Machu Picchu
4:00am, I am almost used to this time slot. Luckily Jan and I elected to have
an early night last night. I wanted to get to Machu Picchu by foot, rather
than by bus and be there for the opening time.
Breakfast was available and ready. It was my much reviled regular course of
stale white bread buns. I suffered on the walk and now I suffer in town.
Pleasing though, I do have a choice of whatever beverage I want. A bit
of advice here: take your own breakfast it will be better than any
accommodation inclusion. Jan had a dose of the runs last night and is still
not right, I am sort of glad that us tourists were not the only ones to suffer
gut problems.
4:45am, it was time to leave. I got down to the bus station by following
others. Then I realised that I forgot my head torch. My intent was to walk up
as all early buses were booked and I needed to be in the first 400 to be able
to climb Wayna Picchu, so I decided to press on and rely on other person's
lights. A trickle of others were on their way so that strategy was OK. I think
quite a few leave even earlier at 3:30am.
The walk up to entrance wasn't that bad, I did it in on an hour all up.
Perhaps I was toughened up by the preceding trek walk as quite a few were in a
sad state 1/2 way up. The Incas engineered the steps well, as all of the steps
were in good condition and spaced correctly for easy ascent. In the darkness I
didn't even trip.
At the top I felt excited as I was easily within the first 400 having beaten
all but possibly the first bus. It was 1/2 an hour wait before the gates
opened at 6:00am. When entering you get an endorsement that permits entry to
Waynu Picchu and a free map.
Almost immediately after entry you are blown away with the scale of this site
and the awesome setting. It is hard to scope one's mind when seeing books and
documentaries; when you are physically there it is overwhelming - the scale,
setting, condition of the ruins and the engineering, and for many the spirit.
To think that this civilisation at circa 1200AD achieved so much, with its
might displayed in Machu Picchu and is now gone.
I moved quickly through a somewhat confused route to the gates to Wayna
Picchu, along the way taking in the site and marveling at the grazing
alpacas.
The entry was not open until 7:00am Peruvian time (ie more like 7:30), but I
wanted to catch the early sun for some good photos and be part of a minimal
group at the top. I was in the first 10 and was at the top before
everyone.
The earlier warm up paid dividends. The walk up was a demanding 1/2 hour or
so, a lot of the steps were precipitous. One part I had to climb through a bit
of a tunnel as it looked like a rock had tumbled across the path.
At the peak the sites were well earned. I stayed for 30 minutes or so, just
soaking in the atmosphere and using up a few megabytes of my camera's card
space.
On think I love about this area is that life still abounds, both in flora and
fauna. The alpaca are beautiful animals, free to graze and rest without fear.
After a while I wandered of the other side of the peak and ventured to the
grand cave. This track would be quite daunting to many as some of the steps
sloped away and downwards from the cliff face and wooden ladders were needed
in places.
Indeed, I only saw a couple of others visiting the grand cave despite
lingering for a couple of hours. I just loved the peace, insect and bird life
and flowers here.
On the way up Wayna Picchu I noticed a sign pointing to an alternative "little
Picchu" designed for the less adventurous. I went up there to have a look and
found it to a great place to have a snooze and ponder.
I was at Wayna Picchu for just over 4 hours, so it was time to explore the
rest of the site. I listened in on a couple of group talks, and then wandered
to other parts where there were no groups.
If this city was in modern times it would be a coveted place to live in, as I
am sure it would have been in the Inca era. Every house had a view and food
would have been abundant with the terraces all round.
I moved on the opposite side to the sun gate and Inca Bridge. (Yes, I did
cross it.)
The sun gate is the gate entry for people completing the Camino Inca trail,
commonly referred to as the 'Inca Trail'. It offers a grand entry view of the
city. I lingered here for a while before deciding that it was time to move on
down back to town. I wanted to see what I ascended so I elected to walk
back instead of take the bus. This probably wasn't that wise as my legs were
suffering with the thousands of steps traversed.
Back in town I wandered round the markets and bought a train ticket back to
Ollantaytambo for the next morning as the evening tickets were sold out. I
tried alpaca for dinner - not overly different from beef, and called it an
early night at 9pm. Meals aren't too badly priced at 20 sol including soup,
main course and a pisco sour cocktail.
The souvenir shops on the way though tempting with their offerings failed in
their design as I had more adventuring to do !
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