THE ROAD TO MACHU PICCHU

August 19, 2011

We awoke Friday morning, enjoyed nice hot showers, and put most of our luggage in the storage room at the Pirwa Hostel in Cusco. We would be returning here after one overnight at Machu Picchu, so we didn't have to take everything with us. The Doctor had managed to pack relatively light for the trip, but I can't seem to go anywhere without the equivalent of at least one steamer trunk . . .

We went outside and waited to be picked up by Pachatusantrek for our ride to the Poroy train station. After a few minutes we saw a woman walking up the street toward us, and as she got closer, she called out my name. I was quite surprised when it turned out to be Jessica herself, the woman I talked to on the phone, and who had been so pleasant to deal with all along. She led us back down to the Plaza de Armas, and waited with us until the car arrived to pick us up. I was again impressed by her level of personal attention. Pachatusantrek is an eco-friendly tour agency that offers a wide range of services, and all we had enlisted them for was a simple 20 minute car ride, little more than a taxi service could have provided. Yet she had called to confirm our reservation the night before, and then showed up personally to make sure the car picked us up on time. I was quite impressed.

Jessica was very friendly - and spoke lovely English - and visited with us, while we waited for the car. There was a cute little white dog sitting near us on the sidewalk. He was trying to sit up, but was so tired that his eyes kept slowly closing, and his body would start to lean until he would jerk back awake again. Finally he just gave up, and curled into a ball and went to sleep. He stayed like that until he was awakened by the approach of a couple larger strays. He got up then, and went and stood on the other side of Jessica, as if seeking protection. Not that the dogs appeared particularly aggressive. None of the strays that we saw seemed wild or vicious, in fact they were all quite tame and usually friendly. They would often approach with a friendly wag of the tail and a little doggy smile.

When the car arrived, Jessica gave us each a bottle of water, and sent us on our way. We arrived at the train station on time, boarded, and were soon on our way. Of the three classes of service available on Peru Rail, we were in the least expensive, the Expedition class. Still it was a pleasant and comfortable ride. Our seats were at a small table, which we shared with a German couple seated across from us. The windows were large enough to take in the amazing views, especially as we entered the mountains. And they gave us a free snack (which is more than Spirit Airlines had done!) consisting of pretzels, chocolate covered biscuits, and the ever present Coca Tea.

It took us around 3 hours to reach our destination, the little town of Agua Calientes. We got off the train, and tried to find our way to the main part of town, but got lost in a big vendor's market right outside the train station. It was a maze like complex of booth after booth of Peruvian handicrafts and souvenirs. We came out of that on the wrong side, and pretty much had to go back in and find another way out, which we eventually did.

Agua Calients was a bright and cheery little town, with lots of green plants and trees (including banana trees) and a river flowing over rapids right through the center of town. Pedestrian bridges spanned the river, and at least one of these had sprays of water arcing out into the river below.

There were shops, restaurants, and hostels everywhere. The town was small and sort of carved into the base of the mountain, so a lot of the walkways were steep and narrow, and a little confusing. We had a map showing the location of the Pirwa hostel we were staying at, but even so it took some effort to find it. We searched for quite awhile, and finally The Doctor turned down a side street, and there toward the far end I finally saw the sign for Pirwa. He was a bit ahead of me, and to my surprise he walked right on past it. I had to call him back; he had gone right by it and hadn't even seen it.

It was another beautiful hostel, not as nice as the one in Cusco, but still quite lovely. We checked in and were shown to our room where we spent a few minutes getting settled. The room had one window; if you looked up, you saw a gorgeous view of the mountains.

  If you looked down, you saw a less attractive view of the neighborhood. The backyards of three or four small homes converged right behind the hostel. They were obviously poorer homes, a hodgepodge of corrugated metal roofs, clothes lines, and general clutter. In one yard there was a small table, under which a mother cat and her litter of kittens were resting.

After dropping our stuff off at the room we found the bus station, bought our tickets, and boarded one of the small buses that makes frequent runs up the mountain to Machu Picchu. The ride lasted about 20 minutes, and was a bit harrowing to say the least. The road was narrow and steep, with many hairpin curves. Only a few of these curves had short sections of guardrail. The rest of the road had none, with only trees offering some protection, but more often than not there was nothing between us and the steep precipice of the mountainside. We frequently met other buses coming down - as luck would have it usually at the sharp turns; sometimes there was room to pass, sometimes there wasn't. One or the other of the buses would have to stop and back up in order to let the other pass. At least once the drivers seemed to be playing a game of chicken with each other, neither one wanting to budge. I'm not sure if they were being stubborn, or just doing that for the "entertainment" of their passengers. All in all there was a lot of gasping and seat clutching going on during the ride up.

