Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu

When the alarm went at 4:00 am, we groaned, but dragged ourselves out of bed, dressed and made our way to the meeting area at the base of Machu Picchu in the pitch dark.  We had come in from Cusco the day before, first by 2 hour bus ride, then a 3 hour train ride to get to the staging area, a town known as Agua Callientes ("Hot water" in spanish).  Agua Callientes is a fun town, very tourist centric.

We met up with our guide Ray and the 8 others who would be in our group, and waited for the lower gate to open so we could begin the hike to the ruins.  As we began our ascent, it was obvious that this was going to be a hard climb for this early in the morning.  The rock hewn steps seemed to go on forever.  Finally after over 1400 steps, we made it to the top, just before the first busses started to arrive.  We queued up for the line to get our tickets stamped for Huayna Picchu, as they only allow 400 people to climb this peak each day.

Ray then gathered us together and gave us a brief history of the ruins, and we walked out into Machu Picchu, shrouded in mist as the sun climbed over the surrounding mountains.  It is a breathtaking ruin, built as it is on the top of the mountains overlooking two different valleys.  It was built here to be defensible, and it certainly would be as the approach is so steep on both sides, it would be easy to sit at the top and pick off any approaching invaders.  The spanish never found Machu Picchu, so when it was "discovered" by Hiram Bingham in 1911, other than being overgrown with jungle, it was in excellent condition.

We toured the ruins for a couple hours, then made our way to the gate for Huayna Picchu, where we stared up in exhaustion at the huge climb ahead of us.  As we hiked up, Troy and I both figured we were done for, but after an hour or so of hard climbing, we came to the temple at the top.  Historians agree that the temple was inhabited by the High Priest of the Incas along with the local Virgins.  They would make the trip down to Machu Picchu each day to perform rituals at the temples.

If it was me, I would have built the temple at the bottom of the hill and saved the climb each day.

While we were at the top we managed to get a few great pictures looking down on Machu Picchu, but then the fog rolled in and it began to rain, so our trip down was a little slicker than the trip up.

After touring the ruins for a bit more, we made our way down to Agua Callientes, where we sat in the hot pools for a couple hours and got a massage.  We then boarded the train (3 hours) and bus (2 hours) back to Cusco, where we dropped exhausted into bed at 1:00 am.

From Wikipedia:

Machu Picchu is a pre-Columbian 15th-century Inca site located 2,430 metres (7,970 ft) above sea level.  It is situated on a mountain ridge above the Urubamba Valley in Peru, which is 80 kilometres (50 mi) northwest of Cusco and through which the Urubamba River flows. Most archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was built as an estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti (1438–1472). Often referred to as "The Lost City of the Incas", it is perhaps the most familiar icon of the Inca World.

The Incas started building the "estate" around AD 1400 but abandoned it as an official site for the Inca rulers a century later at the time of the Spanish Conquest. Although known locally, it was unknown to the outside world before being brought to international attention in 1911 by the American historian Hiram Bingham. Since then, Machu Picchu has become an important tourist attraction.

Since the site was never known to the Spanish during their conquest, it is highly significant as a relatively intact cultural site. Machu Picchu was declared a Peruvian Historical Sanctuary in 1981 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983.  In 2007, Machu Picchu was voted one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in a worldwide Internet poll.

Machu Picchu was built in the classical Inca style, with polished dry-stone walls. Its three primary buildings are the Intihuatana, the Temple of the Sun, and the Room of the Three Windows. These are located in what is known by archaeologists as the Sacred District of Machu Picchu.

The train we took to get to Machu Picchu.

Waiting for the gates to open at 4:00 am

Sunrise at Machu Picchu.

Standing in about the middle of the ruins, Hauyna Picchu is the peak in background.  We'll climb that later in the morning.

Troy in an Incan room.

An original Incan rock wall.  The hand cut and polished "bricks" are so precise they are fit together without mortar.   This wall is 600 years old, and looks new.

At the top of Huayna Picchu we had to make our way through a couple caves to reach the top.

Standing on the top of Huayna Picchu.

Troy and I with Machu Picchu in the background.

Machu Picchu from the top of Huayna Picchu

At the top it started to rain, so we climbed into a small cave for lunch (Tuna and crackers)

After lunch, the fog rolled in, and it started to rain.

Looking down at Machu Picchu in the rain and fog.

Flowers growing into one of the walls of an Incan room.

Troy doing some filming in the rain.

A snail making his way over a monument.

Troy looking out over the ruins.

Looking down at the Urubamba Valley and Urubamba river

As we were leaving, this Llama came walking right past us, and he really gave Troy the eyeball as he went by.  :)