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Published: September 2nd 2006
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The Incas were not towering giants. They are the ancestors of modern-day Peruvians and thus it stands to reason that they were maybe a bit on the short side, yeah?
But you wouldn´t guess it from the height of their steps.
The stairs on the left side of the Ollantaytambo ruins are original. All of the other, more-reasonably-sized, steps are the easy creation of modern man. Juan Carlos, my own personal guide to the slightly less visited and one of the best preserved Inca villages in the sacred valley, explained that there is a reason for this.
The Incas believed in hard work. And they figured if you were going to be privileged with a visit to a sacred temple, you were damn-well going to earn it. Knowing this, I understand why the Inca trail is booked solid four months ahead of time. And I wish I could have hiked it.
But alas, I was one of the thousands of lowly visitors a day who merely saunter from the cushy tourist bus to the ticket window. Nonetheless, I contend, I was awed by Machu Picchu. Entering through the ticket gate, a fresh stamp in my passport, I
was stunned by how in-tact everything seemed, though I hadn´t yet laid eyes on the full sacred place.
I started climbing a trail, but it seemed that most people were on their way down, carrying heavy backpacks and walking sticks. They were fresh off the Inca trail. I arrived at a landing, and there it was, laid out in front of me like a post card. And the best part is that there were only a few stray travelers and groups milling about at 8 a.m.. It was before the first morning train arrived.
I almost didn´t want to come to Machu Picchu, at one point in my journey, because it seemed over-commercialized and expensive. I imagined it to look like an ant hill, but without being able to see the hill for all of the ants.
That´s not how it was. It was beautiful. And at no point in the day did the tourists demolish the sacradity of the place. Well, not too much, anyway.
I latched onto a group that had finished the Inca trail because their guide, Jian, invited me to tag along.
Machu Picchu was something like a monastery. Only women
A model sacred place
This stone is shaped just like Machu Picchu. It was just like th Incas to reproduce a place in small stone after they built it in big stone. lived there. Or only women were mummified there, anyway. Not much is known about the place.
Bingham, a professor at Yale, discovered the place when he was hiking to Mt. Vilabomba. He has surmised that it was abandoned because of an epidemic. Other theories suggest that the water supply ran out--only lasting 100 years.
Jian explained that there are many Incan buildings throughout Peru that are now Catholic churches and monasteries. The Spaniards destroyed all of the Incan temples they came upon, converting them to Catholic buildings.
Jian said Machu Picchu was salvaged, most likely, because, all of the trails were destroyed and the place was soon overgrown and hidden in the rain forest.
After hobbling through the tour with my new four sore friends from England, Jian and I walked out to the Inca Bridge together. Inca Puente. I did not think it would be possible to find a place at Machu Picchu where there were no other tourists. But Jian proved that there is such a place.
"Chebare," he said again and again as he handed me a pile of coca leaves to chew. It means "cool." I believe, in every variety of
Ollantaytombo
This well preserved palace and, still functioning, Inca town, is the place to catch the cheap train to Aguas Calientes. It's also beautiful and full of mystery and intrigue. meanings we attribute to the word.
The Inca believed in three worlds and they symbolized those three in every kind of art. One world, in the sky, is represented by the condor. Another, on earth, is represented by the puma. And another, below ground, is represented by a serpent.
I found these three representations strikingly similar to Christianity. But Jian assured me that the sky is the next life--reincarnation and the life below is simply death. It´s where the bodies are. Catholics adopted many of the Incan symbols and traditions for easier conversion.
Okay. So there is your history lesson. That´s some of what I found most interesting.
Aside from simply visiting Machu Picchu, this has been a really amazing week. I´ve done a lot on my own and fancy myself a wildly resourceful and clever chica. I´ve also been more present in my surroundings--paying more attention and daydreaming less about other things. I feel like it´s late morning and the cloud forest around Machu Picchu is dissipating.
