Part 4: Machu Picchu

Outside the bus terminal, we asked a taxista the fare to the Plaza de Armas, which he inattentively gave as three soles, but taking a better look at us fumbled it up to four.  Through the narrow, Inca-walled pedestrian streets drug dealers eagerly offered their wares in whispered staccato bursts, "weedcharliecokepills..." and restaurant employees agressively pursued patronage from the tourists passing by.  We found a hostel in a colonial building run by a sad-faced man who seemed perpetually exhausted, and reveled in the warm showers and clean sheets.

In the morning we set off in a search for passage to Aguas Calientes, the tourist town at the base of Machu Picchu.  Having only a few days, we ruled out hiking the Inca trail, which left us with the train.  We booked tickets for the following morning and spent the rest of the day exploring Cuzco.

Credited as being the oldest continually inhabited city on the continent, Cuzco radiates a dignified antiquity.  The cobblestone streets are asymmetrically laid out and lined with heavily-columned colonial buildings.  Near the Plaza de Armas are a succession of town squares connected by narrow pedestrian alleyways.  The Incan walls are composed of colossal stones which would inspire claustrophobia if you weren't so busy being awestruck.  In an effort, perhaps, to outdo the Incans, the Spanish architecture in the city is similarly impressive.  On the camino Santa Clara there remains a large gateway which frames the hills beyond it, and two large churches dominate the Plaza de Armas.

Incan walls, 500 years young

Santa Clara arch

Iglesia La Compañia, Plaza de Armas

La Cathedral, Plaza de Armas

Cuzco's infastructure far surpasses those of the cities we passed through, maintaining a confident and sturdy atmosphere.  However, it is abundantly clear that this atmosphere exists for the benefit of tourism.  The influence of tourist dollars can be seen on every block, and it is difficult to find the honest and un-contrived Peruvian culture underneath.  Still, the city is a remarkable destination.  I met two nurses from Colorado who had been dispensing medicine on the Amazon.  They shared their trail mix with me, remarking that Cuzco and Machu Picchu would be their recommendation to those having to choose a single destination in Peru.

The following day we rose too early for our hostel breakfast and purchased fruit and bread from Cuzco's central market.  We wove through the throngs of travelers in the train station across the street and boarded with our provisions.  The train rattled out of the station and crawled up the hills on switchbacks east of the city.  Slowly, the track evened out into a gradual, winding path, and eventually straightened to an easterly heading.  I struck up a conversation with a Dutch couple sitting across from me who were less enthusiastic about the early hour, and shared small bananas with a Japanese man in the next seat.

It took four hours to get to Aguas Calientes where hosteliers competed viciously for our business.  We settled on a room costing one third that of ours in Cuzco, left our bags behind and sought out the bus to the ruins.  A 20 minute trip up the mountainside left us at the entry gate to the city.  I played the theme to "Indiana Jones" on my iPod as the ancient ruins came into view and my eyes teared up with excitement.  We presented our passports at the gate, receiving this stamp:

On several plaques within the site North American professor Hiram Bingham is credited with discovering Machu Picchu, but many knew of its existence before him.  It was Bingham's enthusiasm for Incan culture which brought about public knowledge of the ruins- his second expedition to the city was supported by the National Geographic Society.  The ensuing fervor for the attraction has caused, some claim, catastrophic erosion on the mountain.  On Waynapicchu, the peak just north of the large site, only 400 visitors are allowed per day to combat the gradual degradation.  Rules are laid out at the entrance and appear strict and rigid.  No food, no large backpacks, no smoking, no garbage.  No walking sticks except for the elderly.  Do not climb the walls nor write on the floor.  Inside, sentries stand on peaks and scan the crowds, but can only blow whistles at infractions too distant to address.

A path to Intipunku, the sun gate, leads south-east away from the ruins and up a gradual slope.  From the path's terminus the agricultural fields of Machu Picchu allign with the view and the site seems to stretch out toward Waynapicchu.  From Waynapicchu the elements of the city are laid out as though a diagram, and visitors would stop and sit at length to dissect its intrigues and digest them to their satisfaction.  The Incan empire, a flash in the pan, spanned a great deal of would become Peru, Northern Chile and Western Bolivia, but lasted only a hundred years.  The function or purpose of the city remains under speculation.

Machu Picchu from Waynapicchu

The western and eastern urban centers, from L to R

The urban centers with Waynapicchu beyond

A closer look at Waynapicchu's ruins

(click on picture for a slight enlargement)

We marched up and down the ruins for two days before returning to Cuzco filthy, aching and exhausted.

Photos courtesy of Ezra Riley