Advertisement
Published: August 11th 2008
Machu Pichu was mindblowing. It is always a strange experience to see the real version of something you have seen plenty of pictures of. A lost and recently discovered City surrounded by beautiful mountains and cloud forest.
We stayed in the nearby town, Aguas Calientes (hot waters) so that we could catch the early bus up at 5:30am and watch the sun rise and dance over the mountains. Aguas Calientes is named after the natural hot springs in the area, which I was initially excited about, but they are more like overcrowded hot tubs than natural springs, and did not really have much appeal. Lonely Planet had already warned us about how touristy Aguas Calientes is, so we were prepared and it really wasn't as horrible as the Lonely Planet made it out to be. How can a town surrounded by sheer limestone cliffs, clear streams, hot springs and cloud forest be horrible? Not even tourists can achieve that degree of undoing.
We found a cheap hostel to stay in that had hot water and a shower head that made it come out in more than a trickle, (unless someone else nearby decided to also use the water in
another room). I was ecstatic. After friends and family, good hot showers and baths are what I am missing the most.
We did catch the early morning bus as planned and got out to Machu Pichu in time to see the sun rise. We were also there in time to climb the neighbouring mountain, Wayna Picchu, temple of the moon, which they allow only 400 people to visit each day. We followed a narrow and steep Inca trail to the top of the mountain where there are old temples and sculpted caves. It was great to get away from the crowds for a bit and look down on Machu Pichu from up high. It made the trip to Machu Pichu worthwhile.
My imagination was working overtime while walking around the site, imagining the Incas walking around, worshipping the sun and the moon, making sacrifices and just living. We saw some baths and toilets and kitchens. You could see the different economic levels of the society in the quality of the buildings. The palaces were made with exquisite stone work, then there were almost as exquisite houses, then the hastily thrown together and relatively shabby servant's quarters. There was
even an Inca prison, which I sure as hell would not have liked to end up in. Jono could not even stand upright inside it. There was no signage or information anywhere in the ruins, which is pretty disappointing when you pay US$40 just to enter, but like I said, I have a good imagination. There were apparently people walking around to give out information and answer questions, but the only time we saw them was on our way out the gate at the end of the day, when there were about 5 of them all standing around talking to each other and dressed in carkey colours!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.172s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 14; qc: 69; dbt: 0.0885s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Arthur
non-member comment
Jono Please be careful on those edges. I am nervous; you look so relaxed.