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Published: April 22nd 2006
Machu Picchu is said to be the most visited place in all of South America and after spending a few days in the area we now know why. Unlike many people where the focus of their trip is visiting Machu Picchu we feel like it was something that we stumbled upon, but sure glad we did. Being thirfty we took the backpackers train, which travels at night, to the city of Agaus Calientes which is the closest city to Machu Picchu. Once the train arrived the craziness began with several hundred people disembarking from the train and just as many people offering a place to stay. We found a nice quiet hostal (or so we thought) near the river that provides the town's namesake. We dropped off our stuff and took a small walk about town, only to return to the hostal to a full blown soccor game in the school yard outside our window.... at 11:30 pm!! Thankfully the game only lasted an hour and we were able to drift off to sleep.
Upon waking the next morning the view outside of our room gave us the first sense of what was in store for us over the coming
Machu Picchu
A view of MP with Huaya Picchu in the background.days. The landscape is amazing with towering cliff walls over 1000 ft in height covered in jungle vegetation with clouds and mist clinging to the cliff walls. The Urubamba River, which was swollen due to the recent rains, snakes its way along the cliff bases that surround Machu Picchu. We also awoke to torrential rains and thus decided to spend the day in town and at the hot springs above the town. Aguas Calientes, which in Spanish means hot water, is a very useful phrase for any gringo staying in the high-elevations of the Altiplano. At this elevation you want to stay in a hostal that has hot water showers...
The next day turned out to be fantastic... so even though we got a bit of a late start we headed up to Machu Picchu and arrived just as the sun came out. So our timing turned out to be perfect! Yes, MP is very touristy but still incredible. The city was under construction for around 130 years and the craftmanship that went into many of the buildings suggest that MP was built for the more weathy Incas that were around at that time. Thankfully, it was the low
season and there were only about 1500 people on the site while we were there, whereas the high season sees around twice that many people! The city is built right along the ridge between the peaks of Machu Picchu and Huayna Picchu with one side of the city perched along a cliff band that drops directly down to the Urubamba River below and the other side 'a little' less steep. The city is divided into four main areas; temples, workshops, housing, and crop production. As before, all the terraces you see in the photographs are for growing crops. After a brief bit of rain, a rainbow appeared which seems to sum up how great of a day it was for the both of us.
The following day we hiked up Putucusi which is a peak directly across from MP and gave us a unqiue view of the city. The hike up to the top was a bit of an adventure with ladders, some over a 100 metres in length, up the sides of several cliff faces! Again, we were blessed with sunshine on the city of MP while we sat at the top. Feeling fully satisfied from our experience
Temple of the Sun
The only circle building in the entire complex! Some crop terrances in the background. at Machu Picchu we headed back to Aguas Calientes for our final evening before heading back to Cusco early the next morning. When I mean early, I mean that the backpackers train leaves at 5:15 am. We awoke again to torrential rains but this time with the trip during the daylight hours we were able to absorb how remote MP is and, more so, how isolated it would have been during Inca period. The train snakes its way along the river bank and we had to stop for long periods of time as folks walked on the track in front of the train to ensure that there were no washouts or rockfall on the tracks. The cliff faces just go straight up for 1000 ft... its really quite crazy.
Yes MP is touristy, but if you happen to be in the area its worth dropping by.
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