Machu Picchu- at last

Sunday morning progressed much as planned. A 5:20 wake up call and a light breakfast with a couple of cups of strong coffee. Peruvians tend to use instant coffee in a concentrated liquid form, using 1 part coffee to 4 parts hot milk to supply a basic version of café con leche.

the Standard view with Wayna Picchu in background

The normal first view of Machu Picchu

  The route from town to the ruins is about 2km as the crow flies, and that is a little too steep for a bus route. But the serpentine route the buses do take adds a dusty 10km or so to the trip. Our group assembled at the ticket office at 7am where we met our guide for a 2 and ½ hour tour. The altitude difference, 2400 meters compared to Cuzco’s 3400 made a considerable difference the morning temperature, 16 vs 6C.

Agricultural terraces

Temple of the Sun

Wayna Picchu- as seen through Temple of Three Windows

Residential area of ruins

View of Ruins from below

The route into the site followed an uphill trail which emerged just bellow the Hut of the Caretaker (essentially a guardhouse), the typical view of Macchu Picchu as seen in most magazines. No photo could ever do justice to the scene. The surrounding terrain was just starting to light up in different shades of colour as the sun crawled up over the mountain tops.

  Our group having taken the obligatory photo-shoot, we commenced the tour in earnest.

  Principal stops included a number of temples, many laid out in such a manner as to predict equinoxes and solstices by virtue of light direction through windows. Some stones were perfectly aligned with the 4 corners indicating the points of the compass. One large area was a quarry of local stones, some only partly broken down- probably an indicator that Machu Picchu was never fully completed. Various theories abound as to its purpose. The more recent are that it was partly a retreat for Inca Royalty and partly as a place of study and education.

Your truly at Sun Gate with M.P. in background

Bus route to ruins

One of the highest points of the ruins was the Intihuatana, referring to a carved rock pillar, again used to predict the various significant positions of the sun.

 A final stop was at the Temple of the Condor, with the wingspan of the bird carved into the natural rock and its head carved into the floor of the temple area. (The Condor represents the Heavens in Incan spirituality)

 After the tour ended the group was free to wander the site or return to town. We chose to hike up to the Sun Gate, the “official” end of the Inca Trail. A rather arduous uphill 2km slog along a fairly narrow path, it provided amazing views of the surrounding mountains as well as different views of the ruin. Just like a second trail to an old bridge, the route also provided a glimpse of the town some several hundred meters below, with no guardrails to prevent anyone from taking the short, and obviously fatal, way down.

Time for a beer and a shower!

 Totally fatigued by the estimated 7 km we had covered in a little over 3 hours, we gladly caught the bus back to town where we joined the rest of our party for the train ride back to Ollantaytambo. Transferring to a bus on arrival, we arrived at our Cuzco hotel shortly before 7pm. That left enough time to shower, change, have dinner and pack before a planned early bedtime.

 After planning this trip for several months and wanting to visit it for many years, Machu Picchu was everything and more than I had imagined.

  With the alarm set for 5:30am and with heavy footed fellow travelers leaving at all hours of the night, sleep was at best sporadic.

  At 12:30pm Monday we find ourselves on a tourist bus to Puno, scheduled arrival time 5:10pm. More on that in my next update
                        David
p.s. M.P. pictures will be updated later- computer crash wiped them out of upload!