No words can describe it… Machu Picchu!!!

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Aguas Calientes, Base of Machu Picchu

After a ninety minute van ride from Cusco we arrived at a town half way. We waited about a half hour there lined up at the train station on a narrowing dirt road lined heavily with vendors. Locals of all shapes, ages and sizes selling all types of food and goods. There were a couple of different ladies boiling corn (over camping stoves) that was monstrously plump and very juicy looking. I tried taking a picture, but doubt that the grandeur will be fully captured and conveyed in a picture.

After almost a two hour narrow gauge train ride, we arrived at Aguas Calientes. This small tourist focused town is riddled with restaurants, hotels and only sidewalks as a transportation medium. The entire town is built on a gently sloping valley starting with a hot springs at the top, and a bus & train station at the bottom. There were quite a huge number of busses to take people up the switchbacks to Machu Picchu. We were here at the end of the high season, where they typically have about 3000 visitors per day. About one km from town on the bus, just before heading up we passed a campground. It was full of about thirty or so pup tents with travelers of all ages, including families and 50ish couples.

The ride up was only about 25 minutes and spectacular. I was actually quite disappointed the day before to discover from our tour leader that we weren't going to be hiking up the mountain. Once we saw the full scope of the elaborate tourist operation I felt rather silly in my original naivety, but say la vie! I am unable to even begin properly describing the 500+ year old Aztek ruins but a few things stood out. I was similarly very naive to see power lines stretching up the mountain across the switchback roads. At the top was not just a park entrance gate with a powered cash register, but gift shops, pay per use washrooms and a lodge.

We started off with a ninety minute guided tour and then had another three hours to roam around. There were two small areas closed off to the public, but all in all I was overwhelmed by the unprecedented access that the public has. Numerous tourists were free to go all over, in and around all of the buildings, alters ect. The contraction is absolutely beautiful and astounding in its complexity. The walls of all buildings are very thick, with elaborately placed stones fitting almost perfectly at every angle. The important buildings are built with similarly sized blocks and are perfectly horizontal. The shear amount of placed stones is staggering to consider. The city had a calculated population of approximately 800-1000, all at the top of this mountain. They were all supported by a variety crops grown in a large number of terraces built into all areas of the mountainside. They currently have a dozen or so lamas and Alpacas grazing all of these terraces for lawn maintenance purposes.

The views, architecture, provoked feelings and energy were al completely overwhelming. I walked around the entire site in a startlingly alert daze of joyous wonderment. I simply couldn't believe the enormous scale, simplistic beauty and engineering complexity that went into designing, building and maintaining this city by a people barely out of the stone age.

We were told that the city construction was begun in 14?? and that the people abandoned it around 15?? after word of the Spanish conquistadors arrival reached the people of Machu Picchu. I shot about twenty minutes of video, and between the two cameras we have almost 300 digital pictures. I picked out about 60 of these and will upload them to our web gallery in a day or two.

My family did not support my desires to climb up to Mannu Picchu. This massive vertical climb is a series of narrow stair switchbacks up the adjoining mountain to a great height with some even more spectacular views. We did get some zoomed in pictures of white and yellow blobs (shirts) of the miniature people climbing way up there.

We wandered on our own in the lower area buildings, before heading up to the guard tower at a high point. Part way there we stopped at a grassy knoll to relax a bit and eat the lunch we had packed earlier. When I next come to Peru I will plan on spending at least two days to have the opportunity to hike the other trails (up to Manu??? Picchu and to the bridge in the opposite direction. The opportunity to be on site for sunrise and sunset would also be an incredible experience never mind possibly being at the sun room for either of the solstices. The Inca trail would also be a spectacular 4 day diversion, even though all groups must have guides, cooks and worst of all porters.

After coming down from the mountain we ate a snack at a restaurant with a pet Parrot. Luke held it and we all enjoyed talking to and playing with him. Sadly, his wings were clipped which meant he was trapped and at the whim of anyone who would carry him from one perch to another. We then met up with Daniel and caught the train to ?????? There our scheduled van was a 29 passenger mercedes benz bus all to ourselves to get back to Cusco. We have a full day in Cusco to ourselves tomorrow, but don't think that we are going to book any tours or any scheduled events.

This entry was posted on August 30, 2007 at 7:59 pm and is filed under 2007-08, Peru. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.