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day 11: Machu Picchu

5/21/2013

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It may have taken us a while to get there, but Machu Picchu is worth it. It's stunning. 
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Our favorite photo of Machu Picchu. I took this once the sun came out and lit up the green grass.
Our day began at 5am because the buses start leaving Aguas Calientes at 5:30am. There was a line of people waiting for the bus but it moved quickly and we were on our way shortly after 5:30am. The buses climbed the mountain through a series of switchbacks and as we ascended, the sun started to rise and it was clear that we were headed toward something really special.  

When we arrived there was a pretty long line at the entrance but once the park opened at 6am it moved very quickly. To get into the site you must have an official ticket and your passport. 
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The line to get in right before 6am.
Upon entering the site, we stopped to admire the view and then took the obligatory photos thinking it would get a lot more crowded later. 
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At 7am, we could hike to the top of the actual mountain Machu Picchu.  The hill you see behind us in the photos above is called Huayana Picchu. Machu Picchu sits across from Huayana Picchu and while it's peak is less pointy, it is much higher.  We wanted to hike Huayana Picchu, but there is a daily limit for hikers and tickets were sold out a week in advance. We were able to snag a couple tickets for Machu Picchu mountain instead. The hike was challenging, especially being in high altitude but the view was spectacular.  Here are some photos and a video from about 3/4 of the way to the top of Machu Picchu. 
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Chris pointing to Machu Picchu.
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About halfway up Machu Picchu
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The view was amazing!
We almost made it to the top but turned around about 3/4 of the way up because we were running out of time and were afraid we wouldn't be able to take a full tour of the ruins.  

By the time we got back down the mountain we were incredibly tired and hungry. We rested in a spot with a great view of the ruins. Then  we left the park to get some food at the cafe.  It was probably 10:30am and there was no line at the entrance. Everyone had come first thing in the morning. Because Peru limits the number of people who arrive each day, the site didn't feel that crowded.
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Resting in spot overlooking Huayana Picchu after our hike up Machu Picchu.
The sun had started to break through the clouds and we were feeling refreshed after our snack so we hired a tour guide named Maria outside the entrance. 
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Meet Maria - our wonderful tour guide.
Maria is from Aguas Calientes and is incredibly passionate about Machu Picchu. She told us that she could never live anywhere else in the world because Machu Picchu is a huge mystery and every day she visits the site, she observes something new. Since so much is unknown about this culture, these observations are like tiny puzzle pieces that bring her one small step closer to understanding how the Incas lived. 

We had already learned a lot from our tour in the Sacred Valley but Maria was choc full of new information:

- Machu Picchu was never finished. The Incas were in the process of building it when the Spanish conquistadors arrived.  Once the Spanish started demolishing their cities and temples, the Incas abandoned Machu Picchu, burned all bridges and destroyed all roads leading to the city in order to hide it.  They did a good job. The ruins were not discovered until 1911, when American Hiram Bingham, introduced it to the world. This is why it's often referred to as the Lost City of the Incas. 

-Construction likely began in 1450 and it was probably abandoned in 1572 when the Spanish arrived.  If this is true, the Incas only lived here for a little over 100 years. 

-The city is about 8,000 feet above sea level and the terraces go all the way down the mountain to the river. It's likely the Incas started building the city from the river up to the peak. The terraces are used for 3 purposes: 1) agriculture - it gave them more space to grow a variety of crops at different climate levels 2) structural support- they supported the city, preventing it from falling down the mountain 3) decorative - they look pretty and were also in the form of the Chakana or Inca cross. 

-They didn't use fancy tools to break apart the rock. The rock has natural fissures or cracks. The Incas would wedge a piece of wood into these gaps and saturate the wood with water, causing the wood to expand and break apart the rock into smaller pieces. Then they would polish the rock with other rocks to create stone cubes used for building.  

- The location of Machu Picchu was strategic. Why choose to build a city so remote and high up?  There were a few reasons. First, there was a natural rock quarry on the site which was their main resource for construction.  Second, there was a natural spring that ran through the site that supplied water to the entire city. Third, they wanted to avoid floods which regularly destroyed towns in the valleys. Lastly, they wanted to avoid landslides and this site in particular was a little flatter and rockier than the surrounding mountains and therefore less likely to fall apart. 

- The water spring was very important.  They built a series of channels and fountains that run throughout the city.  Experts believe that the same amount of water that flowed during the time of the Incas still flows today. 
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Fountain running through the city.
- There are several theories about who lived at Machu Picchu.  The most common theory is that only nobles, priests and scholars lived here. Farmers and peasants came to work the land but returned to their villages after work. 

