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Published: September 13th 2005
Better late then never!
My last day in Peru did not go as planed therefor I am late with the Machu Picchu update, I beg your forgiveness.
So Thursday (the 8th) we arrived in to Aqua Caliente in the late afternoon. Freddy, our guide, got everyone squared up at their hotels and showed us were to meet for dinner. I was the only one staying at my hotel out of our group. The hotel sat partway up the hill and had a nice view, however, no hot water and to think the name of the town means hot water, go figure! So I had a few hours to burn before dinner so I set out to explore the town. It did not take long to run into Evi and Emmit who were in route to the Hot Springs, hence the name Aqua Caliente. So with a brief stop at my hotel the three of us were off to partake of the hot water! It felt great and the hot water was way better then my cold shower! Latter the entire group met up for dinner and our cooks really poured it on for the last night. After a good
meal and a beer I was ready to hit the hay.
The morning of the 9th came very early, 3:30! We all met up for breaky and loaded up on the buss to head up to Machu Picchu. The drive was beautiful and we entered the park just after 6am. As daylight approached through the fog haze I was greeted with my first full view of Machu from the landmark know as the guards’ house. We took in the view for over 30 minutes and was greeted my an English speaking guide for our Machu Picchu tour. Lots of very interesting info on the Inca strong hold. The fortress was built in the shape of the Condor. The Inca took great interest in the Condor, Puma and Snake, and built many monuments to them. Their images held a strong presents in Inca Society. The city is divide into different sections. Several sections were dedicated to agriculture, occupying the most space at Machu Picchu. There is a central area that contains several religious temples and another area for the study of the celestials including an observatory and sundial. The Inca, along with several other civilizations, were very in tune with
the movement of the Earth and the Heavens. There are three main living spaces, one for the Royalty, one for the Nobility and another area for the common people. Nobility consisted of scholars, religious priest and the chosen women.
After our tour Evi, Emmit and I decided to climb Waynapicchu. You have to sign in and out to climb Waynapicchu. They only allow 400 people a day to climb it and I was number 189. The climb is basically the same route that the Inca used. It is a switch back of steps that lead straight up the side of a rock cover by jungle. The park says that it will take one hour to climb up Waynapicchu if you are physically fit, well the three of us ran up it in 25 minutes! It was definitely a workout, but the views were so worth it! We milled around up top for a wee bit and then headed back down. After Waynapicchu, we wondered around Machu Picchu for a little bit longer, at last we were tired and hungry so we headed back down to Agua Caliente for a bit of Cuy!
So what is Cuy you ask?
If you don’t want to know, don’t read on, you have been warned! Cuy is a Peruvian dish that dates back way before the Inca’s. It is eaten mainly for celebrations and most families raise them. It is Guinea Pig and it taste like greasy chicken! Yep I tried it. It was ok, don’t think I would ever order it again. Along with the Cuy the three of us also ordered some Alpaca. The Alpaca was very good, kind of similar to lamb but not as strong smelling or tasting. I really liked Alpaca and would defiantly order it again. After lunch we met up with others from our group to catch the train back to Cusco.
Machu Picchu is defiantly one of those amazing places that I am so very lucky to have seen!
~Machelle
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