventually clear to leave a most breathtaking, and yet puzzeling view. Why build a city on top of a mountain, 800m higher than the nearest water source? Why carry rocks from the next mountain over? And why did a culture that developed some of the most advanced agricutural techniques known to man not get off their arses and not invent the wheel! I mean water pumping technology would have been nice, some form of automatic staircase up the hill would be gladly appreciated but the wheel ... surely. There must have been one almighty ´kicking yourself´session when the Spanish arrived on horses with cannon in tow on smooth round things that made the journey through the valleys just so much eaiser.
You can, of course, learn all of the answers to these questions if you listen carefully to tour guides. Especially the ones who claim
to know the answers that have eluded archeologists and anthropologists for decades and in many cases still do. It does make you wonder how many versions of history are told everyday at this site and how much rubbish you could tell some of the more guilible tourists before they began to question it. ´Oh yes, they used to carry out sacrifices here. 100 a day´, ´Sure it was a city of over 10,000 people´(by the way it sooo wasn´t), ´Yeah, you can just make out the perfect carved holes in the rock through which their cable TV arrived´. Ok a guide didn´t say the last one, but they do talk utter tripe half the time. Seriously folks spend a fiver on a book and you´ll learn a lot more than some bloke that´s realised its easier to con foriegners than learn how to make pizza - the only other trade of Aguas Calientis.
As with Angkor in Cambodia, the Taj in India and Australia Zoo in Oz (why else go to Brisbane?) Machu Picchu is a place of tourist pilgramage. It seems that no one comes to Peru and doesn´t come here, it just isn´t allowed. One thing we
would like to ask, nae beg, of other travellers and anyone bored enough to be reading this and hoping for some deep and meaningful insights into the nature of Machu Pichhu - it´s really pretty by the way - is just to relax. Visiting places is meant to be fun and not some insane quest to mark of all the wonders of the world of a tick list. Just becuase someone wants to do something different to you, or slower than you doesn´t make them wrong. Calm down. Relax.
Or perhaps we´ve just been drinking to much Mate de Coca - mmm, sedatives.
P.S. - As opposition to the normal, and quite frankly boring, repatative shots of Machu Picchu (you´ve all seen it) we´ve thrown in some other more interesting shots from across Peru.
p.p.s That and Duncan forgot to upload the photos before they went home.
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