Oh Peru! Part 5: The Tourist Mecca of Machupicchu!

From Ollyantambo we took the classic, picturesque train trip that follows the Urabamba river along the Sacred Valley to Aguas Calientes, the bustling gateway town to the ruins of Ciudad Inka De Machupicchu.

After making our way from the platform into the frey of locals, guides and touters all vying to help with ‘TAXI!!?? TAXI???….. HOTEL??!! HOTEL?’ or ‘RESTAURANT???!!! RESTAURANT???’ we decided to push on through and make our own way to our accommodation. A quick man-handle of our baggage through the souvenir market and we were there!… Our hotel perched conveniently right on the train line and came with complimentary ear plugs  

We were up early to join the long line of tourists that snaked through the cobbled streets and along the river to a queue of waiting buses. Entrepreneurial shop keepers and street vendors offered delicious looking sandwiches, water and (ominously) bug spray to the endless caterpillar of camera-wielding sight-seers. 

The line of buses follow a dusty road up the winding switchbacks above the deep gorge of Aguas Calientes. Within 30 minutes we had arrived at the main temples of the Inka City at 2450m above sea level.

It felt surreal to find ourselves standing above the ruins that are so familiar from their postcard fame…The overwhelming size of the site is the first thing that hit us: encircled by 3 towering peaks with terraces hanging incredulously off steep cliffs that drop 450m to the river at their base, the ruins expanded around us from misty peaks to sheer, dramatic slopes!

The city was built around 1450 and abandoned a century later during the time of the Spanish Conquest. Despite it’s size, only 500 residents were housed by Machupicchu and it is believed to have been a spiritual and ceremonial centre; a type of monastery if you like.

As our guide took us on a breath-taking journey through the ruins, the story of the Inca civilisation unfolded. We learnt of advanced medical procedures that included brain surgery and teeth implants…. heard tales of ancient ceremonies and human sacrifices and we imagined the seemingly impossible task of chiseling the terraces into the precipitous drop offs!

We loved the Temple of the Sun; when the sun shines through it’s window on the summer solstice it aligns with both the boulder within and the tip of the nearby mountain peak. The Temple of the Condor was also super cool with sculptural wings formed from a massive chunk of rock rising above a smooth representation of a condor’s head, collared with the distinct white markings by lighter coloured stone.

The trapezoid walls that have survived many devastating earthquakes, the intricate aqueduct system and the reflection pools in the astronomical observatory, all added to our awe of the Inca culture.

Right; The Room with Three Windows

Left; The Guardhouse

Below: The aqueduct and the reflection pools in the observatory

Below left: the temple of the condor…

We had booked in to hike up Wayanpicchu; the mountain that rises above the city. A moon temple and a photo opportunity are perched at the summit!

The 45 minute climb up included a steep, gravelly path and ancient stone stairs both with massive drop-offs and incredible views.

Some call us irresponsible for taking Kai and Jaiya up Wayanpicchu (our travel agent actually lectured us on our poor judgement and was very reluctant to book 4 tickets because of how ‘dangerous’ it is) but our mountain-goat children were two of the safest people on the mountain this day as they raced ahead yelling down to us “hurry up!”

I smiled and tried to pretend that some of the struggling hikers puffing and panting through the ascent weren’t looking like they wanted to slap my kids as they boasted how easy the steep incline was. 

We decided to snob the queue of tourists lining up in the sun for hours to wait for a bus back down to Aquas Calientes and chose instead the 2 hour hike that crossed the dusty road and plunged through the surrounding forest into the valley below. It was a lovely walk and a great way to end a day saturated in Inca history and commanding views. Our only regret for the day? That we didn’t take the drone and get footage off one of the terraces…

We collected our baggage and jumped back on the train for the trip back to Ollyantambo. By the time we arrived and were into our 1.5 hour car trip bound for Cusco we were all dozing…tired from a massive day, covered in mosquito and sand fly bites and dreaming of mountains, Inca temples and it’s associated architecture, engineering and archaeology…

next post: The arty town of Cusco…

 

 

 

 

This entry was posted in The Sail.