At the end of the bus line there is a very expensive hotel that offers a lunch buffet. We thought about checking it out, but it looked a little too hoity toity, so we opted for the less intimidating outdoor snack bar across from the hotel. Here we were able to get some vegetarian sandwiches, a glass of purple corn juice, and some ice cream, and were able to enjoy a very scenic view of the mountains while we ate.

We then used the nearby restrooms for the price of one sol, which was paid to a woman at the door who dispensed tickets to the facilities like it was an amusement park ride. A sign informed us that toilet paper was included in the price of admission, and there was a dispenser right there at her station. I never checked to see if there were toilet paper in the stalls or not, but it appeared you had to get your allotment from the attendant. My guidebook had said it was not uncommon to encounter public bathrooms with NO toilet paper, and strongly suggested carrying your own.

We then made our way to the entrance where we had to show our tickets, as well as our passports. Just beyond that was a little station where we were able to stamp our passports with an official Machu Picchu stamp. We walked a little further passing plaques paying tribute to Hiram Bingham, including one from 1961 honoring the 50th anniversary of his "discovery". The 100th anniversary was earlier this year, but I didn't see any plaque for that; perhaps they haven't put one up yet.

I don't know what The Doctor was feeling up to this point. Since getting off the train a couple hours earlier, I myself had sensed a certain apprehension, a hesitancy. Machu Picchu was the focal point of our trip. Everything else had been planned around it. You would have thought I would have been eager to finally get there, that I would have been racing the last few steps, but instead I felt as if I were dragging my feet. There was almost a sense of fear. I don't know exactly what I might have been afraid of. Perhaps I thought it wouldn't live up to the hype or meet my expectations, and that I would be somehow disappointed. The trip had certainly had its share of aggravations and mishaps - my flight being canceled, the confusing scramble to restructure and salvage the trip, the Doctor's debilitating bout of Soroche, all the miscommunications with Pirwa, and just language problems in general everywhere we went. Perhaps I was just afraid that, after all this, we might think it hadn't really been worth the all the trouble and effort.

But the time had come, and finally we rounded that last bend in the path. There it was . . .

Actually, what we saw there was just small sliver of Machu Picchu, but at first glimpse, you think you are seeing it all. You can't imagine it could possibly be bigger than what you see now, that this is just a hint of its expanse, that you will spend the next two days discovering there is more and more every time you round a corner. A step or two this way or that, or a short climb up a flight of old stone stairs, and a whole new view is revealed that had before been hidden.

Years ago when I first decided I wanted to someday visit Machu Picchu, I cut a picture of it from a magazine, and taped it to my computer at work. It was about the size of a postage stamp, but every time I looked it I would think of it as a little piece of Heaven here on earth. It just looked too beautiful to be of this world. (Now, having seen it with my own eyes, I am still not totally convinced that it IS of this world. Heavenly beauty aside, the architecture and engineering alone are enough to make one wonder if the ancient Incas didn't have at least a little help from beyond our world!!!) If I had been afraid before entering Machu Picch that I would somehow be disappointed when I actually saw it, those fears evaporated the minute I first saw it, and with every breathtaking glimpse and view and vista after that. 

To say the pictures don't do it justice is an understatement. Words like 'beautiful', 'amazing', and 'spectacular', can easily be overused in trying to describe it. The scenery of the mountains by itself is dazzling (and dizzying!), but there is something about the ancient ruins that actually seems to enhance and accentuate the natural wonder of the landscape.

Building a modern city in such a location now would destroy such beauty, but Machu Piccu is so perfectly molded into the mountainside that it easily appears to belong, to be one with it. It is hard to picture or even imagine the mountains being as beautiful without the ruined city being a part of it.

Suffice it to say both The Doctor and I were overwhelmed with what we saw. We took countless pictures, attempting to capture every view, and every angle of every view, but it is an impossible task. We spent maybe an hour or so on the outer and upper perimeter's of the ruins photographing and savoring the view. We were doing this when, to my great surprise, a beautiful black Llama came around the corner as naturally as if he were just another tourist.

