Touring Machu Picchu
We climbed Huayna Picchu, the crag behind Machu Picchu.
We woke early to catch the 5:09 train to the town of Aguas Calientes where we would catch a bus to take us to the Inca site. The train followed the Urubamba River through the northwest end of the Sacred Valley. Here the valley narrowed and heavily forested hills hugged the river banks. We caught glimpses of high snow covered peaks when other valleys appeared and their rivers emptied into the Urubamba. Aguas Calientes was a not too pretty tourist town with lots of construction, restaurants, hotels, and handicraft markets. We quickly got on the bus which wound its way up and over the mountain to the grandest archeological site in the America’s, Machu Picchu. I have to say, my first impression was that it was small. “Where is the rest of it,” I thought. I had seen pictures of this large, dark green, mystical place many times in the past and all over Peru. What I saw seemed to me to be much like the other ruins we had seen and in the morning light it did not look “mystical”. I grew to appreciate it more as we walked around.
The origins of the town and its significance to the Incas, like most of the ruins we have seen, is debated by archeologists. It was likely a ceremonial place that was abandoned and forgotten after the Spanish conquest. The colonial Spaniards never heard about it and so they never dismantled it. With the help of locals who knew about the ruins, an American amateur explorer, Hiram Bingham “discovered” Machu Picchu in 1912 and it has been a tourist destination ever since.
What I loved in our visit was the fine Inca stonework in the temples, the immense farming terraces, the grazing llamas, the labyrinth of rooms in the homes and the trapezoidal doorways and windows. We also did a hike up the steep Huayna Picchu which is the mountain looming in the background in pictures of Machu Picchu. The views were stunning. Finally, because the Spaniards were never here, the intihuatana, “the hitching post to the sun” remained intact in the Temple of the Sun for us to see. This small rectangular stone post rising from the middle of a large rock was similar to a sundial for pre-conquest Andinos. The shadow of the sun pointed in specific directions during the solstices and equinoxes to indicate prime times to plant crops. The mystical Machu Picchu that had been in my head before our visit became a much more practical place to me, tied to the agriculture of the Andes.
Two vizcacha (wild chinchillas) living in the ruins.
We took the pre-dawn train down the Urubamba valley...
...then the bus up switchbacks to Machu Picchu.
Trapezoidal stone doorway.
The Intihuatana, hitching post of the sun, is the main temple.
Condor in stone, with the white collar around it's neck.
Llamas graze amongst the ruins.
Flowers grow between the stones.
The Urubamba river winds around Machu Picchu, as viewed from Huayna Picchu.
We spent seven enjoyable hours wandering among the ruins.
