Machu Picchu

Blog, blog. I do not feel like talking to you today. But I´m-a-gonna do it anyways.

So! Big last few days. After I left you in Aguas Calientes, I wandered off to find the trailhead for Cerro Putukusi. My guidebook said it was a 90 minute - one way - hike up to some amazing views of both Machu Picchu and the town of Aguas Calientes itself. Well, I thought, I have nothing else to do this afternoon. A three hour hike ought to fill the time nicely.

I had no idea what I was getting into.

After about fifteen minutes on the trail, I encountered a father and son, father climbing up a very steep ladder, son taking his photo from below. Son was giving father posing directions in a distinctly redneck American accent; father was replying in Spanish. I waited for the photo shoot to end, and then fell into a conversation with these two.

Javier, the father, is from Mexico. He and his wife moved to Greenesboro, North Carolina, where they had Carmen, the son. I know Greensboro! I said. We know Tennessee! they said.

So what´s the deal with these ladders? I asked them. Not sure, but apparently there are at least four of them, they told me. They had just run into a group who had turned back after one of its members got vertigo halfway up the first ladder.

I was lucky to meet these two when I did, because I feel certain that had I not had people to hike with, I would not have motivated myself to get up all of these ladders. They were scary! And scarier than climbing up them was the prospect of climbing back down them. When we finally reached the top of the mountain, an old Peruvian man told me that there are 270 ladder steps in total. Insanity.

But, as most difficult things are, it was totally worth it. Anyone can visit Machu Picchu. Anyone can take the train to Aguas Calientes and then the bus up to Machu Picchu. But not anyone can see Machu Picchu from the top of Putukusi. The view was outstanding. I have pictures, though they do not do it justice. We passed about an hour up there, without hardly noticing the time. Just sitting on a rock, staring off out at the wonder in front of us, marveling at man, at history, at nature.

While sitting up there, an Asian man joined us. It appeared he had been running up the mountain. I watched him as he stopped to catch his breath, but I noticed that he didn´t even bother to look across the valley. He took a few pictures of his watch (maybe to mark how quickly he ran up the mountain?) and then started to head back down. He walked past me, stopped, looked out in the direction I was looking, and then said, "Is that Machu Picchu?" Uhhh...yep, I said. (Duh.) He took out his camera, shot one picture, then ran back down. If that´s not efficiency, I don´t know what is. But what is the point?

(On the subject of Asians and an obsession with efficiency, there was this Asian gal staying at my hostal in Easter Island who only stayed for two nights! Whyyyy on earth would you bother coming to Easter Island for only two days? I do not understand this. Just get there, get your pictures to show to your family and friends, and then move on? At what point are you experiencing or enjoying ANYTHING? Or are you just trying to check things off a list?)

The climb back down to Aguas Calientes wasn´t as bad as I thought it might be, but those ladders are dangerous. I´m telling you! If you misplaced one hand or one foot, you would just be in free fall. Not good.

The following morning, against everyone´s urgings for me to wake at an ungodly hour to climb up to Machu Picchu, I woke at the reasonable hour of 5:30 AM. I walked out of my hostel at 6:15, and was at Machu Picchu at 7:40. Again, I was very thankful for beautiful scenery to keep me going. It was about 20 minutes walk to the trailhead, and then a solid hour of just walking up stone steps. And after the previous day´s hike, my legs were in shock. What are you trying to do to us?!

But I´m glad I chose to walk instead of take the bus. Anyone who hikes knows that the pain of the trek is in pursuit of that big something at the top. Just getting to the top wouldn´t be half as exciting if you didn´t put in any effort to get there. And so it was with Machu Picchu. I felt like I needed to exert a little energy before seeing the great ruins.

And they were great. Let me first tell you that a whopping 80% of the ruins are reconstructed. That´s correct. Almost all of it was not there when it was discovered back in 1911. So...part of me wants to be disappointed by that, and another part of me says that the place is still incredible.

Most stunning about Machu Picchu is simply its location. These mountains are breathtakingly beautiful. Stunning. Amazing. Green, lush, jewels twinkling in a valley. It´s a perfect place. So, for that reason, it makes sense that the Incas wanted to build a sacred city there, in such a sacred place. But, for the Incas to have the confidence and the vision to build an entire city on top of one of these mountains is really ludicrous, when you see them. This was no easy construction process. The mountain is hard to get to. Period. Harder, I would imagine, when you are carrying huge granite boulders. It´s mind-boggling, this place.

And it is sacred. If only for the beauty of its natural surroundings, it is sacred. My guide, a Peruvian, in telling the story of the discovery of Machu Picchu, made a point to say that although history says that it was found in 1911 by Hiram Bingham (a Yale University professor of South American History), it had never been lost by the Peruvian people. They ALWAYS knew it was there but chose to keep it to themselves, with good reason. It was their special place, their history, the work of their ancestors. Why would they want to tell anyone about this kind of secret?

But, somebody told the secret to Hiram Bingham, and then he took all the goodies from the ruins back to Yale. I like my country just fine, but it is just wrong that we have these things in our possession. They are not ours! The Peruvians are apparently trying to get them back, and I hope they do, even if it is our loss.

A local told me that to really know it, you need an entire week at Machu Picchu. The ruins themselves are like a maze; I kept wandering around, getting stuck, backtracking, getting lost again. And then, outside of the main ruins, there are a few other sites, a hike away, worth looking at. But I didn´t have a week (not to mention that it costs $45 US to get in for one day), so I spent about 6 hours there, just soaking it in. You can take a tour, you can have every bit and piece of the ruins explained to you, but in the end, what you really want to do when you get there, is sit down, hang your legs off the side of the mountain, and just breathe. Just get a good look at everything. Just try to get your head around what you´re seeing and what it means.

It´s magnificent, really. I hope you can all go someday. (And soon! Before they start building hotels up there. I wouldn´t put it past the power of the tourist.)

And now I´m back in Cusco, taking a day off, doing laundry, playing on the internet, regrouping.

We are off to the Manu Biosphere Reserve tomorrow, which is part of the Peruvian jungle. We are staying for five days and will spend our days looking at flora and fauna and our evenings in little jungle lodges (with hammocks!). I cannot wait, for a number of reasons. I cannot wait to get away from the commotion of the tourism industry around here. I cannot wait to feel isolated again. I cannot wait to get back down to sea level where it´s nice and toasty warm. I cannot wait to begin my 28th year, laying in a hammock, listening to the sounds of the jungle.

We´ll be back on Wednesday. Til then, my dears. Much love.

And...please check out photos of the last few weeks - http://picasaweb.google.com/ellen.bucy . Unfortunately, to my GREAT frustration, my camera was out of batteries when I arrived to the top of Pisac, so I have no photos of that day. Lesson learned, I suppose!