July 18th 2015
{Warning this entry will include too many photos}
The day starts entirely too early, stumbling out of a dorm bed and grabbing my pre packed day bag, waiting jsut a few minutes for Louise to join me before heading out to the bus stop. The lady at the ticket office told me that 5 am would be early enough to get onto the first bus which leaves at 5:30 am.
That said as I get to the main street I see a line of hundreds of people already fully formed at 4:55, and the line at the ticket booth makes me very happy we bought our tickets the night before. (12 USD one way). Still its looking grim until a veritable fleet of buses start appearing. We don’t get int the first bus, probably not even the 10th, but we do get in one of the first batch of buses which is good enough for me.
It’s a winding 23 minute drive up the mountain in the comfortable air conditioned bus before Louise and I climb out to the madness of the entrance gates, full of eager eyed gringos and Peruvians alike, all massing and pushing towards the few workers checking tickets Down here there’s two restaurants, a small hotel, the only set of bathrooms on site, and the admissions booth.
The air is thick with mist and whispered anticipation from the bubbling crowd and slowly but surely Louise and I edge closer to the entrance. I flash my student card with my student ticket (71 soles instead of 141 Soles). We’ve agreed with the other members of our little group to meet up somewhere in the city, rather than wait for the more in shape and ambitious trekkers.
We hurry up some stone steps on the hillside, eagerly racing towards our first glimpse of this famous Incan site which brings so many Gringos to Peru each year. Almost 4000 a day visit Machu Picchu. I’m not a math whiz, but that’s a lot of people every year.
The first glimpse does not disappoint and Louise and I quickly edge out of the steady flow of Gringos on the main path climbing up to a small grass terrace to take some photos, bask in the beauty and take the first of a few titanic photos here in Machu Picchu.
Eventually we climb back onto the path and walk closer and closer to the city, deciding to make for the high ground first and leave the crowded city for later on, when, we hope they’re will be less tourists.
We climb up a lot of ancient stone steps but there’s a built in solution to the out of breath problem, the magisterial view behind us. Eventually, winded from the climb we find a place to sit on the grass that’s not yet too crowded and I snap too many photos of this ancient mist shrouded city. It’s an incredible feeling to sit there looking down on the number 1 tourist attraction in the world, sipping on a delicious imported Vanilla coke.
Not too long after Rob, Ceci, Bethan and Ben find us sitting there and together we decide to stick with the strategy of waiting to explore the actual city, instead cruising along the upper ruins and searching for new viewpoints, of which there are many. It’s hard to take a bad picture as the strips of mist melt away as the sun rises higher in the sky over the truly impressive cliff like mountains which surround the city. They are some of the finest that the Andes have to offer.
Just a short ways up the path we encounter a small family of Peru’s most famous tourism mascot, the Llama, including a rambunctious baby thrilled to always be running.
Eventually we decide it time to leave the ever growing mob of tourists and hike to the sun gate, which for those who elect to hike the inca trail, will provide their first glimpse of the city of Machu Picchu. My parents walked those steps many years ago, but the trail itself is now too expensive for me. From 20 dollars to about 600 in about thirty years. Steep inflation. Louise decides to stay in the city and do some solo explorations so our group shrinks to 5.
We head on a little further before stopping for lunch inside the grass covered ruins of an ancient house, opening up our backpacks and making tasty cheese, tomato, and avocado sandwiches along with some candies. Technically there’s no outside food allowed in Machu Picchu but they don’t have time or desire to search a normal sized backpack coming in, so you can bring plenty of food and drink if you so desire.
Feeling refreshed and re-energized we continue the hike up to the sun gate, Ben leaves us before long, as he’s the only one whose decided to use our ticket and hike the Machu Picchu mountain, a significant uphill climb of about 90 minutes to 2 hours if you’re in shape, though I’m sure the views were spectacular.
The hike to the sun gate offers lots of great places to stop and look back at the city below us. We find some large stone structures and climb up onto them also finding a pair of Incan lizards posing for our camera.
I take inspiration from the little lizards and climb up onto the rocks for some more special titanic photos.
We continue along without the Sultry one getting from the city to the gate takes about 40 minutes and it’s very much worth it. The views are stupendous and we spend about an hour just relaxing, talking, and enjoying the views. Before we start heading down I run down the steps of the inca trail and retrace my parents steps.
Ceci hurries ahead to met Ben while Bethan Robb and I find a perch along the trail to play some marbles and enjoy still more epic views of the ruins below.
The suns high in the sky by now,and it’s hot, leaving us peeling off all our layers and lathering on sunscreen as we descend back into the tourist filled ruins. We find a little shade under a house and enjoy the mountain breezes, snacking on what we’ve got left before taking some photos for some solo travellers and getting a few group shots in return.
I manage to convince Rob and Bethan, who are tired from the arduous hike up to the city,to do another short walk to the Incan bridge, hoping that by the time we get back from there some of the day tripping crowds who must head back to Cusco on the train will have left the ruins to us.
On the way up to the path though we find a Llama, and I insist on waiting a few minutes for him to take up an ideal position, allowing me to get some post card quality shots.
The Llama moving on we continue up away from the crowds along a narrow path to the Incan bridge just around the corner from the main city. We get to the registration booth and put in our details to allow them to make sure no one goes and doesn’t come back, since the path is perilously narrow and the drops very severe. Luckily travelling gets you used to such things and I find I’m a lot less fearful of things than I used to be and so I can do a lot more.