- You can tell where the important people lived by the quality of the stone. For example, temples were among the nicest buildings with the best craftsmanship and beautifully polished stone.   The King's house and the priest's house were also nicely done.  The lesser nobles' homes were made of stone that was less polished and structured.  In Inca times, those buildings would have been covered with clay.  Note, it's believed that the King did not live here permanently but only visited for about 2 weeks at a time. 
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Can you see where the temple wall ends and the preist's house begins?
The Incas built all doors and windows in the shape of a trapezoid because it's sturdier. According to our guide, they got this idea by observing humans. If you stand with your feet together and something hits you or the earth moves, you are more likely to fall down than if you were to stand with your feet wide apart. 
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Trapezoid door to one of the homes.
- Machu Picchu was a full working city.  They had gardens, a central lawn where they held parties, schools, temples, and storage units. They also had a city map and a weatherman!
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The main field was the main gathering area. This is where they hosted festivals and celebrations. The two rectangular structures on top of the terraces are believed to be schools for the Incan princes.
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The Inca garden still grows today!
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Can you see the map of Machu Picchu in the grey rock?
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Storage unit with a view!
Religion was very important to the Incas and they had various temples throughout Machu Picchu.  The Temple of the Sun was one of the most important and was located right next to the King's house. This is a semi-circular structure with two windows - one aligned directly with the sunrise during summer solstice in June and  the other aligned with the sun during the winter solstice in December.  When the sun came directly through each window and reflected off of a stone in the temple, the priest knew it was a new year (their new year began on the June solstice). This was the most important day of the year and the city celebrated with festivals and feasts for weeks. 
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Another important structure is the Temple of the Condor -  which is stone carved into the shape of a condor - the totem for Heaven. There are many theories about the purpose of this temple. Some say the priest made sacrifices to the god of heaven on the head of the condor and then carried the animal into the temple as a metaphor for feeding the god.  They also discovered dungeons below this temple. 
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Condor's head outside the temple of the condor.
It was truly a spectacular day! We caught at 2:30 train back to Ollantaytambo and then hired a taxi to take us back to Cusco for about 30 soles which is the equivalent of about $12.  Not bad for a two hour ride back into town! 

Upon our return to Cusco, our main packs (we only carried the mini packs to Machu) were waiting in another lovely little room at the Rumi Wasi.  We showered, picked up a couple sandwiches (Chris finally had his chicharones sandwich) and went to bed early.  We had an early flight to the jungle the next morning!

Hi Class 2A! We have another question for you.  The Incas considered the condor, puma, and snake to be sacred animals because they represented each world - heaven, earth and the underworld.  There was another animal that was very important to the Incas.  Can you name the animal?
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The Road to Machu Picchu: The Chakana in Action

5/20/2013

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The Inca Cross is also called the Chakana and it represents balance, very similar to the yin-yang symbol.  Our voyage to Machu Pichu was a perfect example of balance as we experienced the good and the very bad in just one day. 

The road to Machu Picchu is long, even if you aren't hiking the 4 day Inca trail.  Originally, we planned to hike the trail but quickly discovered that wasn't an option. You see, Peru limits the number of people that hike the trail so you have to reserve a spot months in advance.  Tickets for May hikes were sold out by January. 

To be honest, I wasn't that upset about it. I've camped one night in my life and was subjected to a series of ridiculous events including:

- 4 hrs of rowing in a canoe against a wall of wind (was supposed to take one hour)
- Trading beer for a missing friend with a river man wearing a tiny pair of jean cut-offs 
- Swimming in the river to cool off only to find myself covered in green algae
- Chris trying to skin a catfish by nailing it's head to tree 
- Not sleeping due to a combination of heat, rain, animals and fearing psychopaths in tiny cut-offs outside my tent

And that was in Illinois. Who knows what we would have encountered in the Andes! 

Of course, with the bad comes the good: These crazy events were balanced by the wonderful company of good friends and they make for a good story that we'll tell for the rest of our lives. 

Anyway, back to our journey to Machu Picchu. To get there you must take a bus from Cusco to Ollantayambo where you catch a 2 hour train - either Peru Rail or Inca Rail - to a town called Aguas Calientes. From Aguas, you take a 20 min bus ride up to Machu Picchu.  In my last post, I wrote about our ride from Cusco to Ollantaytambo which included a tour of a few sites in the Sacred Valley.  After the tour, we boarded our train in Ollantaytambo at 4:30 pm.  We chose the Inca Rail which was a really charming and somewhat old fashioned train. 
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All aboard the Inca Rail!
The Good: The Inca Rail
The train ride was beautiful! The windows are open so you breathe fresh mountain air while sipping your coffee as you roll through beautiful mountains and rivers.  The train also plays pan flute versions of popular songs including several Abba tunes and Africa by Toto.  