And behind him were two or three more, though the others were of much lighter colors. They just walked around among us as if it were the most natural thing in the world, which I suppose for them in that location, it is. One went over and stood at a scenic overlook, and posed perfectly while people snapped away with their cameras. He was a real ham, and seemed to relish the attention. I swear he (or she?) was even smiling and making eyes at the camera. When he had enough though, he terminated the photo session promptly, and went on his way.

We would see many Llamas before our time at Machu Picchu was done; they all had tags in their ears, but they pretty much seemed to have the run of the place. While I don't know as I would call them tame, they were certainly used to people, and barely paid us any attention at all. Their main focus was the grass, and they spent most of their time grazing and chomping away on it. It took me awhile to get up the nerve to touch one, and I think it was actually later in the day with another group that I finally did so. I petted several before the day was over, and they all seemed so pre-occupied with eating that I don't think they even knew I was there.

Among the group we saw later in the day, was one slightly smaller than the rest, which I am pretty sure was the kid of a larger one that was always nearby.

 

Most of the ones we saw seemed to be in groups of two or three, and I wondered if these were family units, and if they mated for life. Though it was not easy to look them in the eyes (what with their heads down at ground level most of the time while they ate), they did strike me as being wise and gentle creatures (I would not want to get kicked by one, however . . . ) I heard one woman say they were stupid, mainly because they just kept right on eating while she was trying to pet them. I'm afraid the poor things would starve to death if they stopped eating every time someone wanted to pet them or take their picture.

We spent a good amount of time looking and taking pictures of the ruins from a higher level. Knowing we would be coming back the following day and could explore the structures up close and personal then, we decided to follow one of the trails that led further up the mountain. We picked a trail pointing to something called "Intipunku".

My guidebook described it as a gentle, 45 minute climb, of which we found it to be neither. Granted we did stop and take a lot of pictures along the way, but even so our actual hiking time seemed longer than an hour, and we quit with a good deal of the trail still curving up the mountain ahead of us. And it was steep enough to not be exactly "gentle" for either of us. We passed ruins of structures along the way, and several good vantage points to look down on the main complex of Machu Picchu.

We stopped at one place where there were steps leading up to a stage like area with a dramatic outcropping of rock pointing upward and leaning forward at a slight angle above us.

The Doctor had brought the pyramid he purchased on Taquile - which I had named The Pyramid Of Doom - and had tried placing it in various locations where he hoped it might release some sort of mystical power . . . with no noticeable results. Here at the platform area, he had me take pictures of him holding the Pyramid aloft,as if offering it to the heavens. I took a few pictures, and then coaxed him to take off his shirt . . . which resulted in some really great shots. The Doctor has an impressive physique!

A little further up the trail we stopped again, and I climbed up on a part of stone wall. There was a great view of the ruined city of Machu Picchu far below us. I sat here and wrote out a postcard, one of Machu Picchu that actually looked like it could have been taken right from where I sat.

After going on a bit more, we decided we had had enough of the gentle climb to Intipunku, and turned back. It didn't seem to take nearly as long going down, and we were soon back at the main complex of Machu Picchu. We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the terraces and outer sections of the ruins. We encountered several more Llamas, and spent time with them, taking pictures and petting them. Many of the walls had a series of stone outcroppings running up the side and sticking out about a foot or so; we had seen some of these the previous day at the ruins at Raqhi, and our guide had told us they were steps. I tried climbing up a series of these at Machu Picchu, but didn't look too dignified doing it.

We saw another sign pointing to something called "The Inka Bridge" and made our way up (again!) a part of the way before encountering a guard shack with a guard who told us the rest of the path was closed. I think it may have been too late in the day for them to allow more people up.

Shortly after that we were walking along a terrace that looked down into a long series of rooms. I happened to glance down into one and saw a small animal nibbling on the grass. I looked closer and was surprised to see it was a wild Chinchilla. I once had a pet Chinchilla named Moonlight for 11 year, and I was thrilled to see this one in its natural habitat. The Doctor also had a some as pets at one time so I called him over and excitedly pointed it out to him. We watched it eating peacefully for a few minutes. A man and woman came along, and I pointed it out to them, thinking they would share my enthusiasm. I don't think they were fluent in English, but they finally understood, but didn't seem convinced that it was actually a Chinchilla. They looked at it skeptically and said it was just a squirrel.

