Head in the Clouds, Machu Picchu

Oliver and I left Lima on Monday afternoon and headed south to Cuzco, the cradle of the Inca empire. The flight was just inside of an hour. By my accounting seven tracks of The Who on the iPod and a quick pass of the snack cart. The alternative to a flying to Cuzco was a 12 hour bus ride. The option of flying also afforded a bird's eye view of the Andean Cordillera below.

Cuzco is a charming little city. The layout is the traditional Spanish form arranged in a checker board pattern with the Cathedral in the center. This is actually superimposed over the shape of the sacred Puma which was the original Incan layout. The first thing you notice about Cuzco is what it lacks, namely oxygen. At a little over 11,000 feet above sea level the air is quite thin. We checked into the lovely Royal Inka Hotel overlooking the Plaza Regocijo and headed out for a late afternoon reconnaissance mission. It wasn't long before it became evident that we were suffering from "Sorojche" or altitude sickness. This was manifest by incessant yawning, mild headache, burning lungs, rubbery legs and a bit of short term memory loss. To put it mildly "two fries short of a Happy Meal." After navigating what seemed to be an endless series of narrow cobble stone streets and steps we reached San Blass a small neighborhood dug in to the hills. We stopped at a promontory with an impressive view of the city. In the company of a pack mule a Eucalyptus tree and a stray dog we relished a hard won cerveza before heading back and turning in. If it was to take 24 hours to acclimate to the altitude it was best to have the majority of it occur while sleeping.

Tuesday morning after breakfast we hired a taxi for the day with the objective being to take in some ruins in the mountains above Cuzco. The first stop was Sacsayhuaman. This is th head of the puma in the outline of the city. The ruins consit of limestone blocks that form zig-zagging walls that form the base of concentric terraces. This was the site of a protracted battle between Manco Inca and Pizzaro. We all know the outcome of that though. The engineering aspect of Sacsayhuaman is curious. How tens of thousands of hundred ton stones were harvested from the mountains and polished to fit together like giant puzzle pieces is something to marvel. One is overcome with a certain sense of deja vu when walking this site and for good reason. These same stones form many of the foundations of the churches in the city below. The Spanish being ever so resourceful simply appropriated the stones of another's empire for use in their own. Oh you Conquistadores!

After deferring to several forms of livestock on the road we stopped at Tombo Machay. A site of ceremonial baths and spring water fountains, remnants of the Inca Cult of Water. The ruins were scant but it was beautiful farmland. After a bit of hiking I joined up with a herd of sheep who were getting on with their never ending lunch. There were maybe 20 adults and 4 baby ewes. The babies not yet capable of producing the adult "BAH" sounds issued more of a flimsy "YAY" sound. Following the herd I alternated between vocalizing various "Yays" and "Bahs" in a never ending game of call and recall. I found this endlessly entertaining but then I am easily amused. On the trek back I met a leather skinned man with gold capped teeth. We exchanged pleasantries and he informed me that it was his farm and asked if I had seen his bulls. A possession he was clearly proud of. I replied that I was on speaking terms with his sheep but hadn't yet had the opportunity to meet the bulls. I declined an offer to see the rest of his land solely on account of time constraints. He pointed to the pair of sunglasses tucked into the neck of my shirt and laughed.

Our next stop was the Valle Sacrado or Sacred Valley citadel of Inca Pisac perched high above the Urubabamba River. The site is a prime example of Incan agricultural terracing that traces its way up the mountain. The ruins consist of a military garrison, several ceremonial areas, foot paths, carved door ways and houses. The back side of Inca Pisac is gorge. The hills on the far side of the gorge are pock marked with holes that were tombs long since pilfered by the "huanacas" or grave robbers. After a leisurely descent we climbed back in the cab and due to a day of hiking, rapidly changing weather patterns and the aforementioned altitude adjustment we beat a hasty retreat back to the hotel.

The center piece of a trip to Cuzco is of course Machu Picchu. There are of course many ways to "do" Machu Picchu. There is the 4 hour train, the 4 day hike and the two day hike along the Inka Trail as well as some less publicised routes. Our plan consisted of hiring a car to take us to Ollyantatumbo the half way point between Cuzco and Machu Pichu. From here we would take the train 2 hours to Aquas Calientes, spend the night there and get the first bus to Machu Pichu at 5:30 the following morning. The plan fell together rather effortlessly and Wednesday afternoon we found ourselves in Ollaytaytambo with a whole afternoon to explore before our train left. We fancied ourselves smart for our unorthodox and efficient plan. We appeared to be but a handful of tourists in the town with a time dividend on our hands. We crossed the river and hiked for a couple of hours on the Inka trail, meandering off the path through terraced farm land full of donkeys, cows, sheep and pigs. We passed only one other person, a boy carrying a thin tree trunk over his shoulders who was able to tell us where the next river crossing lay. The afternoon was pure magic. It was equal parts the first day of spring and the first day of fall. An afternoon of Peruvian Tom Sawer/Huck Finn. About the time the sun began to set we sat down for dinner only to discover that from every shadowy corner and crevices were hordes of back packers. These were other people who fancied themselves as being smart about their route to Machu Pichu. As 8:00 approached it was like the lemmings of the sea heading towards the train station.

Aguas Calientes is little more than a tourist ghetto. A no stop light town full of 6 dollar a night hotels serving Nescafe instant coffee. It was a stop gap between the bed and the bus. The next morning, heads still thick with sleep we found ourselves on the 5:30AM bus chugging up the mountain bus along a series dirt road switchbacks. A few minutes walk from the entrance we found ourselves at the Care Taker of the Funerary's Hut. This is the classic view of Machu Pichu seen on the postcards. In fact it's like stepping into a post card. There was little or no talking to be heard except maybe for own bombastic internal dialogue. Gradually the Sun poked holes into the cloud line and early morning gave way to day light minute by minute and frame by frame. There was little to do except stare. The mist cleared but not the feeling of being mystified. I sought out a remote terrace, using back pack as an ersatz pillow I settled down for an early morning nap.

Shaking off the sleep I headed up a trail towards the Inkan Drawbridge. From my understanding there were two ways into Machu Picchu the draw bridge being one. After a half hour hike I came to a lime stone wall a few thousand meters in length. Chiseled into the face of the limestone wall was a catwalk with rough-hewn planks of wood in the middle. Below the catwalk was nothing more than a deathly descent. Primitive security detail at its' finest.

After working my way back I ate all of the food I had taken with me and set out toward Intipunku - The Gate of the Sun. This from what I know was the primary entrance. This was to prove an hour and a half hike winding every so slowly around the "old peak." From the gate you can look down on the lost city and try to contemplate what it must have looked entering the site 500 or so years ago.

From there it was a matter of touring around the ruins themselves - the Temple of the Sun, The Sepent Window, The Temple of the Three Windows, The House of the High Priest, The Sacricity et al. The whole day was unobtrusively exhausting. After another nap it was back to the bus and back to civilization.

I burned through almost a Gig of memory in my camera here but I pared it down to the following for this post. Click HERE