We sat across from a really friendly couple from Brazil.  The woman spoke perfect English and told me that she spent a year of high school living with a host family in small town Mississippi. Being Brazilian meant that she was the town celebrity for the year, since most of the locals had never left the South, let alone the country.  One of her classmates pointed to a poster of a jungle, featuring huts, monkeys and jaguars and sincerely asked her if that was what her home looked like. She is from a city right outside of Brasilia (the capital of Brazil) so she found this misconception very amusing. She is still very close to her host family and they often fly her to her US home for a visit every now and then.  Sorry for another tangent, but I love stories like this because it shows how travel not only expands horizons for the tourist, but also for the locals. 



Getting back to our journey....

The Bad: Our Hostel- $35/night is too good to be true
We arrived in Aguas Calientes around 6:15pm and it was already dark.  We had a free transfer from the train to our hostel. We quickly realized that there are no cars in Aguas Calientes, so our transfer consisted of the hostel owner finding us at the station and walking us 5 minutes to the hostel. We stayed at a  place called Cusi Backpacker because it got rave reviews on Booking.com and it was only $35/night. Since we were arriving at 6:30pm and leaving for Machu Picchu at 5am the next morning we just need a place to crash so we thought we'd save some money on accommodations since everything else online seemed way overpriced and received pretty bad reviews.   We had the only private double room with a private bathroom and the reviews said the place was basic, but very clean.  We have stayed in our fair share of hostels in our younger days and figured this one would be tame compared to some of our past experiences. 

We dropped our stuff off at the room which looked fine at first glance. Then we headed out to town for dinner. Upon returning to the room after dinner we realized we made a big mistake.  First, we were hit like a ton of bricks by a putrid odor which we quickly determined was coming from the bathroom, more specifically, the shower drain.  This smell had somehow materialized between the time we left for dinner and the time we returned.  The hour was late and we could find no one to complain to and thus we closed the bathroom door tightly and opened the bedroom window.  We realized at this point that our rented towels (yes, they rented towels) would also go unused, as we wanted to spend as little time as possible in that bathroom, with whatever science experiment was taking place in the shower drain.  With the door shut, the stench was dulled just enough to make being in the bedroom not entirely intolerable, although still totally unpleasant.

Thoroughly disgusted, we attempted to sleep on our rented towels on top of the sheets.  But the nightmare continued.   Apparently Cusi Backpacker abuts the trash heap that serves as the meeting place for all the local hoboes of Aquas Calientes, who while away the wee hours yelling drunkenly at one another while banging loudly on anything they can find. Guess where that trash heap was located? Right outside our window.  Fun.

We made it through the night drifting in and out of half-sleep and left at 5am the next morning glad to be rid of the place.  

After all my years of travel including a decent period of cheap hosteling, I can now say that this was unequivocally the worst night I've spent in a hotel/hostel/guesthouse of any type. It was kind of a shame, because the owner/manager of the place seemed to be a really nice guy who seems to want to run a good business.  We are rooting for him and hope he can make some changes to make this into a decent place.  But we lived to tell the tale, so all's well that ends well.  Plus, this is the only really bad hotel experience we've had thus far in South America and we've stayed at 8 places so far! 


Alpaca Dinner
Now that I've thoroughly grossed you out, let's talk about food.  We walked from our hostel for about 5 mins to the more touristy section of town and stopped at a restaurant with a wood burning fireplace and live music.  The band consisted of 5 Peruvian men with long flowing black hair, 2 of which were playing the ever present pan flute. They were pretty good and definitely added to the ambiance. Chris decided it was time to try the alpaca - which cost as much as our hostel room by the way.  I tried it too and it tasted very unique.  The only adjective I can think of is earthy, but that is how everything tastes in the Andes.  It might be worth trying it once just see what you think, but I'd never order it for an entree. 


If we were to do it again...
Everyone recommends staying in Aguas Calientes the night before Machu Picchu so you can go up first thing (first bus leaves at 5:30 am).  People start lining up for the first buses before 4am.  This is not necessary, as the buses leave continuously and people who showed up a 5:30 ended up getting into Machu Picchu maybe 10 minutes later than those who had waited in line for two hours.  If we were to do it again, we'd stay in Ollantaytambo the night before because the town is more charming than Aguas and you can get a nicer hotel at a good price. Then we'd take the first train up to Aguas Calientes and get on the bus right away to arrive at Machu Pichu around 9am which still gives you plenty of time to explore the site, hike the mountain and get back to Cusco for a late dinner. 

One of my favorite lines from a movie was in Vanilla Sky where the character Brian says: Just remember, the sweet is never as sweet without the sour.  We experienced the sour in Aguas Calientes and it will make every future good experience on journey that much sweeter. 
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    Eva has been traveling for 15+ years, including an 8 month journey around the world.  

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