I understand that a Peruvian Squirrel might look a little different from what I am used to in America, but I had had a Chinchilla for 11 years, so I had a pretty good idea that what I was looking at was no squirrel. The couple went down into some of the rooms adjoining the one with the chinchilla, and when they came out, they told me there were more further down - only now they seemed to think they were rabbits! I went down through the rooms and finally came to one at the very end where there were two more - and they were definitely chinchillas. I went and found The Doctor (who was off taking pictures nearby), and showed these to him, and we took several pictures of them. They seemed to be aware of us, but not terribly frightened unless we got too close. One of them finally decided he had had enough of us, and disappeared through a drainage hole in the wall, a convenient means of escape thoughtfully left behind for him by the ancient Incas.

Around this time we started hearing a whistle blowing, and gradually realized the guides were motioning for people to start heading for the exit. We didn't feel particularly rushed though, and more or less took our time, still stopping to take yet another picture of a view we might not have captured yet. We caught sight of one more Chinchilla, this one sitting alone on a rock. He almost appeared to be just enjoying the view in solitude.

 

As we made our way toward the exit, we spied a round, flat stone in the ground with 4 lines on it that looked as if they might be compass headings. The Doctor was still trying to find a location that was a perfect match for his Pyramid Of Doom. He took it out and carefully lined the corners of the pyramids base up with the lines.

No sooner had he done so than dark cloud filled the sky, lightening flashed and thunder boomed. The earth shook and split beneath our feet, and fire rained down from the heavens. The Doctor had unleashed the Apocalypse at last . . . .

OK, none of that happened, but I just wanted to make sure my readers are paying attention . . .

We made our way to the exit, and boarded the bus for another harrowing ride down the mountain. Going down was not as bad as going up, as being so late in the day, we did not encounter any buses coming up. Still it had its moments . . .

When we arrived back in Agua Calientes, we went to hostel, changed our clothes, and went in search of the thermal springs after which the town takes its name. We found them at the very end of town. There was a small fee to get in, and another to rent a locker to store our belongings. I was expecting something rather rustic; in Hawaii I had gone to a hot spring right next to the ocean. That one had been walled in enough to make it accessible, but still had a very natural feel to it. The one in Agua Calientes was quite different. It was built up almost like a public swimming pool, with the water from the springs channeled into a series of 4 or 5 tiled pools. It could have been just another hot tub at some resort as far as appearances went.

The first pool we tried was cold, the second just a little warmer than lukewarm, but we figured the others were probably the same so we stayed there.

We stayed in the pool for probably 45 minutes to an hour. There were a few other people in it also, but it was not as crowded as the other pools. There were two women near us and after overhearing a part of their conversation, we discovered that one of them had been at the same conference in Lima which the Doctor had also attended the week before.  They had not met at the convention, but now they visited for quite awhile, discussing the conference and talking "shop".

When we finally got out, I began to dry off but The Doctor went to check the temperature of the next pool, and discovered it to be a great deal warmer than the one we had been sitting in. So we sat in that one for a few minutes. It was quite lovely, but when we did get out, the air was only that much cooler. We dried off and dressed, and hurried back to the hostel. I had to hold my shorts up all the way back because they were a little too big, and heavy from being wet, and would have fallen down otherwise.

We changed again, than went out in search of dinner. We found a vegetarian Indian restaurant not far from the hostel and ate there. I was not terribly impressed with it. I love Indian food, but nothing on the menu was anything I had seen in an Indian restaurant before. The food seemed to be more based in Peruvian Cuisine, more of a Peruvian restaurant run by Indians. The dish I ordered was ok, but nothing outstanding. When we paid, I gave the man a larger denomination bill, which he graciously accepted and then bolted out the door. He was gone for several minutes before finally returning with enough smaller bills and coins to give us the correct change. I think I am beginning to understand why the economy in Peru is so bad, and why there is so much poverty! Even if you have money, you can't seem to spend it anywhere because no one has any change!

After dinner we walked around a bit, did some more shopping, and eventually ended up in this town's Plaza de Armas. There was a statue of an Inca warrior in the center of the square, and we asked a woman to take our picture in front of it. She made several attempts, and I still don't know what she was doing wrong, but she couldn't seem to get the picture. She gave the camera to someone else who was with her, and they had the same problem. They passed the camera to a third, and he finally was able to get the picture. My camera is hardly complicated so I don't know what was going on. I felt bad to have been so much trouble to them, but they were all laughing and seemed good natured about it.