“I can imagine being one of a few scant people standing atop the ruins of Machu Picchu just after it’s rediscovery. That must’ve been a borderline religious experience. I’m hard pressed to define the sensation I have now.” – Old Sean
To the Incan Palace
If there is a holy grail of traveling Peru, it’s the wonder of the world, Machu Picchu. Deep in a winding maze of sheer mountains, the grandest stronghold of the Incas stands in thin air on sturdy stone with great walls of grey and green hemming in even the sky above.
That being said, getting to Machu Picchu is a slight pain. There aren’t really any direct routes and the only cheap method for visiting the summit involves a lot of walking in extremely challenging terrain.
Over the weekend, I walked through the more chaotic part of Cusco and discovered a Collectivo that agreed to take me halfway to the launching point for a mere 7 soles. The collectivo drivers here are, unfortunately, not the most trustworthy people. When I was on the opposite side of the street, a slew of private drivers assured me that reaching my next destination (Maras) was nigh impossible without a private driver, charging me around fifteen to thirty dollars for the extensive trip.
Naturally, I crossed the street and found a painfully obvious and cheaper alternative.
Always ask people who don’t have a stake in the journey.
Collectivo Rides
As the collectivo bumped it’s way to the north and west, I was hemmed into compact seats, sharing limited shoulder space with poor locals who were a good size or two smaller than me. We drove through the famed Chinchero District, which failed to impress. Supposedly there’s an amazing market here, but the town itself looks like virtually every other in South America. We breezed by quickly and I soon found myself close to the town of Maras.
It was my hope that I would be able to do a little bit of sightseeing on the way to Ollantaytambo, the launching point for many Machu Picchu expeditions. My train was leaving the city at 9:30 PM, so I figured I had a fair bit of time to work with.
I stopped in Urubamba first, which is a fairly unremarkable South American town absolutely crammed with brick buildings and tiny, blue tuk-tuks. There is fine dust in the air everywhere in Urubamba, and sunglasses are highly vital just to keep the grains from strafing eyes.
The Salt Terraces
I managed to find a secondary collectivo from Urubamba to take me to the salt pools of Salineras de Maras. This is an extremely visually striking area, with hundreds of stagnant white and brown terraced pools overlooking a valley. They actively produce salt for consumption to this day, though there is a pretty high tourist price for the salt shakers that promote the product.
The pools have a rather vivid legend, regarding several gods from Incan mythology. One of the gods created the ravine of the site by throwing an enormous boulder, but his siblings, fearing his power, prevented him from being the founder (or leader) of the incoming empire. The tears of this god created the salt flows that decorate this canyon.
The pools are scientifically created by a mysterious saltwater creek loaded with magnesium, calcium, potassium and silicon, coloring the salt pink. There are a series of small canal gates that are opened to allow the saltwater into the pools, where it then sits. Workers use long, meditative rakes to level the salt across the pool, occasionally making tall, drying mounds.
There’s also a small and unremarkable gift shop selling trinkets and snacks.
As visually striking as Salineras de Maras is, the setting is fairly small. The entire area can be traversed in about twenty or thirty minutes.
Many of the more expansive trails leading around the salt pools are closed due to COVID. Overall, the experience is rather brief and should be considered more of a side-stop than a full day trip.
Reaching Ollantaytambo
I next wanted to see Moray, the extremely unique circular terraced rings, but time was running fairly short and I had no wish to spend further money darting around the highlands. I ended up finding another collectivo and began the final trundle to Ollantaytambo.
Originally I had worried that I would need to spend a full day experiencing Ollantaytambo, but my fears were baseless. The city is small, easily walkable and most of the major sites are actually visible from the city’s central square.
The central plaza of Ollantaytambo is beautiful, with a carefully manicured garden, each tree ringed by white-painted rocks. There are statues of stooped women with living plants on their back and a fair army of restaurants and coffee shops scattered about. Best of all, Ollantaytambo has distinctly narrow streets lit in yellow lamps at night with tiny canals of swift, rushing water. The sound of torrents fills the entire city, making it supremely nice to walk around.
