Machu Picchu & Aguas Calientes, Peru
/(May 4th - May 8th, 2016)
Allen is definitely a morning person, but the morning we left for Machu Picchu, he woke up early with extra energy. He has wanted to visit Machu Picchu since he was nine years old, so this was pretty much equivalent of Christmas morning for him! We stayed in a hotel just a few blocks from the train station, but went to the station extra early to make sure we didn't miss our train (or the two trains before ours). Once on board, we settled in, made friends with the couple who sat across from us, and got the camera ready to capture our journey toward Aguas Calientes. As the train made its way through the Sacred Valley we enjoyed incredible view after incredible view along with some delicious chocolate croissants and coffee. After what felt like an eternity on the train, we arrived in Aguas Calientes where we then hopped on a bus that took us up the steep switchbacks to the entrance of Machu Picchu. Upon arriving at the entrance, we dropped our bags off at the Sanctuary Lodge, shed a few layers due to the incredibly warm weather, and set off to find our guide. The three of us made our way through the masses of people and got our first glimpse of the sanctuary.
Stepping out onto the first viewpoint gave us both chills. Machu Picchu was the motivation for our entire South America trip and seeing it in person was surreal. Even with the large crowds and free WiFi (yes the sanctuary has free WiFi), Machu Picchu was more stunning in person than any photograph could convey. Our private guide walked with us around the citadel explaining all about the Inca civilization's architectural, agricultural and engineering prowess. We walked around the UNESCO site examining the palaces, baths, temples, storage rooms, agricultural terraces, and various other buildings. We were stunned yet again by the large granite blocks that had somehow been transported and sculpted without machinery and how precisely they all fit together. We learned that one of Machu Picchu's primary functions was to be an astronomical observatory. We saw an Intihuatana stone, which was an extremely sacred object of the Inca people. It was used to indicate the precise date of two equinoxes for ceremonial and agricultural purposes. There was a compass stone that pointed perfectly north (we confirmed this with our iPhones) and saw the irrigation channels that brought fresh water to the buildings from the Urubamba River a couple thousand feet below. It was all more incredible than we could have imagined!
After our tour we decided to make the trek up to the Sun Gate. The Intipunku (or Sun Gate) was once the main entrance into Machu Picchu and is where the Inca trail ends. It was almost 300 meters above the sanctuary and provided an opportunity to get some great views of the ruins, Machu Pichhu Mountain, the Urubamba River, and Huayna Picchu mountain. On our way back from the Sun Gate, we had some close encounters with a few local llamas. It's a little nerve racking sneaking by a llama right next to a large cliff, but luckily we survived and got some great photos for our trouble.
With the main sanctuary tour and the trek to the Sun Gate complete, we only had one more adventure left for the day. We set off on the Inca Bridge trail, not really knowing what to expect. The Inca Bridge is a drawbridge that was used to protect the western entrance to Machu Pichhu. The trail provided for some more fantastic views and photo ops while almost giving Allen a heart attack. This is probably where I should mention that Allen is VERY scared of heights and the last section of the trail to the Inca Bridge is not for the faint of heart. A three foot wide stone path with no railing and a steep drop of probably thousands of feet led to the final viewpoint of the Inca Bridge. Allen could not wait to get out of there. I had a little fun filming him holding on for dear life to the steel cable along the wall as he carefully walked back up the trail. He was not amused and didn't appreciate me not "holding on to the thing" or "focusing on the ground".
After Allen's traumatizing experience, we headed back to our hotel for the evening. We decided to splurge a bit and stay at the Sanctuary Lodge at the base of Machu Pichhu as an alternative to taking a bus back down to Aguas Calientes for the night. We took a much needed shower and then decided to get massages before dinner (Allen sure earned his for being such a good sport all day). The massages were so relaxing that we almost didn't make it to dinner, but luckily we mustered up the energy and enjoyed a delicious meal before getting a good night's sleep.
The next morning we had one thing left to do in Machu Picchu: the Machu Picchu mountain hike. We woke up early and got in line with only two people in front of us. When they opened the gates, Allen and I decided to make this little hike into a workout and quickly passed the couple in front of us. We reasoned that the sooner we got up to the top, the more time we would have to get pictures without a ton of people up there with us. Also, the hike was just as sketchy (steep drop offs and no guard rails) as the Inca bridge trail, but at a higher elevation so moving quickly helped Allen not focus on how high we were climbing. We climbed 2,139 feet in 45 minutes and had the entire peak almost entirely to ourselves for 30 minutes. A nice guy from France made it up about ten minutes after us which meant we had a photographer to take our picture!
During our tour the day before our guide told us that Machu Picchu is getting too damaged from the high volume of tourists so UNESCO is planning to limit the number of visitors each year. So we spent a lot of time just taking in the view and appreciating how lucky we were to be there. Machu Picchu is one of the most beautiful and interesting places we've ever been to. The thought and design that went into constructing a sanctuary of this scale is something you can only begin to understand when you get there. It was a perfect way to end our memorable trip and we made sure to take some final photos on our way down the mountain.
After our hike, we packed up and headed to the airport. We had a quick flight into Lima where we wandered around the city for a few hours before starting our long trek home. Another amazing trip had come to a close and on our flight back to Seattle, we started brainstorming where our next adventure would take us :)
