Cuzco and Machu Picchu

As we arrived in Cuzco i was feeling a little ill, not really sure if its mild altitude sickness, a bug, a fever or just feeling rub down, i have not really been on top form since I arrived in South America. On our first night we all went for a beer in an irish bar on the main square, inside you could have been in an O’neils, with the wooden panelled walls littered with memorabilia, i looked at the menu, cottage pie, oh yes please. They were quite a large number of the group there i had a beer but my head was pounding. I wanted to go home but there is another part of me that wants to enjoy the experience, I leave the pub flag down a cab to take me to the hotel where i pick up some pain killers and head back to the pub, they offer some temporary relief from the pain but inside i know that its artificial and cant get into the swing of things, so I retire back to the hotel early and go to bed hoping that a good nights sleep will help. I am desperate to recover as the next day we do the Inca Sacred Valley trek which is the start of our trek to Machu Picchu, one of the main reasons for choosing this trip. Josh and John with whom i am sharing the room come back a little later, John has a terrible snoring problem and i get little sleep.

The next morning tired and not feeling much better we headed off to do some Inca sightseeing and the Sacred Valley tour. I first stop was Sacsayhuaman, pronounced sexy woman, Some believe the walls were a form of fortification, while others believe it was only used to form the head of the Puma that Sacsayhuamán along with Cuzco form when seen from above. Like much Inca stonework, there is still mystery surrounding how they were constructed. The structure is built in such a way that a single piece of paper will not fit between many of the stones. This precision, combined with the rounded corners of the limestone blocks, the variety of their interlocking shapes, and the way the walls lean inward, is thought to have helped the ruins survive devastating earthquakes in Cuzco. The longest of three walls is about 400 meters. They are about 6 meters tall. Estimated volume of stone is over 6,000 cubic meters. Estimates for the largest limestone block vary from 128 tonnes to almost 200 tonnes. The Spanish believed them to be the work of the Devil as no human hand could have built such a structure.

We then set off to Pisac with its market village the market sold mainly tourist fair with inca bowls and other gifts, i wanted to by something from every country that i visited so this seemed as good a place as and i bought a bowl.


Then off to the ruins The ruins are separated along the ridge into four groups: Pisaqa, Intihuatana, Q'allaqasa, and Kinchiracay Intihuatana includes a number of bathes and temples. The Temple of the Sun, a volcanic outcrop carved into a "hitching post" for the Sun, is the focus, and the angles of its base suggest that it served some astronomical function. Q'allaqasa which is built onto a natural spur and overlooks the valley, is known as the citadel
The hillside is lined with agricultural terraces constructed by the Inca and still in use today. These terraces were created by hauling richer topsoil from the lower lands by hand. They enabled them to produce surplus food more than would normally be possible at altitudes as high as 11,000 feet. With military, religious, and agricultural structures, the site served at least a triple purpose. Besides a country estate, it is thought that Písac defended the southern entrance to the Sacred Valley, while Choquequirao defended the western entrance and the fortress at Ollantaytambo the northern.


Then on to Ollantaytambo the temple area is at the top of steep terracing which helped to provide excellent defences. Stone used for these buildings was brought from a quarry high up on the opposite side of the Urubamba river - an incredible feat involving the efforts of thousands of workers. The complex was still under construction at the time of the conquest and was never completed. Ollantaytambo is the only place ever to have resisted attacks from the Spanish. However, their victory was short-lived when the Spanish returned with four times their previous force. On the mountain opposite the terracing there is another impressive structure which was used for storing wheat.

What was most amazing is that at the foot of the terracing the inca village remains in tact, and it is still a inhabited, the streets echo with the sound of children slaughters and peoples dogs roam wild. Our guide took us to his parents house where he still stayed sometimes although he had moved to Cuzco. The narrow streets of one or two storey dwellings are still served by a working inca sanitation system. I guide took us to a local pub where we (didn’t) enjoy a glass of corn beer.

All of these structures are amazing, in the design, craftsmanship, scale, and that the way in which the stones are slid together an joined with no concrete or cement, these gigantic rocks we carved together like a giant intricate jigsaw that have stood for 100s of years.

The day had involved much trekking all at around the 3000m mark and i was not feeling good, I was exhausted, my head was pounding, I was out of breath and felt dizzy and disorientated, at one point when i was stood at the top of the agricultural terracing at Ollantaytambo I thought I was going to fall. The group at this point split into two, the people doing the classic inca trail would stay at Ollantaytambo for the night, while the rest of us would head back to Cuzco for the night before starting of on the Lares trail. As we got back to the hotel we had to reorganise the rooms, I asked Vanessa, the tour leader, if i could have a room to myself as i wanted to pull myself together. We went out for dinner then i headed back to my single room for a good nights sleep. Vanessa knocked on my door at 5am as it was time to start the trek, there was no way I could do this I was broken. I was disappointed, Machu Picchu is one of the wonders of the world and is supposed t be the highlight of the trip but there was no way i could spend 3 days trekking at altitude of up to 4400m camping every night. Vanessa said that there might be another some of the group had opted not to do the trek and you can get a train to Machu Picchu it just depends if there are spaces.