I ended up peering at the few ruins I could spot in the dying sun. Sitio Arqeologico Pinkuylluna is embedded on a high cliff and is impossible to miss. It’s a visually imposing beast clinging to the side of a mountain.
On the opposite mountain wall, there exits Ollantaytambo Sanctuary and the Templo del Sol. This is a far squatter, but still imposing terraced structure peering over Ollantaytambo from the opposite direction.
I spent some time walking around the bases of these fortresses before returning to the market area, which was absolutely crammed with the usual Peruvian knick-knacks of near-neon hues. I spotted tasseled fur balls on brightly colored string, vividly soft llama toys, hats and gloves in the Peruvian design, tons of small snacks, great heaps of braided jewelry and a fair number of hand-toys.
Afterwards, I ended up wandering to the tiny Centro Arqueologico Quellorakay ruins, which are a series of low ruins by a rushing stream, hemmed in by swaying farmland.
Midnight Train
Finally, I made a near-fatal decision to get some food while I waited for my train. I returned to Central Plaza to eat at a balcony restaurant called Apu Ausangate. I ordered a burrito and quickly became panicked as time ticked by and my train’s departure time crept close. 53 minutes later, my food came out and I scarfed it down in the hopes of making it to the train station on time.
Unfortunately, my day became rife with mild food poisoning and I would suffer with it for the remainder of my trip to Machu Picchu.
I was forced to borrow a restaurant bathroom until my train rolled into town. I was seated in a gringo-car all-by-my-lonesome, but I was still required to wear a mask, plastic face shield and hand sanitizer for the duration of the trip.
Logic and common sense are at their minimums in this century. At least the train was quiet and comfortable. I ended up snoozing for a few hours.
Bewilder Night
When my train finally arrived, I was shaking awake and hopped off the train, staggering around in a state of total disorientation. I realized, after a few moments, I was in the darkened city of Agua Calientes, the final pit stop before rising to Machu Picchu.
Jittering my eyes awake, I pulled out my offline map and began walking towards my hotel. Unbeknownst to me, my poor hotel host was somewhere at that train station with a sign, glancing around to help me to my hotel. But he was either a tad late or I was too frazzled to spot him. In the night, Agua Calientes is a bit of a trick to navigate, since the main bridges that arc over the central river are a street level above, forcing a person to climb a bit before crossing.
I eventually made it to my hotel and found my befuddled host before showering and immediately conking out. It was my hope to wake up early the following day and explore the city before grabbing a bus to Machu Picchu (my ticket time was at 8:00 AM).
Agua Calientes
The following morning, I learned the truth: Agua Calientes is tiny but supremely cool. I walked around the area, spotting many rock-carved sculptures with cursive English descriptions talking about their inspirations.
There were smooth humans carved just above creek water level, proud Incas standing tall over plazas, stony visages guarding restaurant entrances, jaguars crouched on small platforms and eye-blaring colored murals. The entire city was very clean and the air smelled faintly of encroaching jungle.
Most impressive are the surrounding mountains, all of which are incredibly sheer and green. Wherever the cliffs are too steep for traditional foliage, intrepid succulents of bright red and green perch on ninety-degree angles.
Within the city, there are slightly pricey themed restaurants, numerous massage locations for weary hikers and well-stocked convenience stores. I would try an Inka Massage at one of these massage places after I returned (walking and stumbling) from the peaks of Machu Picchu, my legs screaming in protest after walking down the steep, size-random stairs. These massages are unique, since they use smoothed black stones heated to an almost-uncomfortable temperature. But it certainly quieted my leg’s complaints.
However, Agua Calientes has one major drawback: It’s dang tiny. There’s just not much to fill up a day, once Machu Picchu is climbed. I quickly learned the lay of the land and grew bored with tracing the streets and eating snacks. I had to stand in line well before my bus arrived, but when it did, I felt a slight sweep of relief, boredom simply splintering away.
