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Published: February 8th 2008
PeruRail
We are on our way!!As Jore and I wanted to experience Machu Picchu fully we gave ourselves two full days for it.
We were planning to buy our train tickets individually but since it was the day after Christmas the tickets were sold out! Our only remaining option was to go with a tour operator, costing $150 (covering transportation, entrance fees, and a guide), which surprisingly turned out quite well.
So on March 26th, early in the morning our tour lady came to the hotel to pick us up and took us to our bus which was transporting other tourists from different companies as well. A bus full of gringos. Two hours later we had arrived to Ollantaytambo, the best surviving example of Inca city planning and the most visited Inca spot after Machu Picchu. We decided to skip Ollantaytambo because I feel that if you see one Inca ruin you’ve kind of seen them all and you just can’t beat Machu Picchu when it comes to Inca ruins. (You wouldn’t believe all the things that are called Inca ruins in Peru just to attract tourists.)
So in Ollantaytambo we caught the PeruRail train to
Aguas Calientes (aka Machu Picchu Pueblo). The
train (and by foot) is the only way to reach Aguas Calientes. In the train we ended up sitting across from a rather odd mid-aged couple - the woman was a Bulgarian architect working in New York and the man was Peruvian but had left Peru so long ago that he no longer held citizenship. They were interesting people to meet but the man kept talking and talking and talking, and all Jore and I wanted to do was read our magazine.
We arrived to Aguas Calientes around one and were picked up by a person from our hotel. Although Aguas Calientes is Machu Picchu Pueblo the accommodation was not at all expensive in European terms so it was good value for money. We spent the afternoon walking around town, which consisted mostly of restaurants, hotels, and a large souvenir market. But its little plaza was quite cute and at you could relax in the sun by the river bank. It was so enjoyable that we both fell asleep listening to the river - a lovely little nap. The town was not very crowded because the rainy season (December-March) is off-season. Also, many people just come for one day,
taking a train there and back in the same day. As a result, when we ordered at a restaurant the waiter had to go and buy the ingredients for our food. Hilarious! Anyway; it was a very enjoyable afternoon.
We went to sleep early and woke up at 4 a.m. The hotel served us lunch at 4.30 and we were on the first bus to Machu Picchu at 5 a.m. Yes, we are so dedicated!!
Arriving to
Machu Picchu at 6 a.m., it was cloudy, misty, and rainy. Jore and I were among the first to enter Machu Picchu that day. We walked around a little bit but it was so misty that it was hard to see anything. At 7 a.m. we met up with our guide and we finally got going at 8 a.m. Jore chose the English guide so we were in the English group but I must say I was not very impressed with his English or the content of his monologues. I think the Spanish tours got a lot more information, but anyway…
Machu Picchu was discovered in 1911 by Hiram Bingham, a young American explorer, who was looking for the lost
city of the Incas. It was later determined that the lost city of the Incas is in fact Vilcabamba, the last stronghold of the Incas, located deeper in the jungle. It was the locals who brought Bingham to Machu Picchu but they themselves had only discovered it a few years previously. As Machu Picchu is not mentioned in any of the chronicles of the Spanish conquistadors, knowledge about it remains sketchy and unreliable. Most agree that it must have been a vitally important ceremonial center due to its high quality stonework and abundant ornamental work.
Some
history of the Incan Empire -
copy/paste from the internet -
From approximately 1450 to 1530, the western coast of South America flourished under a vast Incan Empire, called
Tahuantinsuyo (Land of Four Corners). At their height, the Inca were worthy of comparison to the ancient Roman society. Among their many achievements, their roadways, government, and counting systems particularly helped the Incas dominate a vast area of South America. They set up roads running the length of the kingdom from Ecuador to the southern borders of Argentina and Chile making an extensive communication system. Each road had chasquis or messengers at certain
posts along the way who carried messages from one end to the other with remarkable efficiency. The network of roads led to the great success of the Incas, simplifying the government’s efforts to keep watch over the empire. Furthermore, the Incas used Quechua (or
runasimi in the Quechua language) to unite the Empire and facilitate communication. Their government was very organized and kept records of everything. Although the Inca had no writing system, they had a complex method of counting called the
quipu. The
quipu was a system for recording data using knotted cords. Knots indicated units; tens, hundreds, thousands, and tens of thousands. Single cords would be fastened to hang from a thicker cord like a fringe to keep track of such things as crop yields and storage capacity. These quipus were quite complicated and managed by quipucamayocs, or accountants. To tell the difference between knots and their meanings, quipucamayocs used different sizes and colors. For example, a yellow string signified gold, a white one: silver, and red: soldiers.
