May 25 Machu Picchu

May 25  Saturday

4:30 Wake up call and we wander downstairs.  We have left our large luggage in Cuzco at the hotel, so only have a small bag and the camera bag and backpack (There are luggage limits on the trains to Machu Picchu.)  Lots of early risers, as this is one of the closest places to Machu Picchu to stay.  We wander through the breakfast buffet a bit, but our driver is waiting to take us to the train station.

We present tickets, passports, etc. to get to our seats, 17/18 in Car B on the Expedition Train.  The train leaves promptly at 6:10 and the scenery is beautiful.  We go 30-45k/h as we wind through mountains, a few tunnels, with frequent sightings of the river.

  There is background music playing - "Muzak" for flutes, we smile as "Sounds of Silence" plays.  The seats are arranged in fours with a small table between.

We stop at one point to drop off those who wish to take the Inca Trail.... about 50% of our car departs.  

We arrive at Machu Picchu at 7:40 and meet our guide, Anibal.

There are about ten people in our group.  Now we line up for a bus which will take us another 30 minutes or so.  Lots of buses running so it doesn't take long.  We have a timed entry at 9:00 and arrive  in good time.  Anibal says he has been doing this for a few years.  To be a guide you must do either 5 years public or 4 years private university, then pass a test.  It is a career.

It takes about 4 days to hike the rugged Inca trail from Cuzco to Machu Picchu, a difficult hike with lots of ups and downs. Only 200 people per day are allowed to do it and many take porters to carry their gear.  Permits and guides are required.  Those who got off the train earlier are taking a shorter day version.

Anibal says we are going to do the tough part first - climb to the top, then work our way down during the tour.  We are in the Andes Mountains and the first part is hard.  Beth has to pause every 5 minutes or so to catch her breath -  it gives "sucking wind" a new meaning!  But when we reach the top and look over the city - that's when you really have your breath taken away!    It really is quite amazing and I can hardly believe we are here.

 After we get our fill of the first view and take the requisite photos, Anibal fills us in on details. Machu Picchu means "old city", but no one knows what the real Inca name was for this place.  Machu Picchu was never discovered by the Spaniards.  It appears that construction of the city was not finished as large boulders that were to be used are scattered over one area.

 70% of what you see is original.  It was "re-discovered" in 1911, although Hiram Bingham was guided to it by locals. It had been abandoned and was being reclaimed by the jungle.  Bingham and Yale University removed 164 human skeletons as well as over 70,000 artifacts. Only 1500 artifacts have been returned, with promises of more....  our guide sounded skeptical.  There are terraces and llamas here and there.  The rainy season here is from December through April, so things are still quite green.

 And again, the beautiful overview.

No one is sure exactly who lived here.  There seem to be two sides to the city - the religious part and the industrial part.  During construction they would find bedrock and then build up from that.  Most of the building you see continues 2-3 meters below the surface.  Perhaps astronomers, religious leaders and other leaders lived here - at its peak, about 500 people.   Why the city was abandoned?? A mystery.

Above us we can see where the Inca trail entered, high up the mountain.  The Incas had quite a network of trails all over their empire.  This trail went to Cuzco, which was the capital and center of the empire, as well as to important jungle cities. The trails and steps are all made of stone, some more regular than other, and we are glad to have worn our hiking boots.

We go downward, toward the Guard House, which was how most folks would enter.

 Anibal says that the Incas were big on community service - that was how people paid taxes - so 3 months of labor a year was expected.  Perhaps this is how Machu Picchu was built. (The Spanish were very good about recording Inca history and culture as they learned it, so we know quite a bit about the Incas.) The site had to be leveled and stone channels were built to bring water from the mountains. Vertical retaining walls helped create terraces for agriculture and a drainage system diverted heavy rains.  It is an engineering marvel! We saw a little damage from earthquakes, but overall things survived quite well!

We can look down and see the Sun Temple - the one roundish building in all of the city.

 On a raised area over the city we see the Sun Gate, where the windows align with the sun on June 21st and December 21st, the Summer and Winter Solstices. These were important dates in the Inca calendar.  Unfortunately the path up to it is closed by the time we reach it.  They are trying to preserve things and so are limiting visitor numbers and limiting access to certain areas.

   At another point we see what they call the Temple of the Southern Cross.  There is a large stone there which perfectly aligns with the outline and direction of the Southern Cross Constellation.

Another large rock is carved to match the outline of the mountain visible behind it (now in the clouds).

 We walk through the residential and industrial areas which are largely low walls, though some are complete with windows in a trapezoidal shape.  Most of the buildings are made from carved rocks that are fitted together very precisely.

Our tour lasts almost 3 hours, at which point we are ready to sit!  The line for the bus back to the train station at Aguas Caliente is long, but moves pretty quickly.

Our friends from Montreal are spending the night there, but we are catching a train back to Poroy and Cuzco.  We have time for lunch and a little shopping in the busy market where Beth finds some pretty woven place mats.

 Our train is delayed nearly 2 hours, but we finally board and sit back.  We are seated across from two ladies from Brazil. Here is the front of our train heading into a tunnel. The scenery is spectacular!

Unfortunately, they apparently did not spend the delay time in fixing the train,  because twenty minutes into the ride it began to jerk and clank and slow and then...we limped to a siding, where it died!

 First we waited till they brought another engine and tried to push us, but apparently that worked only for a few minutes.  So we had to wait another half hour or so while they sent for another engine.  We finally get going but have to pull on to sidings multiple times to wait for other trains to pass us and we are really running late as the clock ticks toward midnight! The train is out of bottled water, but our nice seat mates from Brazil gave us juice boxes and later,  the railroad people gave us cookies, cups of water (from somewhere!) and chocolate. We prayed that our contact at the other end would be waiting.

 Eventually we got there - about 5 hours late.  We didn't see anyone holding our name card, but did see some Condor travel guys who seemed to know what we were talking about and soon had us in a van headed to our hotel in Cuzco. Whew!   The hotel was expecting us and  had our luggage already in a room, so we quickly went to bed.   LOOOOOOONNNGGGGG  DAY!

 But a good one despite the train.  Machu Picchu is one place that lived up to expectations.  Yes, there were a lot of people, but they were handled well and we rarely felt crowded. Our guide was excellent at finding quiet places to talk to us, and though we did a "highlights" tour, it was enough for us, possibly because we had been exposed to so much history and culture before coming here.

Tomorrow we start the long trip home.  Thank goodness there are no trains involved!