Wednesday April 1, 2009 Afternoon
Machu Picchu Ruins
We caught the 5:30 train to Aguas Calientes, the town near the famous Machu Picchu ruins. It was a beautiful hour-long ride as the sun eventually rose upon steep “sugar loaf” mountains misted with fog and brown rapid rivers with double rainbows surrounded by plenty of greenery. After we dropped our bags off at Gringo Bills (our hotel), we stopped by the local market where I bought banana chips and tried a red banana, one of the many tropical fruit options. Then we were on the bus and off to Machu Picchu, traveling over switchback trails up one of the many mountains that seemed to extend past the clouds.
It is amazing the impression Machu Picchu leaves on everyone. Everyone in our group was largely silent (not a normal occurrence, for sure) when we first meandered amongst the ruined city. The atmosphere demands an almost reserved and pensive feeling. I suppose we were all in wonder as to how these former Incans built this once-sturdy civilization in such a precarious location. Actually, Edi, our guide, taught us that it was only the ruler who was referred to as the Incan king - not the Incan people, who were made up of many different pueblos that they took for work expertise, such as the water engineers from the deserts of Nazca. Edi had a lot of insight since he comes from an indigenous background (and has visited Machu Picchu over 1,000 times!). He even explained how many of Hiram Bigham’s (who “discovered” the ruins in 1911) original theories of the ruins where wrong.
Our first activity of the day, however, was to climb Wayna Picchu (meaning “young mountain”; Machu Picchu translates to “old mountain”), a steep mountain that is famously behind the ruins in most pictures of Machu Picchu. We climbed alllllll the way to the top, and, let me tell you, it was not an easy hike, I’m sure even passerby could hear my heart pounding ferociously. I felt like I was on a slippery and jagged Stairmaster because the majority of the path was literally just stairs going straight up a mountain. It was well worth it when we reached to top, however. There was another small collection of ruins and the most awe-inspiring views of the vast Machu Picchu and the surrounding mountains that extended in every direction. I sat on a collection of large boulders at the precipice and we all enjoyed the view for a bit before heading down to get a tour of Machu Picchu with Edi.
Tour stops with Edi:
Temple of the Mountains: The civilization worshipped nature, and this collection of temples (stone huts with thatched roofs) surrounded a large flat stone carved as the outline of a mountain.
Temples of Water: There are 16 interconnected, trickling fountains that all are made to worship water as the source of life (I think they were also used to purify the water as well)
Sun Temple: The large compass stone in the center pointed to the four magnetic poles (and coincidently the four surrounding mountains. There was also a large stone carved roughly into the shape of a puma (which represented the earth) and the length of its shadow indicated the time of day or year.
Astronomy Tower: The former Machu Picchu inhabitants were excellent astronomers; the tower only had two windows and only on the days of winter/summer solstice would the light shine through the window directly to the other wall.
Chambers for Royalty: The buildings with the best masonry (ie, all the stones fit together without mortar, etc) were for royalty, scribes, and temples.
Agricultural Terraces: Similar to those in Pisac, these were used for growing crops and served as a breaking wall to prevent erosion.
There were also three small mountains near the ruins that formed the shape of a condor (representing the heavens) with his wings half-furled, and a collection of buildings in one part that was constructed in the shape of an alligator(representing the water), complete with spiny ridges from the roofs. These were the quarters for virgins, the most beautiful women meant for the Incan king only.
Now we are sitting in a grassy area secluded by some rocks and having a mini picnic with a fantastic view of the main ruins on our left and the steep, romantic Wayna Picchu on our right. The sun is absolutely beating down with ferociousness thanks to our closer proximity (we are about 8,500 feet above the sea level). The background soundtrack is of birds chirping and insects – both those praying on our bodies and the “human parasites” on the ruins. I’ve heard that they are considering shutting down the ruins to visitors permanently so I’m very fortunate that I’ve had the chance to come to a place that holds so much mystic and wonder for so many people. It really is the perfect place to contemplate.
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Guess I did a little too much meditating, because I just took a long nap in the shade of some ruins. I woke up to a bird right near my face that moved as though it were in a strobe light. Speaking of light, the shadows had changed a lot and there were very few people surrounding me (unlike before) so I was afraid it was after 5 and I had slept through the last bus back to Aguas Calientes. Luckily, it was only 3:30 so I had time for a solitary walk amongst the ruins. It was so peaceful and felt more authentic, I hardly ran into anyone and it made it easier to imagine the inhabitants living here over 500 years ago. After exploring the bottom section, I took the path up to the top guard’s gate just before the park closed.
At night, several of us went to the hot springs that give the city its namesake (Aguas Calientes = “Hot Waters”), which was a steep hike upward through the city’s main road and a path alongside a river through the dark. There were several different pools with gravel ground and varying temperatures that were the perfect relaxing remedy. We were so hungry that we went dripping wet to this fancy French/Peruvian fusion restaurant to eat delicious quiche, trout, and apple pie. Then it was bedtime after watching a movie (Pan’s Labyrinth).
Coli
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