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Published: June 11th 2006
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Dawn over Machu Picchu
It took an hour and a half´s climbing to get this pic. OK so the five day trek over mountains and through the semi tropical jungle was worth the pain, the discomfort and the altitude probs. We arrived at Aguas Calientes (I think we left you there in the last blog) and were straight to our rather damp hostel on the main square. Our sunken spirits rocketed upwards with the discovery of hot water in the shower...this is not to be underestimated, since we learned in Peru that hot water is a relative concept in these parts. (in Cusco I asked one of the hostel staff where I could find a hot shower since ours was FREEZING...so he looked at me puzzled like, turned on the shower tap, stuck his hand in the water and says "this is hot" - OH NO IT WASN´T! Little git, I had to have another cold shower)...So anyway this explains our excitement over the hot water action.
From here we had dinner and a few pints with our fellow masochists, and were in bed by 10.30 to be up for 3.45am...no jokes man. Even in the sub tropics its cold at that time. We walked to machu picchu, walking up the mountain, in order to be
In Machu Picchu
Can you tell we´d been trekking? at the gate in time for 6am. The walk to the foot of the hill was OK, but the climb was hellish, especially after five days of trekking. The humidity was unbelievable and the sweat poured off us in streams....nice.
We arrived at the top and after waiting for our guide, we entered the complex. Wow. Even thought there were a few tourists around other than us, the ruins were largely empty for the first couple of hours. The setting is incredible, with the mountaintop ruins being surrounded by sheer green mountains on all sides. On either side of the site deep valleys plunge down to the sacred rivers below. This leaves machu picchu feeling like someplace between the heavens and the earth. As the sun rises clouds of steam begin to rise from the mountainsides, giving the place a mystical feel. The ruins themselves are remarkably complete, and although the quality of the stonework is better at sacsayhuaman, the interesting thing is to see the places where people actually lived, and you can imagine them living there and going about their business. Apparently the sides of the mountain were covered with gardens, although how they planted things on
MP in all its glory
Just in case you didn´t get enough... the two foot wide terraces I dont know. The guide, Efrain, said many people died building the terraces, as the drop to the bottom is probably about 800 metres or so. Urgh. We also marvelled at the sun temple, the condor temple although starvation eventually forced us to the caff at the entrance, where we ate the worlds most expensive sarnies before I climbed Huayna Picchu. (the mountain that overlooks the entire site). By this point marcela rebelled. No more effing climbing!!!! her rebellion meant that she stayed chilling on a sunlit terrace while me, Pete and Elias climbed the mountain. Huayna Picchu means "young mountain" and Machu Picchu means "old mountain" and the two make up the complete site, so it had to be done really.
This climb was pretty tough, really steep, slippery rocks, no safety rails (i say!), and at some points traffic jams form as people coming down the mountain meet those breathlessly crawling up it. It was a bit like that bit in lord of the rings where frodo, sam and gollum climb those steps upto mordor. Except these steps are real and it hurts. We got to a terrace below the top, where
people took pics of each other with machu picchu a tiny grey blob far below. We stayed up there catching our breath, when we realised that we weren´t on the top...there were another 50 metres or so to go. I was already feeling a slight toe curling sensation sitting on the nice big flat terrace, so I wasn´t too happy about this realisation.
The thing is that Huaynapicchu is basically a pinnacle. So the further you go, the less of it there is. More and more air surrounds you, and the steep sides fall nearly vertically into the rivers far, far below. The sky feels really big and the earth feels very far away.
To get upto the next level we had to crawl through a tunnel in between two rocks, and then up a narrow slanted staircase. At the end of the stairs we came out onto a small stone platform. To the right a wall of rock rose vertically, ahead a narrow staircase led upwards (no safety rail again) and to the left....well, just a lot of air...I have to admit to having a bit of a "moment"...I shamefully crawled back through the tunnel and sat
on a rock below calling myself a pussy. A couple of minutes later I went back through the tunnel, out into the air, ran up the steps, was gutted to find yet more steps, ran up them, before eventually reaching the summit. I beat the mountain! I nearly had a heart attack, but I made it. Vic -1 Sacred Mountain - 0. (sorry, becoming footie obsessed)
We headed back to Cusco afterwards, tired, but very happy. Machu Picchu is an amazing place and well worth all the effort to get there.
The following day we relaxed in Cusco before getting an overnight bus to Copacabana in Bolivia. Here we spent another two lazy days recovering from the trek, and enjoying our lakeside hotel and the chilled out hippy atmosphere...we even went to a place with live JAAAZZZZ and floor cushions...nice. The views over the highest lake in the world are lovely, and the sunsets amazing (once you have climbed the hill to get to the mirador...is there no end to the climbing? Marcela asked). Up on the hill we met up with our "aussie stalkers" who we kept bumping into from Arequipa, all the way to Copa. Top
sunset over Titicaca
the locals call it titikharkhar... people and we had a wicked laugh with them. We also went to the Island of the Sun where the first Inca were born, nice trip but a bit short. Copa was just what we needed before heading deeper into Evo country...Uyuni via La Paz and Oruro...basically 17hours on various buses, before arriving into the coldest place in the world...ever. Seriously even Moscow never felt this cold. But Uyuni will be the next entry cos the footie is on. Priorities you know!
Much love,
Vic and Marce
PS: Politics: We can´t believe Garcia won the elections in Peru, cos everyone we spoke to was Humala to the bone and we found a lot of hatred for Garcia...but I guess the south of Peru is Humala heartland. Still, we felt gutted for the Peruvians because they now face more of the same, corruption, poverty, austerity, privatisations, FTA´s etc...here in Bolivia there is lots of Evo graffiti, posters and a feeling of optimism.
PPS: Altitude: Every step is an effort at above 3000 metres or so. At above 4000 the air is thin and very cold. The inside of your nose dries up, and your lips turn into crisps (and we are talking the real McCoy! boom boom). 50 metres feels like a long way, when your heart is beating like billy-o. Coca leaves are the only solution, and we chewed them a lot on the trek. They make your mouth go numb, but they take away symptoms of fatigue and also the nausea and headaches that some people get.
PPPS: Religious Sincretism: Papi, we lived a bit of this when the shaman did his ritual...apparently the incense burning is a catholic influence...
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emilia
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Nice pictures