On Sunday we got up bright and early for breakfast and then hopped on a train to take us through the mountains to Machu Picchu!
So. We played cards on the train because, like you might imagine from watching Harry Potter, a lot of trains have seats that face each other around a table. We played Kemps and War. I know what you are probably thinking. "Amanda, you don't even like games!" Here's the thing, guys. I'm trying to make new friends here. The best way to do that is not saying, "Oh, you like to play cards? I hate that. I'm going to sit here and read a book." No! And War is an okay game. It doesn't take any strategy. I lost. But! Noah went to the bathroom and I took over for him and won!
Anyways. Once we arrived in Machu Picchu Pueblo we had to get on a bus. The bus took this winding road of switchbacks all the way up the mountain to the ruins. It was a really nice bus. At the top, we got our tickets and went in.
When you go in Machu Picchu you have to walk through a covered bridge. Then you go in some small buildings that have a hallway through a few rooms. The point is that you can't see Machu Picchu until you walk through the door on the other side of this building. It's spectacular. You walk through this dark building and then BOOM you're there.
The complex is big. They estimate that 300-500 people lived there. And it took 22,000 people to build it, which means that many people lived close enough to go there every day. Everything is made from granite and some is stone and mortar, while the more important buildings, like the temples, are a more complicated technique that the Incans perfected. They would break the stones on natural cleavage points to create very smooth bricks. They worked the stones until they fit together perfectly. It's unbelievable.
So once we were in we took some pictures and rushed over to the entrance to Huayna Picchu. This is that big, pointy, green mountain that you see in all the classic Machu Picchu pictures. That's right, folks. I climbed that mountain. When you are looking at it from the entrance to Machu Picchu and your leader is saying, "What do you think, guys, are you up for it? I think it's worth it!" you will probably do what I did and think, "Yeah! I got this!" What you will probably not have realized is that you first have to walk down the mountain you are currently on and climb Huayna Picchu from the bottom. And it isn't a smooth path. It is stone stairs. Built by the Incas hundreds of years ago. And you are 7,000 ft above sea level. Oxygen doesn't come easy.
It's okay though. We probably hiked for almost an hour. And then we were at the top! (there were a lot of breaks in there) The very top is a bunch of boulders that you can sit on. It's pretty sweet, but our whole group was up there so it was really crowded. There is a part that is more leveled off where we took pictures and ate snacks. You can see Machu Picchu from up there and it is really sweet. There are ruins at the top of the mountain too. I'm not sure what they were used for, but we were told that groups of Incans would run up the mountains every day. Yeah, they ran. I think that's totes cray.
Climbing down was not as bad on the lungs, but much worse on the thighs. The steps are not very even and most are really thin and really steep, so it's an uncomfortable descent. We were next to some Brazilian guys, though, and they told us a little about the protests going on over there. They said that people are fed up with the government spending money on FIFA standard soccer fields and Olympic standard pools when they are lacking in education and health services. They said that there are picket signs that say, "We want FIFA standard hospitals and schools!" They said it isn't very dangerous, but it's on the list of places that the US recommends we stay away from, so our site leader's trip was cancelled a few months ago. It was cool to hear about it from people who live there, though, instead of the news.
Once we were back in the complex, we went to lunch. There are two places to eat at Machu Picchu. One is a buffet and it costs 100 soles, or around 36 US dollars. Or there is a snack bar that sells sandwiches for amusement park prices. I got a chicken sandwich and passionfruit juice and sat with a view of the mountains. A bird nearly pooped on my lunch, but it missed by a few inches. It was a lucky day.
After climbing a mountain, we continued our day with more stairs. Machu Picchu is basically all stairs. The Incan people had some good looking legs (I'm assuming). I probably won't need to work out again all year.
Our guide, Rudy, told us all about the Incas and what each section of Machu Picchu is thought to have been used for. Some sources will tell you that Machu Picchu was where they went to live in the winter. Rudy says this isn't true. It's more likely that Machu Picchu was a school. There are rooms with posts sticking out from the walls where students could hang their kipus, which is the Incan writing system (or quipu, google search that). They have mirrors made from small reflecting pools on the ground in one classroom. This would have been where they taught students about astrology. They also have a large sundial that was used to track time during the day and throughout the year.
One of the major Incan gods is Pachamama. Pachamama is mother nature. She and the sun god work together to provide everything that they need. The shrine to Pachamama is really cool because they used boulders that were already there. Frank Lloyd Wright called that organic architecture.
One of the best things about Machu Picchu is that the Spanish never found it. When the Spanish arrived in the 1500s, it's likely that a messenger arrived at Machu Picchu and warned them. Everyone fled to the final Incan capital, Vilcabamba, where most of them were eventually killed. Machu Picchu is so well hidden, though, that it's whereabouts were unknown to the modern world until 1911 when Hiram Bingham announced it's discovery. Bingham was an archaeologist from Yale, and since this was before NAGPRA (look it up), there are a lot of artifacts still at the Peabody Museum at Yale. There are a lot of people who are not happy about that.
What people are happy about, though, is that Machu Picchu was not destroyed by the Spanish! It is practically the same as when the Incas deserted it hundreds of years ago. So that is really very cool. Research is still being conducted there. A body was just found buried at the top of Huayna Picchu and a trail was just found going up the mountain just across the valley. Exciting stuff.
I kind of want to hike the Inca Trail now. After climbing that mountain I feel like I can do anything. I also want to live in Cusco, but I will elaborate more in the next post.
We left Machu Picchu on one of the last buses and went to our hotels in Aguas Calientes. You could probably guess that there are hot springs in this town. I didn't go, but I can imagine they would feel good after a long day of hiking. A group of us went to a really nice restaurant called El Indio Feliz and had a three course meal for 60 soles. I had Trujillo Melon, which was cantaloupe melon balls in wine, mango chicken, and orange pie for dessert. It was one of my favorite meals ever.
After dinner we walked around the town for a bit. Aguas Calientes is at the base of Machu Picchu. It is basically a town built for tourists. It didn't exist until Machu Picchu opened to the public. There are a lot of places to eat and a lot of little shops.
We were walking up the street and saw a really cute dog. We were all oohing and aahing over the dog, like girls do, when we saw another dog. I was in the middle of saying, "Oh that dog is cute too!" when it attacked the other dog. We freaked out. It was pretty scary, but also kind of funny since everyone (including the dogs) was okay.
We also found a live band. They were pretty good, but we were pretty tired so we went back to the hotel and watched Poseidon in Spanish. Nothing goes right in that movie.
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