Day 15: Machu Picchu

Nep met us at the hotel at 730 and we were soon boarding the bus to get back up to Machu Picchu.  

Though we had the night to recover in our comfortable beds and hot showers, we were all walking with groans and awkward motions.  It’s funny, I never felt that the hike was too difficult throughout the four days.  We paced the uphills well and the downhills were easy for me, but using your body in different ways and stepping up and down at all kinds of different angles and elevations takes a toll on your body.   It had caught up to all of us... especially the adults!

When we got off the bus and Nep handed us our tickets to show with our passports to gain entry into Machu Picchu, he took us straight up... and up... and up.  We passed a young woman all glammed up that was stopped on the stairs and barking at her boyfriend in what sounded like a French accent “you know, I don’t feel well, and I’m out of breath, and it’s dEEfEEcult ok!”.

Nep took us to a quiet ledge on the far side of the grounds above the Incan city and we just stood there in silence taking it in.  

For the first time, we saw Machu Picchu from that famous postcard vantage point and it was beyond what we expected.   The size and complexity of the city was amazing.   The location, nestled in this high valley that drops off dramatically on two sides.  Awesome.

He began his tour, and I was hanging on every word.   He is such a good story teller, and combined with some props in his “Mary Poppins” bag, he began to lay out the story of the city and how Hiram Bingham rediscovered it and brought it into world prominence.  

There were plenty of pictures by our group, for sure, but it was highly entertaining watching other people try and get the perfect pose (“pensive stargazer” anyone) over and over. 

We eventually made our way down, into the citadel, looking at the sun temple and other main structures.   There was a large field in the middle that Nep used to play soccer in with his brother before things got restrictive as the site became popular.   Now, the “soccer field” is a closed off area with a bunch of Alpacas used to keep the grass trimmed :-).   

 

Nep showed us the top half of an Andean Cross or “Chakana” made out of a large stone near the sun temple (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chakana).   He asked us where the bottom half was, and we eventually guessed that the bottom half would show as a perfect shadow of the top half during the winter solstice.   Very cool.

He used the explanation of the Chakana to launch into a discussion about religion and belief.   He explained that his parents were very catholic, and his wife is very catholic.   He was catholic too but also believed in the pachamama - the mountains, the rivers, the living earth.   Probably from sensing that we were not religious (Beth had a laugh fit during the Cusco cathedral tour... lol) his views on belief and spirituality over religion rang true and listened to in context of standing in that spiritual place sent shivers down the spine.

Nep said the place would be crowded today, but crowds are all relative.... Robin and I had just waited five hours to see Kawhi Leonard’s curtain call in the Raptors championship parade.... that, was crowded.   None of us found Machu Picchu even close to crowded, and Nep also did a great job of moving us around to quieter, shadier places to continue his tour.

As we were winding towards the exit after about three hours (thank god for that, thought Robin and others that were desperate for a pee break - there are NO washrooms within Machu Picchu and the main gate 2 Soles washrooms did quite well financially I’m sure), I was a little stunned.   Machu Picchu has more than met my expectations, but as Beth later said, I’m not sure we would have felt the same way had we not done the Incan trail and had such a build up.

We got in line for the bus and were soon back in Aguas Calientas for an included buffet lunch.   Machu Picchu has got to be one of the hardest to access, top tourist attractions in the world.   I didn’t realize that the only way to access this place was by train or by foot.   Everything in the town (including the large shuttle buses. The only vehicles in then) had gotten there by train.  In fact, a few years ago when they had severe rains that caused the Urubamba to flood and wipe out some sections of track, a large number of tourists were stranded for weeks until they were able build a helicopter pad and the government shuttled people out.

We split up after lunch, the kids hitting an ice cream place with tables to play cards, and the two couples splitting up to do some exploring and possible shopping.

   

Beth and I looked around a bit but there was mostly junk.... and as I said before, we are a bit alpaca’ed out.  I did find a funny little trinket in the huge tourist market near the train station that I thought Nep would get a kick out of.

By 3, we were aboard the Peru Rail train in our designated Euchre positions, enjoying the views of the Urubamba and surrounding steep cliffs as we said goodbye to Machu Picchu.

We disembarked in Ollyantatambo where we had dropped our main packs off what seemed like two months ago.  We were spending tomorrow chillaxing here before heading to Lima the following day - our last full day in Peru.

We said goodbye to Nep on the train platform in front of the hotel.  I really appreciated all he’d done for us.   We said a few words, then I handed him an envelope with our tip in US dollars, then gave him a little present that I’d found in the market in Aguas Calientas that morning that i thought would remind him of our group as it related to the story of the woman and her tortoise gift.  He opened up the little present and laughed when he saw the little carved rabbit!   Sometimes, the hares do win the race I guess :-).