Machu Picchu - the name evokes mystical images of a lost city in the mountains of Peru - and that is just what it is. For about 200 years the Inca occupied this city in the Andean mountains then suddenly deserted it (no one knows why). It was rediscovered in 1911 by Hiram Bingham when led to it by a local farmer. Since then it has been cleared and restored in part.
When you first see the vista unfolding before your eyes it evokes a feeling of awe.
This ancient citadel straddles the saddle of a high mountain (2380m) with steep terraced slopes falling away to the Urubamba river in the canyon valleys. Towering overhead is Huayna Pichu and all around is mountain jungle. The city itself supported up to 20,000 people in its heydey and all access was by carefully controlled trails. It was essentially unassailable.
Archeology has excavated most of the city and there are clearly defined agricultural sectors with terraces going down the mountain slopes, industrial and educational sectors, palaces, temples, fountains, towers and a total of some 3000 stop steps leading one to the various areas of town. Centralized green pasture or open areas also abound.
It was amazing just to be there and to see this ´wonder´of the world. Just imagining building this city in such a place is hard to fathom. The citadel itself is about 2000 feet above the river valley and there would have been no easy way to get materials there. Our own journey was an adventure in itself.
Back down in Cusco we need to purchase entrance tickets to the site as well as Perurail tickets and local minibus tickets. On the day of our departure we caught a minibus to Ollataytambo ( about a 90 minute drive). As we were descending the mountain road into the valley not far from the Ollataytambo rail terminal (departure time was 3;30pm) we discovered that the road was closed by a mud slide. Since many of us want to make the rail departure time we all agreed when the bus driver said there was another way through the mountains. So off we went - spiralling up into the mountains on a dirt road that got narrower and narrower. After winding up and up we began our descent via many a switchback on an increasingly narrow road. The view was fantastic and the driver good but there was not a lot of room for oncoming vehicles.
Once again, as luck would have it, just as we got towards the bottom two vehicles coming up said that the way was closed - we would have to return. So after a quick break stop at a nearby facility we headed back. This time the driver was in a bit of a hurry so some got up the courage to ask him to slow down. Back we drove to where the mudslide had been and were now able to get through.
By the time we got to the Perurail station it was two hours behind schedule and we had obiously missed our train. We rebooked for the next morning, found a hotel and explored the town. After a fantastic supper of yucca and alpaca we crashed for the night. The next morning 6:00 am we were at the train station and soon enroute to Aguas Calientes - a ramshackle town near our destination. We had planned to spend a day in Aguas Calientes in any event so we were ok. It was an amazing rail trip through the mountain valleys - akin to travelling through the Canadian Rockies.
Every Peruvian town seems to be made up of many narrow cobble stoned streets with businesses tucked in on both sides. We explored the town and spent a few hours soaking in the thermal hot springs up one end of the valley.
Early the next morning (5:00 am) we found ourselves in a very long queue to catch the buses to the top of Machu Picchu. We got on the 6th bus and about five miles, 14 switchbacks and 2000 feet higher were at the entrance to the national park. Thousands of visitors make this trek each day and all seem to want to get the early bus to avoid the congestion. In any event it was a fascinating day of walking through the citadel and exploring what might have been. Again there is still a lot of speculation about what the purpose of Machu Picchu was all about. Indeed it was and still is a masterpiece of human creation.
After about 5 hours we began the descent down in time to catch Perurail back to Ollaytaytambo and then another minibus to Cusco. Late that afternoon we returned to the former centre of the Incan empire.
It was an amazing journey indeed!
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