After maybe 15 minutes walking along the narrow path we reach the lookout of the ancient stone Incan bridge, which is sadly closed for traffic, though watching their ancient path snake up and around Montana Machu Picchu is pretty impressive.
Rob and Bethan stay up at the viewpoint enjoying some Oranges while I head down to the bridge and find myself a perch at the edge of the path enjoying the adrenalin of dangling my legs and looking down at the awe inspiring valley below us, that beautiful river from our walk to Aguas Calientes snaking through it, and the hydro electric plant only just visible below. Bethan is kind enough to snap a few photos of me on my perch before we head back, pausing to let some american teenagers pass us by.
We head back towards the city and decide to have a look for Louise, though we are unable to find her so instead we settle down at yet another amazing lookout above the city, citing alone on a patch of grass and enjoying a game of Pokemon because yes, we are that cool.
Our game done almost in a tie if I remember correctly Bethan reappears from her trip down to the bathroom with the bad news that she was not allowed out because she did not have her Passport or ticket with her. We relax up on the terraced farmland for a while more enjoying another imported delicacy of mike and Ike’s before Bethan and Rob both head down together, this time with documents in hand for bathroom break and a coffee, leaving me alone to explore Machu Picchu which, as the hours pass, has slowly started to empty and approach a normal tourist site level of crowd.
I slowly meander down towards the heart of the city, listening to some music and doing some thinking as I look down from the agricultural terraces at these incredible ruins, so famous all around the world. The ruins themselves are incredible, and the Incan’s were certainly master stoneworkers who did things without modern machinery that I cannot begin to understand, but as my Dad told me many times, it’s not just the ruins, it’s the location. He’s right. The verdant green cliff faces all around me, a few still shrouded in mist give the entire place an otherworldly feel, such as I’ve only felt in a few special places in the world. Before coming to Machu Picchu I was really worried all the tourists would ruin it, that it wouldn’t be that special, a let down like the Mona Lisa. But I was wrong, and I’m happy to admit it. Machu Picchu deserves it’s fame.
After marvelling at the city from above all day, and getting a few photos from a friendly fellow Canadian, I head down lower towards the city, which has been rapidly emptying. I find some crazy side paths through what seems to have been an ancient Incan quarry, leaving my descent utterly undisturbed by other tourists, as I clamber over boulders and leap from rock to rock, spotting a few more llamas in the city below me.
As I descend out of the back trails of the upper city Bethan and Rob find me before i reach our assigned meeting place and together we head into the heart of the city. While there’s still tourists around its not crowded anymore and often the high and ancient stone walls give us the illusion of being alone.
As we reach some of the main temples we marvel at the stone work together and at just how big and organized this city actually was. Pretty amazing considering when it was built: around 1450. The Incan’s definitely had their shit together, and looking at maps of how much territory they conquered in 100 years gives you a new appreciation for their civilization and makes you wonder what might have happened had the Spanish not arrived in South America when they did.
As we walk further through the city and closer to Huanapicchu, the jagged mountain that looms over the city up close, tickets to which were sadly sold out by the time we got to Cusco, we spot Ceci and Ben across the city from us and catch each other’s eyes waving dramatically to each other.
Rob Bethan and I hurry around to the second side of the city, and after a very brief climbing diversion we all meet up and spend our last few hours in the city together. As we get to four o’clock the city is almost entirely empty and we enjoy wandering through the winding paths through the ancient stone doorways, stopping for too many photos of the ruins and the amazing backdrop provided courtesy of the andes.
Eventually we find an isolated corner looking out to the mountains and settle down for a little snack before dinner of more sandwiches. Luckily we’re almost done by the time one of the guards wanders out and tells us we’re not allowed to eat here. He’s perfectly pleasant about it and of course we were already being very careful not to leave even a scrap of food behind. So we pack up and head for one final jaunt through the ruins before the 5 o’clock closing time.
My camera battery’s start to die as we wander through the outer edges of the city, but luckily the battery’s find a little extra life even after all the photos and I’m able to take a few more photos as we find a few last hidden lookouts before heading to the exit and all stamping our passports.
I’ve been walking up and down all day and my legs are exhausted, but I feel like If I didn’t walk up I should at least walk down so together with Rob, Bethan, Ceci and Ben I start heading down the steep steps carved into the forest and overlapping the road. It’s hard work on the knees as the steps are hardly even, but it’s worth it and caps the day perfectly.
Ben and Ceci get ahead of us and eventually rob Bethan and I opt to walk the long way around, following the car road and sparing our knees for a while. We’re glad we did, because the ever growing gloom falls over the jungle and all but the last glimmers of daylight disappear, we spot some truly amazing birds, especially the first one, which is vaguely reminiscent of the famous Bird’s of Paradise from Planet Earth, though i’m not claiming it was one.
We eventually finish the walk back and stumble into the town of Aguas Calientes stopping at the first restaurant we find for a tasty pizza out of a strange Cathedral shaped wood oven and some cold drinks before heading back to hospedaje Veronica, to let our tired legs rest before our walk back to hidro electrica the next day.
I’m exhausted but utterly happy and when I close my eyes to sleep my darkened eyelids fill with pictures of the ancient Incan City and it’s well deserved wide world Fame. I’m just glad I could share the experience with 5 such awesome people, not to mention the llama.
And of course this woman. Without her… well what would have been the point?