Easy Summits
Sitting next to a window on the ride up Machu Picchu is a worthy endeavor, since the surrounding mountains and powerful bright river make a picturesque view. However, pictures while climbing the mountain are somewhat pointless. The views and angles continually improve, and once a person reaches Machu Picchu, the images there are grander than anything taken on the way up.
I arrived at Machu Picchu five minutes before the time allotted on my entrance ticket and was asked to wait. The sun was exceptionally harsh that high up, even as expansive, white clouds rolled in, so I used my time to put on a hat and become paler with the power of sunscreen.
When it was my turn to enter, I forged ahead of the groups, gasping my way up to Platform Superior of Machu Picchu (the higher viewing point). There, I caught the full majesty of the Incan city.
The Strike of Machu Picchu
Great rows of carefully oriented stones had a stunning visual effect, especially against the backdrop of a sharp mountain and fringes of incoming clouds. Tiny dots of color toiled below, performing repairs and preservations on the gorgeous stones.
Green offset every building, making it seem more structured and powerful from afar. A herd of alpacas grazed placidly in the central green area, absolutely immune to the thin air that was making me gasp. Nearly three months of living mostly in highlands has yet to morph my lungs into superhuman contraptions.
I took my photos and descended the platform to the inferior (lower) platform in defiance of arrow signs and the tide of tour groups. Currently, due to COVID, only 3,500 people are permitted within Machu Picchu per day, making it much easier to move about and take photos without humans in the background.
The inferior platform is my favorite part of Machu Picchu, since it includes nice routes into the city, allowing a person to sink into the crevices of those enormous stone structures.
Tidbits of Machu Picchu
I crept in close to Spanish and English tour guides as I stalked through the labyrinths of Machu Picchu, Old Mountain (or Old Peak) picking up as many tidbits as I could.
For example, the enormous stones that make up Machu Picchu were likely moved from below without the use of wheels. The stone structures are typical of Incan architecture, jig-sawed together so perfectly that a knife blade cannot slide between the rocks. This construction method (ashlar) is extremely resilient to earthquakes.
The very structure of Machu Picchu works as an enormous astrology mechanism, with features lining up perfectly to equinoxes and solstices. Machu Picchu is especially unique for being a secret from the Spanish, virtually invisible from below. As such, the Spanish vandalism of other Incan ruins completely missed the final mountain stronghold.
Huchuy Picchu
I finished walking through the Machu Picchu ruins and made it the secondary mountain on my ticket, Huchuy Picchu. This mountain is the one people usually see in the background of postcards, the cone-like monster that looms over the citadel.
I enjoyed walking Huchuy Picchu much more than Machu Picchu. There were no other people on the route, and the trail is extremely challenging and steep, requiring some clambers and muddling about. Birds sing clearly here and pockets of air within lungs only arrive with extreme effort. The foliage is bright, flowers abound and it provides a very interesting angle over Machu Picchu itself.
Finally sated, I walked back through the Incan city, wandering down various steps until reaching the exit. I then tried hiking down the mountain, which turned out to be an enormous shock-value to my knees. Those poor Incan civilians. Moving stones uphill was anything but kind.
Recovery
Anyway, I spent some time resting in Agua Calientes before catching a train home. The train turned out to be a wonderfully pleasant experience. Aside from it being a bit too crowded, the staff of the train put on a wonderful show in the observation car, including a fashion show, a clarinet and traditional accordion performance, an explanation of Peru’s traditional mask culture (which is a bit disorienting) and some dancing, (which they tried to rope the crowd into, causing me to scurry to the observation car).
Finally, I found myself in a collectivo heading back to Cusco. There weren’t quite enough seats, so I ended up sitting on the floor for the first portion of the ride.
Overall, Machu Picchu is a phenomenal experience, especially for those hiking in or out. However, even at max expense and speed, it still takes a couple of days to arrive and climb from Cusco.
I only have a few more things I want to do while lounging around Cusco.
So until then,
Best regards and excellent trails,
Old Sean
Written November 14th 2021
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