The Inca’s respect for the stone and its inner powers gave rise to their expert masonry. They used stones of unusual size and fitted them together without mortar to
The Stone of Energy
It was considered a sacred stone so people came to touch it and draw energy form it! form walls; one could not insert a sheet of paper between these stones they were so carefully crafted together. The surfaces were smoothly carved and were not squared off to make them look almost alive. This detailed masonry can be seen in Machu Picchu, "the lost city of the Incas." The ancient city sits on top of a mountain 8,000 feet in elevation, virtually untouched since inhabited by the Incas. Because of its elevation and location, the Spanish conquistadors missed Machu Picchu and it turned into a refuge for the escaping Inca during the time of conquest. Amazingly preserved temples still stand with huge walls of artistically carved white granite that demonstrate an obvious expertise. Machu Picchu may be the best preserved and most beautiful example of masonry the Inca Empire had to offer.
Some say the Tahuantinsuyo was a communist country, where everyone had enough, whereas others claim that the peasants were exploited and that Machu Picchu was constructed by peasants as part of their tax obligation. No records exist to disprove that the Inca Empire was either of a communist or exploitative nature.
In 1983 Machu Picchu was recognized as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
-
end copy/paste from the internet -
Anyway, after our tour Jore and I decided to tackle
Wayna Picchu, the steep mountain at the back of the ruins. Although steep, the climb itself wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be so I was very impressed with myself when I managed to do it in a mere hour. During one of my rest breaks I met
Andreas, an interesting Swedish guy. After meeting up with Jore (she was ahead), we all climbed together the rest of the way. Once we got to the top we had a picnic. Jore and I had my favorite avocado sandwiches, which we shared with Andreas. We walked around the top of the mountain and took loads of pictures. By then most of the mist had cleared and the views were spectacular.
After about an hour we all headed down back to Machu Picchu and took more photos. We took another lovely rest break on the grass and at 2 p.m. the three of us decided to finally leave Machu Picchu. On the way out Andreas offered to buy us lunch. So we go to the Machu Picchu Sanctuary Lodge
(the only accommodation and restaurant at Machu Picchu) and it turns out to be $29 a person for a full buffet meal. We said it was way too much and wanted to leave but he insisted. In a macho way he pulled out his credit card and we all had a yummy delicious and big lunch. I had two helpings of dessert. We had to make it his money’s worth. We thanked him profusely and caught the bus back to Aguas Calientes just in time to pick up our luggage and catch the train back.
On the train I ended up sitting next to a mid-aged mean-looking lady, who I ended up talking to for two hours without pausing! Jore just read her magazine. Anyway, the woman was quite bitter and strict about what she wanted and what she didn’t want - she was trying to figure out where to spend her retirement years since she had no savings and wouldn’t be able to live in the US. She had moved to Houston in her 30-ies and was intending to stay for a few months and she got stuck there for 13 years even though she disliked it. How
on earth does that happen? Although we had a nice chat she had such a negative aura around her and she was bitter - a good lesson on how not to become when you’re older.
And that was my Machu Picchu experience!!!
Next stop: Peruvian Lake Titicaca
*
Spanish Word of the Day:
pueblo =
village
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Ivanchica
non-member comment
A very useful trivia; Aguas Calientes was also a village where Salma Hayek was from, when she was acting in "Rush in" with Matthew Perry. Salma's Aguas Calientes was in Mexico, tho. I think...