The Road To Machu Picchu

The mountains and valleys around Cusco.

A llama in Cusco.

This is my city!

I felt quite at home in Cusco, as much as you can in a foreign city full of tourists and locals peddling souvenirs and other trash. The city is beautiful in the centre, and interesting on the outskirts, where you can wander and see the real city, the locals going about their normal business, eating at local restaurants and just being Peruvian and their lives not centred around tourist dollars. I was lucky enough to enjoy some of this, eating cuy (guinea pig) at a local restaurant, walking around the cemetery, which I always enjoy in South American cities, and also seeing parts of the city that most people don't see. Although my plan is to finish my trip and head onto Europe to work and live for 2016, I was actually tempted to stay here in Cusco. It happens sometimes, where you find a city that you love and feel comfortable immediately - Bariloche in Argentina is one example, and Sucre in Bolivia was just like that too. I knew this didn't make sense - I was on a tourist visa, I had many places to see and visit on my list here, as well as people waiting for me in Europe. Sometimes it's nice to dream though, and you never know, maybe one day I will come back and run a photography workshop and do a bit of teaching as well.

The winding river and the even windier road.

Yes, we crossed that in the van.

The bridge over the river leading to Agua Calientes.

The trip to Machu Picchu had been booked, and my friend Laurel was doing it with me. Although the tour operator who sold me the tickets was confident, I was slightly worried about the roads. February is still the wet season here in Peru, and it had rained in Cusco nearly every day this week, and some other travel agencies weren't selling the car part of the trip due to the condition of the roads. People in the hostel that had recently returned were recounting their 'terror stories' to anyone that would listen - the roads are completely destroyed, we had to change vans several times and pay more and we didn't think we were going to make it, blah blah blah. Nothing about the city that is on everyone's bucket list. You can't worry about what you can't control, so I walked away from the complainers and got my last bit of the city before leaving the next day. The bus picked us up early and we packed in with loads of other people - the van was full and headed out into the mountains towards Machu Picchu. About 4 hours of driving through beautiful mountain passes and gorges, we arrived at our destination - with one problem. The road that normally takes you to the Hydro Station and on to the town of Agua Calientes, had been wiped out by the river. All along the drive we could see this river raging, dragging logs and everything else with it, nearly breaking it's banks. Several roads were slightly damaged, and the workers were doing their best to keep them open, but this was too much. We jumped out of our van and crossed a slightly wobbly wire bridge to get in another car to take us the next 18kms to the power station. Some people complained about this, the change and also having to pay another 5 sole ($2) for the other driver (as our company couldn't go over the river, and this company was stuck on this side... a pain to pay again but it's nobody's fault!), but it's one of those things so I paid and got there ok. Some of the people who got angry about the whole thing got out... not sure if they walked or argued with another driver, but you're better off without these people anyway.

Bromeliads growing everywhere.

From the power station, there was a 2 hour hike along the train lines to the town at the bottom of Machu Picchu. I'd seen pictures of the town, and I knew I wasn't going to be impressed. The walk was pleasant though, apart from the fact that there was no path, and so we had to walk along the stones around the rails, or on the rails themselves. You can see the tops of some of the building in MP from here if you know what you're looking for, but like most people I didn't notice but saw it on the way back. All along the steep and very, very high cliffs that soar above the railway line and river, bromeliads are growing, covering nearly every square inch of the 90 degree cliff face with their spiky leaves and red flowers.  We arrived in Agua Calientes a little hot and tired, but before sunset. I immediately took a dislike to this town - it's sole purpose is to feed tourists with crappy expensive food, sell them souvenirs that they don't need and to give them a lousy bed for the night. It looked faked and felt fake - locals touting for restaurants and massages and then some. With our booking we had our first dinner and both night's accommodation included, so at least we weren't hassled too much or didn't have to worry about finding anything. The meal was average as expected (and a set menu with no choice) and the hotel was unfinished and smelt like paint still. It didn't really matter, tomorrow was Machu Picchu day - something I'd been waiting for for nearly 20 years! Bed early as it had been decided that we would start the hike at 4:15 in the morning to get to the top of the mountain and in the city by 6:30am. I was praying to Pachamama that it wouldn't rain!

The train to Agua Calientes.

A guy and 'his dog' on the hike.

The river (really) wild.

Maybe she only listens to locals during Carnival, as it was raining when we woke up and didn't stop till about 11am. The hike wasn't fun - 2 hours of steps leading up through the humid and wet jungle to reach the entrance gate. Some people took the bus, but we decided not to due to the price (can't remember exactly but somewhere near $15) as well as the fact that I felt I had to do some kind of exertion to get there - some people did the Inca Trail hike, which costs and arm and a leg and needs to be booked months and months in advance, and there is that sense of accomplishment. I was only doing 2 hours, but it did the trick - getting to the top and sitting down to admire the view and what you've just climbed was worth it. We amongst the fiest groups to enter, but already the place was packed - plastic ponchos and brightly coloured umbrellas everywhere. My photos weren't really ruined by these those, more by the weather. There were people everywhere, standing around in the rain, taking pictures (and loads of selfies), trying not to think about the rain, and only somewhat listening to the guide rattle off facts and figures like a machine-gun with unlimited ammo.

