Today started at early at 4:30 am as all of us had to get up
early to make sure we made it to the world wonder of Machu Picchu. The lot of
us climbed into the bus by 5am snacked up for the long day ahead. 90 minutes
later we disembarked at the station, where a train would take us further
through the mountains. Despite it being about 7:30 am now all of us were still
pretty asleep. The train ride however was just enough to get one excited for
whatever view was to lay ahead. The rails traced along side a river and ran
directly between two giant mountains covered in some deep forest.
The train ride took about 2.5 hours, after which we got off
in Machu Picchu Pueblo, the small
town bellow Machu Picchu, no doubt used to help the locals manage the massive
influx of tourists that come to view the great Inca city. From here we had to
take a bus about 20 minutes up the side of one of the mountains to a trail. It
was there at the top of the trail we got to see the iconic picturesque view of
the City of Machu Picchu.
The view itself was amazing not to mention the addition of
the city itself. No wonder the Incas felt this was a great place to have a
temple to dedicate to the gods of the heavens. It looked like the Avatar (the blue
people) where masses of land popped up into the sky and the ground was so far
down it was out of site. We learned that Machu Picchu is actually the name of
the mountain, which the historic town was built on. Machu in Quechua is
mountain while Picchu is old.
The town is spread out across the mountain with a variety of
buildings. All of the roofs and doors have been lost over the years but some
important features like a sundial, courtyard, and temples remain. They say the
whole area has a magic energy to it, stemming from the sun. In fact that’s very
easy to as the whole complex is lush with greenery. From the highest point one
can see several llamas grazing on the grass in a courtyard. Our tour took us
around the whole town from the highest house where someone of high prestige
lived to rooms dedicated to the creation of pottery and other works. The guide
told us about 500 to 600 people lived there at its peak, and that the village
was abandoned due to a war within the Incan nation and therefore never completed.
On the backside of the town there was a closed off section to the new mountain
(in contrast to the old mountain). The tour of the back mountain only allows
for 400 people per day and we were not on the list so we only heart about the
amazing trails, caves, and moon temple that were behind the blocked off gate. Also
the village of Machu Picchu has the image of the condor, a very important
animal in their theology. The Incans believed in three worlds, a heaven, a
medium, and a hell; an animal represented each world a condor, a puma, and a
snake respectively.
One of the most interesting ways the builders dedicated
their village to the world around them was that on occasion there were flat
slabs of rock that when seen from a certain angle perfectly mirrored the
mountains in the background. Also, much of the city had windows facing towards
specific portions of other mountains. Many of the big rocks that made up the
village were brought down and carved from higher on the mountain. Much of the
construction was built by cutting odd shaped rocks so that each would fit into
the others like a puzzle. Some of the more interesting parts of the village
included monuments dedicated to dead kings, and a single tree that was brought
up and planted by one of the earliest explorers. Underneath the tree
researchers had discovered a solid block of gold about the size of a deck of
cards.
After the tour our group split up with some of us going back
to Machu Picchu Pueblo, I went up to the Incan sun gate higher up on Machu
Picchu Mountain. To get there we had to hike back up to the top of the city,
and even further by about 40 minutes on the legendary Incan trail. The hike was
amazing and definitely my favorite part of the day. The sun was shinning on us
the whole way as we walked along the side of the mountain. Every couple of
hundred feet there would be a small construction of an ancient civilization. At
the top the view was even more spectacular. It was kind of hard to see the
village but it was easy to take in the whole mountainous region in one view. We
ended the day with a slow climb down the mountain all the way back, past Machu
Picchu, and to the bus station, then to the train, then back on the bus, and
finally coming to rest at in Cusco at around 10:30pm.
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