I left Cusco Tuesday and took a public bus to Pisac, in the sacred valley. I wandered around the market and had a nice lunch and decided
Cruz del Condors
I watched this condor fly over the second deepest canyon in the world after waking at 2 a.m. to hike out of the valley, a little pride bruised after arriving on a mule. Beautiful. to save the ruins there for the return trip. I took another public bus to Urubama and then a combi to Ollantaytambo.
I rode along the Urubamba River in this rowdy minivan stuffed like a clown car and listened to festive Peruvian music. The mountains here are the lush green of a rain forest and filled with life and character. They seem to ignore what the other mountains are doing and take their own special shape. There´s snow on the far tall peaks and ruins and crazy agricultural terraces on the lower, closer ones.
After my day at Machu Picchu, I went for a dip in the natural hot springs. I met a few people there and made plans to rendezvous later. I went to dinner with Frank, from Holland, Brent, from New Jersey and John, from Australia. We had a good time eating Ceviche and Alpaca and drinking beer.
I leave tomorrow for a four-day trek to Chorquequirau, the sacred sister to Machu Picchu. You can only reach it by foot and it´s rarely visited. I learned just how rarely visited when I started looking for a tour Monday. I went to six different agencies before
The rock
Machu Picchu was built with massive stones. In the temples, the stones are fit together perfectly without any mortar. They were quaried here. The Incas used wood and water to seperate stones. Youcan see an unfinished quary here. I found one with a group and its soonest departure was Sept. 2.
I´m really looking forward to it and think it will likely be the highlight of my trip. But I am a bit concerned. I went on a two-day, one-night hike in the Culca Canyon outside of Arequipa, which was beautiful. But, I realized just how slow I am.
We left for the second day at 2 a.m. I was with three French sisters and a woman from Lima, Gislina. Gislina was a bit slower than me, but decided to take a mule for the second day. One of the French girls sprained her ankle and also opted for a mule. I started with the other two sisters.
But they were far ahead, and when the mules came and the man had a spare, I felt obliged to hitch a ride and save the others waiting for me, especially since I just latched onto their group at the trailhead, an unexpected extra hiker. I haven't really planned much. I've just been going to places and seeing what finds me. I love this mode of travel.
After the hike (or ride, if you´re going to
Hard at work
A woman named Gladys showed me how to make the neclaces popular in the crafts markets. I sat on the ground in the Ollantaytambo market with her for almost two hours creating a neclace of my very own. be picky about it), we watched the condors cruise over the canyon, the second deepest in the world by about 100 meters.
The hike was amazing. We passed through vilages on the opposite side of the canyon, where the people mostly speak Quechua, the native language here. They have to hike the same two-day trail we hiked in order to get to Chivay to trade their goods. Most families make the trip twice a month, according to my guide, Sarah.
The hike was the culmination of a week in Arequipa, living with Juana and Henry and their enormous family. Peruvian family culture seems a bit different from Argentinean and Chilean. Those two seem a little closer to the way we live--with a lot of space and privacy. There, it seems most people live with immediate family only--parents and kids.
Juana and Henry have a small store and behind it, they live with their 21-year.old daughter and 20-year-old son, Juana´s parents, Juana´s two sisters and Juana´s fifth-grade nephew. Her brother and his family was also visiting from Germany while I was there.
They were a very warm family, who helped me a lot with my Spanish and
gave me delicious food.
I took another week of classes and learned that I´d been screwing a lot of things up for the last two months. I also picked up a couple extra tenses. I´m feeling really good about my Spanish now, but would love to sneak another week of classes.
I had a deep conversation with Jian at Puente Inca, about living every day individually... in Spanish.
So. Hopefully my next entry will be about Chorquequirau. I want to take big steps and earn my right to see the Incan ruins.
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MOM
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Excellent
Errabunda! This is your best blog yet - lot's of interesting information, wonderful photos, and a lot of YOU in this one. You go girl!!