I spent the next few days in Cuzco recharging my batteries and spending a lot of time in the Irish bar eating Sheppards Pie and when i was a little better i was introduced to Dark and stormies by ian and koke. Cusco, as with all of the major cities i have visited in Peru, revolves around the main square which as always has a fountain and at least one church. The church on the square in Cuzco has a famous painting of the last supper where they are eating the national dish of Peru, Guinea Pig. Of the main square to one side you have an ordinary city centre, with shops and busy roads to the other side there is a maze of cobbled alley ways where is where i spent much of my time. You could not walk for far without the words, ‘massage’ being said to you from a dark corner. I first i thought this was a little creepy and maybe even seedy, but Brendon said that he had all been for one and its fine, i thought that as a part of my rehabilitation a massage is definitely in order, it was all fine with no offer of a Thai style ‘happy ending’.

I spent some time seeing the sights of Cuzco, of which to be honest there were none worth mentioning. Then one day i was walking down the road when i came across some sort of parade. The locals were carrying around religious statues and we dressed up either in there Sunday best or all manner of weird costumes.

Luckily there was space on the train to Machu Picchu, or at least the town next to it. I arrived late at night and met up with the rest of the group who had been hiking for 3 days and sleeping rough, they seemed rather proud of themselves, to be honest given the choice I think I would have picked a few nights in a hotel and a train. We all stayed in a hostel over night and took the bus up to Machu Picchu at 5 in the morning to see the sun rise and start the 24 hour challenge. Machu Picchu was constructed around 1460, at the height of the Inca Empire and was abandoned less than 100 years later. There are several theories about why, the two most common are that the population was killed by disease or that it was disserted through fear of imminent Spanish attack. Although its located only about 80 kilometers (50 miles) from Cusco it was never found by the Spanish and consequently, not plundered and destroyed, as was the case with many other Inca sites. Over the centuries, the surrounding jungle grew over much of the site, and few if any knew of its existence. The problem with these theories is that nobody actually knows, historians cant even agree on what Machu Picchu was used for theories include a defensive retreat, city for the emperor and a prison, or when it was discovered.

As you enter Machu Picchu unfolds in front of you, you can still see the stone dwellings that would have one had thatched roofs, the citadel and the ceremony point. We walked around with our guide for several hours while he explained the both the established theories and his own personal thoughts, he seemed to think that they were the first environmentalists. By this point something clicked in my head, i have been to several inca sights and have never seen any artwork or writing, and while this may have been destroyed by the Spanish at other places Machu Picchu was untouched, i asked if the inca had writing. He gave a long explanation about how they did but that it was a private and secret thing and when pushed he said that they was never any findings of such things. The Answer annoyed me a little, it struck me that the inca almost certainly did not have the written word, this for me in no way undermines their intelligence, they were fantastic engineers, they just saw no need for writing, why not just say it. Its the same with the wheel, The Incas never used the wheel in any practical manner. Its use in toys demonstrates that the principle was well-known to them, although it was not applied in their engineering. The lack of strong draft animals as well as terrain and dense vegetation issues may have rendered it impractical. How they moved and placed enormous blocks of stones remains a mystery, although the general belief is that they used hundreds of men to push the stones up inclined planes. The guides will often argue that they did have the wheel just none have been found, to me the fact that they had neither the wheel or writing makes them more mysterious and demonstrates a different that is my no means inferior, im sure that if they had not been massacred they could have taught the world much.
After our tour of Machu Picchu we were free to wonder at our own will, a few of us decided to climb Wayna Picchu which is the mountain that you see in the background in all of the Machu Picchu pictures. By now the sun was shining at it was hot there are badly made steps that sharply climb while twisting and turning to the top. Its an exhausting climb which i undertook with a dutch couple and two American girls, but once there the view is truly breathtaking. I promptly sat on a rock with Machu Picchu behind and below me and posed for a photo.


After several hours we left Machu Picchu and got to the bus back to the town and then headed to a hot spa, where we sat for seveal hours, the rest of the group using the soothing mineral water to energise their muscles while i just soaked up the warm water. We then travelled back to cuzco via train and mini bus, and were in a bar by about 9.30, time to commence the 24 hour challenge. The challenge is to stay up and in the bars for 24 hours after you wake up, ie 5am. Many of the people we had met on the trip had agreed to joinn us but failed to turn up. We hit the bars and several clubs, i dont realy have much to say about this as i cant remember, but i made it.

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