Add To Your Bucket List: Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu

Disclaimer: There are not enough inventive words to effectively describe the experience of visiting Machu Picchu. Breathtaking, Impressive, Overwhelming….none of these can properly pay homage to the trip. With that, I will give you my best articulation of the adventure we had yesterday.

Early Saturday morning we rose in preparation for a 14-hour adventure to Machu Picchu. Due to the rainy season, we couldn’t take the train the entire distance to Aguas Calientes so we took buses two hours to Olayantambo where we boarded the Hiram Bingham train. The bus ride through the winding countryside was slightly perilous at times (think of looking over the side of the mountain with no guard rail while racing at breakneck speed along the road.) Slightly harrowing. But the scenery was absolutely phenomenal. Green pastures and fields of corn and potatoes, farmers cultivating the crops by hand, and cows, pigs, llamas and alpaca roaming seemingly free (they were staked to long ropes since fences appeared scare) about the land.

Hiram Bingham, an American Senator, archeologist and explorer brought Machu Picchu into the limelight in 1911 when he introduced the Quechua citadel, a site largely forgotten by most save for those living in the immediate valley, to the rest of the world. Thanks to the effort initiated by Hiram and supported by National Geographic, among others, Machu Picchu is now recognized globally as one of the most notable attractions in South America.

Now there are a variety of ways to reach Machu Picchu – trekking on the Inca Trail (a 7 day trek), driving to Aguas Calientes, or taking one of the three levels of trains. The Hiram Bingham is run by Orient-Express and is the pinnacle of luxury and stately experience (thank you parents). As opposed to the commoner train where you bring your own food and the trip is merely a means to an end, the Hiram Bingham provides a three-course lunch en route and four-course dinner on the return along with wine and, of course, pisco sours. We enjoyed fantastic service, beautifully maintained train cars, two bar cars and an observatory car where you could stand outside and feel the wind on your face and hear the roar of the river rapids alongside the train. The trip to Aguas Calientes is relatively brief (about an hour) but picturesque as we winded through the lush mountains and along the chocolate colored river.

Upon arrival in Aguas Calientes (a pit stop not really worth mentioning in my opinion), we boarded another bus and were whisked up the mountain along a vexing switchback route for a 25-minute escapade to the entrance of Machu Picchu. Happy to have arrived (and not fallen off the mountain side – again, no guard rails and simple stone and dirt roads with countless gaps along the margin), we set off in our group to visit the famous Incan ruins. Now for the faint of heart (or those who don’t work out), this is not a walk in the park. There is two hours of climbing up and down and several opportunities where vertigo might get the best of you. But if you can get beyond those limitations, this is a singular spot in the world. Despite 300 photos of the site, I don’t have one picture that can adequately describe the beauty that surrounds you.

Machu Picchu was built by the Incans on top of a mountain at 9,000 feet above sea level with huge stones they traipsed in from surrounding mountainsides and carved with rudimentary tools into an intricate and expansive city on top of the world. From the guardhouse to the sun temple and the open terraces to the sundial, there are so many elements to see and appreciate in this village. 800 years later, the integrity of the stone city is still in tact when we live in a society where we’re happy if a house stays standing for 40 years without warranting major renovation.

Our companions on our tour were lounging alpacas and chinchillas! The conejo peruano, a.k.a. the chinchilla, looks like a huge rabbit with a long bushy tail. They perched themselves up in the crevices of the rocks and simply hung out while we explored around the monuments. The alpacas silently grazed about not bothered at all by the visitors snapping their photos.

The ingenuity of the Incans is obvious in the way they set up their terraced fields for growing food and flowers and the irrigation system they set up to sustain those fields as well as supply water to the city. Additionally, they created a moat around the city with a two-fold purpose – to separate the fields from encroaching upon the city walls and also to keep out unwanted visitors. Within the city there were areas for the upper class & royalty with large, multi-room homes and distinct areas for the lower class with single room family homes. There was also an area where select upper class women were bred to be good mothers and wives learning how to cook, sew, raise children, etc. These women were the concubines in waiting for the King, and their education was thought to ensure strong offspring and capable heirs to the throne.

My writing confidence eludes me – there is no way to really transport you to Machu Picchu through words or pictures. It is an experience everyone should put on his or her bucket list. Period. While it was a long and tiring day filled with taxis, buses and trains bumping and winding along, seeing Machu Picchu was one of the greatest experiences ever.

Many more photos to come when it doesn't take an hour to upload six at a time. 

Los Detallitos

Los Detalles

Altitude – Cusco sits at approximately 11,000 feet above sea level. For anyone who has ever been with me to Mammoth you know how hard it is for me to breath at that height. Even with inhaler in hand and an oxygenated hotel room my lungs certainly got a workout hiking up and down the hills of the city of Cusco. Machu Picchu is actually slightly lower (9,000 feet) and with a slightly more mature crowd and 2 ½ hours of climbing there was a lot of huffing and puffing. Today I spent the day exploring Cusco and going up and down a lot of stairs like those in the picture above. I'd hustle to the top and find myself gasping for air with my heart pounding in my chest. Quite an experience! 

Pisco – The Pisco sour is a typical beverage found in Peru made with Pisco, sugar syrup, lime juice, bitters and egg white foam. I’d tried this margarita-like drink in the US but had never had the liquor on its own. On our way back from Machu Picchu, my dad and I sidled up to the train bar and asked for a Pisco lesson. There are 5 varietals of Pisco, all made with distinct grapes and they range from sweet to aromatic. The grapes are harvested along the coast of Peru from Lima south towards the border and are treated similar to wine – crushed, barreled in aluminum, heated and then chilled and then only the middle portion (el cuerpo) is bottled as clarity and lack of impurities is what constitutes a quality Pisco. To me it tasted like a good white Tequila with a sharper edge; the illustrious Scandinavian Aquavit also came to mind when it hit the back of my throat. 

Food – Usually I talk a lot more about our culinary experiences but until today we’ve been on a pretty generic food routine. Today I ate at Pacha Papa, a restaurant in the San Blas area of Cusco and ate two amazing Quechuan dishes – Roleto Relleno y Alpaca a la parilla. The first is a pepper grilled and filled with meat, corn and peas and topped with melted cheese; the second is marinated and grilled Alpaca meat. Both were succulent. Toasted corn kernels is a customary snack as well and quite tasty. Quinoa is also a prevalent component on the menu; we had cannelloni’s filled with spinach quinoa on the Hiram Bingham train returning from Machu Picchu.

Quechuan Women – Bouncy skirts, knee high socks, sweaters, colorful blankets tied to their backs, long dark hair braided down their backs, and a variety of hats resting atop their heads. Spanning all ages, these ladies walked the streets with their colorful blankets tied to their backs typically filled with small children, bringing images of Strega Nonna to my mind. Their hats were a curious adornment, ranging from Panama style caps to small bowler hats, hardly seeming to have any utilitarian purpose.

 J.C. – Visiting another church in the Plaza de Armas this afternoon, I was reminded of another unique element we learned. In several of the churches in Cusco, the scene of the crucifixion was depicted with a very dark skinned Jesus. As I mentioned in my last post, the Incans were the primary artisans in the churches and the theory is they depicted Jesus in the image of an Incan - with dark black hair and dark skin.