Machu Picchu

The Classic Photograph

From the hydropower plant it is an amazing two hours walk along a railway track in the valley of the river Urubamba to the village of Machu Picchu. The path leads through dense jungle of huge trees with parrots sitting on it, banana plants, lianas and we even saw an intensely green coloured snake. Climate here is very different from the highlands of Cusco already reminding you of the not so far amazon rainforest. It is warm and humid. During the walk you have lovely views of the river, sometimes flowing silently besides you, other times roaring down heavy, steep rapids breaking the calmness of the place with its noise. All is embedded in between steep mountains covered by that evergreen forest. That way you are almost surrounding the ruins of Machu Picchu, which are enthrowned majestically on the mountains in a sinuosity of the valley. During the walk you have first visits of ancient agricultural terraces and houses high up on the hills which already give you an imagination of the uniqueness of that place. It is a really divine and magic way to approach that unbelievable place.

Finally we reached the village at dusk quite exhausted but happy after the long, crazy bus ride and the following walk. Machu Picchu Village or Aguas Calientes as it is called due to the existing thermal baths is one of the the most touristy spots I have ever seen. It is a small village pinched in between the steeply rising mountains of the valley Urubamba. There are a post office, the railway station, a handicrafts market, the mentioned hot springs and apart from that nothing more than hotels, hostels and restaurants. There does not seem to exist a single building which does not serve for touristy purposes. Although it is quite weird and the village obviously just exists because of the close ruins it is not really an unfriendly place. Maybe because there are no big blocks of hotels existing just because there would be no place for building them. Besides there is no motorized traffic in the village apart from the transfer buses to the ruins which run on the only road to which Machu Picchu is connected. The only way to get there if not walking from the hydropower plant is by train. For lack of place the railway runs right through the village so that tourists in the outdoor dining areas of the restaurants are dining on the railway platform. So all in all it is a funny, lively settlement where you are reminded of the ruins and the Inca culture everywhere. The walls of all restaurants and hostels are full  with pictures of Machu Picchu, on the small main square is a fountain with a huge statue of Pachacútec, the ninth Inca, and the small steep alleys have all Quechua names.

We moved into our hostel, had dinner in a restaurant where we were informed about the next day´s tour to the ruins and soon went to bed to find a very uneasy sleep because the whole night a TV was running at full volume somewhere in the hostel.

The next day we stood up at 5 am to take the first bus up to the ruins which leaves the village at 5:30 am. We preferred to take the bus compared to walking up over more than 2500 steps which is the other possibility to get to the ruins from the village. At dawn we entered the site and already the first sight of it took our breath. We had a very informative and interesting guided tour for about two hours and then had the rest of the day to explore the ruins on our own. Well what can I tell you? The magnificence, uniqueness, powerfulness and magic of the place is beyond words. The whole complex is widespread on a mountain ridge in between the mountains of Machu Picchu (old mountain) and Huayna Picchu (young mountain). During the guided tour the sun was rising and submerged first the mountains and then the whole site in golden morning light. Deep down in the valley the river Urubamba is roaring and to all cardinal points you have breathtaking views of the Andes. The town itself was divided in two parts: the agricultural one with all the terraces and the habitational one with a huge central square, living quarters, temples, granaries and an observatory for astronomic research in which the Incas were quite experts. The whole town is connected to an incredibly elaborated system of irrigation and drinking water channels, that collect the water for the whole city at the base of mountain Machu Picchu. Unfortunately we could not climb none of the two mountains what for you would have to buy an extra ticket which were already sold out. But I made a small walk to the so called “Inca Bridge” a small bridge that is part of a path leading south from the ruins crossing the vertical western escarpment of mountain Machu Picchu in a breathtaking way. Over this bridge the town, whose construction then not had been terminated, was evacuated when the news of the conquest of Cusco by the Spanish reached the area. The Inca did not want the town to be conquested as well. That is why it is so well preserved, with the centuries was overgrown by the jungle and not rediscovered until 1911.

Now I could write pages about the magnificence of the place and all the impressions I had but none of it could reflect the deep admiration I felt. I just can tell you that Machu Picchu definitely is one of the places one should have seen in his life. Although it is so touristy and visited by thousands of tourists everyday it did not loose any of its magic. If you want to know more about it you will simply have to come here and see it with your own eyes.

Anyway after having spent hours in the ruins, including almost getting lost a few times, we went back to the village by bus, took a rest and went to the hot springs to relax our tired extremities. I do neither know how many kilometres we had walked nor how many difference in altitude we had covered during the day but our muscles definitely could use a relaxation. The hot springs of Aguas Calientes are at the edge of town in a small creek surrounded by jungle just a ten minutes walk from the centre. They have some 70´s style tiled pools and a nice cafeteria and bar, where from you can order drinks just beconning to the waiter by raising your hand. He brings the drinks to the pool where you can enjoy them soaking in the warm water. That was a perfect ending of that incredible day. We just had dinner after it and fell to bed where again we could not sleep that well this time because people were shouting the whole night all over the building.