Machu Picchu
Inca Trail, Peru - Day 19
My watch reads 3 AM as one of our porters approaches the tent to wake us. I am already awake though, excited for the day to come! Katie and I quickly pull our shoes onto our feet and within minutes we are on the trail, making our way through the pitch black jungle with headlamps and determination. It wasn't long until we were at the checkpoint. We could not pass this gate until a ranger opened the checkpoint to process our passports and Inca Trail documents and this was not until 5:30 AM. The reason we got such an early start was so we could be near the front of the line, and we had succeeded in that effort being the second party. I ate a bit of my sack breakfast, specifically some crackers, to get something in my stomach because I knew I didn't want to stop until after Machu Picchu. Other than snacking on my crackers, I watched as more and more people lined up. In total, maybe 100-150 people. As soon as the checkpoint opened and had processed our paperwork, we were through. The group ahead of us was a notoriously slow group and even though we were still hiking in near total darkness next to thousand foot cliffs...the first chance we got Katie, Rosalio, and myself bolted past the entire group. The rest of the two hour hike (we did it in an hour and a half) went by in a blur. I was very determined to 1) See Machu Picchu, 2) Be the first to get to the Sun Gate, and 3) Finish the hike. (Katie says she has literally NEVER seen me move so fast!) As we climbed the steep steps to the Sun Gate finally, after four days, we could see our destination. Majestic Machu Picchu and beautiful Huayna Picchu came into view. We did it!
After a short hike we were at the gates of Machu Picchu. Rosalio guided us around the grounds and gave us a three hour tour. We learned a bit about how the Inca moved these large boulders around using rolling stones. These stones are tube shaped and allowed the boulders to be pulled and pushed on top of them. Unless they were tired! Rosalio had told us how the Inca were always optimistic (pessimistic people were sacrificed) and that if a boulder could not be moved because it was too large or it was too much work, the Inca would say that the boulder was tired, not the worker. Katie and I saw several tired boulders on our trek. Machu Picchu was a work in progress and you could see that some areas were still 'under construction' when it was deserted. Even so, there were some truly beautiful features of the settlement. Machu Picchu has 16 still working water fountains, temples of the Sun, Earth, and Moon, a residential sector, a industrial sector, and many farming terraces (some still covered by overgrowth).
Concluding our lesson on the history of the Inca, we learned that after Francisco Pizarro (the leader of the Spanish conquistadors) had killed Atahualpa (leader of the Inca), an Inca named Manco (another brother of Atahualpa) assumed power and retreated with his people into the mountains. As part of the retreat, Manco sent all the young women and girls to Machu Picchu to hide out, while leading the rest of the Inca people to the last capital of the Incas in the mountains of Vilcabamba. It took the Spanish a few decades to track down the last capital, but in 1572 they captured and executed Manco's successorson Túpac, effectively ending the Inca empire. But what of the 'beautiful ladies' of Machu Picchu? It is not known for certain what happened, but it is thought that the women retreating to Machu Picchu brought western illness, like smallpox, with them and the settlement became deserted as the people died off.
Following the tour, we had lunch in Aguas Calientes before boarding the train to Ollantaytambo. We paid extra so that we could be on the "Vistadome" train which had BIG windows so that you could see all around you! In line with the general luck we have had during our time in South America, we were seated in seats facing the back of the train, and on one side where a window should have been...there was a baggage rack. Sweet! Our moods never dipped though as we were soon served refreshments and a brownie. As we enjoyed our treats, a monster started dancing down the isle. Not even joking. This oddity was followed by something much more normal, a fashion show.
The train to Ollantaytambo was followed by a bus to Cusco proper, which was followed by a van to the general vicinity of our hotel. A big festival was about to kick off and the roads around the plaza were closed. Taking note of this situation for tomorrows taxi to the airport, we enjoyed warm showers before falling into bed and sleeping like baby anacondas (this is something Rosalio would say).