The beautiful and mysterious Machu Picchu.

A few clouds for effect.

Water channels in the city.

We we able to leave our tour guide after an hour as we had tickets to hike up the bigger peak just behind the city called Huayna Picchu (meaning "young mountain"), which would offer a view over the whole city. An hour of hard climbing and buckets of sweat later, we were again surrounded by people and yet weren't about to see what we can to see. I was starting to feel a little disappointed. You have high hopes for something, a place that has been on your Top 5 list of places to visit for so many years, everyone says it's amazing, and then when you get there it lets you down a little because of the weather and lack of visibility. If it were a city or something more accessible, I wouldn't have worried so much - come back when the sun is shining in a day or two - but I would only have one crack at this. Climbing back down a little under the (cloudy) weather, We found a spot a little lower but with an even better view - and the clouds were starting to pass over. Things were looking up. I was happy to sit there for a good hour, watching, taking pictures, and enjoying the moment - the only chance most likely of seeing this wonderful place in my lifetime.

The housing area of Machu Picchu.

Selfies all round!

I was one of thousands of tourist here on the day.

The city of Machu Picchu is full of mysteries and one can only guess at some of them. Built in 1450, the city was abandoned 100 years later due to the Spanish invasion - but the invaders never found this place, and it was 'lost' until Hiram Bingham, an American historian, wrote about it in 1911. Machu Picchu means "old mountain" in Quechua, and sits 2,430 metres about sea level with a commanding view of it's surroundings, including the river and the path that I walked along to get here. As I walked in along this path, I didn't see the city even though I knew it was there - no wonder it stayed hidden for so long. It was declared a UNESCO in 1983 and was voted one of the New Seven Wonders Of The World in 2007. Today is is visited by around 5,000 people A DAY in the low season, and a whopping 9,000 in the peak season. This has caused problems with the site - in the 80s a helicopter knocked a stone from it's original position, in the 90s a cable car to the top and a luxurious hotel was going to be built, but thankfully due to protests the plan was abandoned. Even deaths due to altitude sickness, falling floods have been issues, as well as "naked tourism." For some reason people see the need to get starkers at great sites around the world. Our guide said due to the sheer amount of people coming here daily, the city was sinking, and thus the Peruvian Government are putting restrictions on the amount of people visiting and time spent on the site - glad I got in when I did, as I spent nearly all day there, free to wander. Something to note about how much money the site brings in for Peru - minus the train, town revenue, entrance fee and food and drinks sold, the WCs cost 1 sole, which is nothing, but multiply that by 5,000 a day and you have nearly $2000 ($3500 in high season) just for people taking a wiz at a historical site.

Those stones fit so well that a blade of grass cannot fit between them.

Beautiful stone windows.

The view down the valley.

There are so many parts of the city to describe and talk about - where to start! The Inti Watana Stone is very interesting - it is part of the Sun Temple and has windows which are used to show the Winter and Summer Solstice. Through these windows, perfectly lined up, the sun on these two days shines through exactly, hitting this stone. The sun also shines on the 12-sided half "Inca Cross," with the shadow forming the other half along the ground. There are approximately 200 buildings here, some just houses for the 800 permanent residents that lived here, others to bring water into and around the city, and some for religous purposes, like the Sun Temple. At the bottom of the Sun Temple there are two small, round stone "bowls," which, when filled with water, are used to view the reflection of the start - beats straining your neck all night. Not all of the city has those perfect walls that everyone is used to seeing - this kind of craftmanship is saved for the important buildings, not Tom Dick and Harry's house down the road. It is kind of like the Romans - not all of Rome was built in marble, as that is just too damn expensive, so they built the city in brick and used marble as a façade over the top for beauty. Brilliant and cost effective! The Inca style is still very impressive - a technique called "Ashlar," is used to make the walls, where large stone blocks are cut and fit together without mortar. These joins between the walls are not always logical or straight, small curves and 'L' shapes are cut into them for some reason, but the joins are so neat that you can't fit a blade of grass between the two blocks. There was also an earthquake here, and very little of the city was damaged. 

The Sun Temple with Huayna Picchu in the background.

The Sun Temple - windows for the Winter and Summer Solstice sun.

After most of the day up here, and nearly all the photos my camera could take, I was about ready to head back down. I did walk around the site extensively, but had to follow a set path, and several times had the guards blow their little whistle and tell me that this path is a 'one way' path. Stupid, but good exercise. At around 3, the rain also came in and it was definitely time to leave. Last few selfies and photos done, we headed back down, via the expensive bus this time so we didn't have to walk back in the rain as well. Overall the experience was a little less amazing than I expected, but then again I'm not one of these people who say "that was soooo amazing!" all the time - I can be honest and grade things slightly, not everything has to be 'the best experience of my life.' In saying that, it was cool and definitely worth it. The weather the following day was perfect though - blue skies, a few clouds to help make photos more interesting, but you take what you get in life and be thankful that you did what you wanted to in the first place!

The beautiful views around the Machu Picchu area.

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MyUncleTravellingMatt. February 2016.