Lazy Hot Spring Day

Sunday August 23, 2009
June 15

Today we hung out in Aguas Calientes. We visited the hot springs, shopped, and ate a leisurely lunch. It is a beautiful little town albeit very touristy. There are plenty of young, hip Europeans leaning against lampposts, smoking cigarettes and eyeing others with disdain.

The springs are beautiful. One follows the river out of town, crosses over to the other side, and enters the facility. The pools are cement and look like swimming pools. There are four or five of them ranging in temperature from warm to sort of hot. They are clean and the river runs close by. In fact there are cool showers one can take with the river water. We lazed away the morning there, pruning our fingers and soaking up the sun.
We stopped by a jewelry store on the way back down the hill. We each bought something to take home with us. Further on we encountered a small restaurant with awesome food. We had to sort of rush through lunch as we had a train to catch.

We boarded the train after noon and commenced our three hour journey back to Cusco. We had been hearing rumblings of civil unrest throughout the country and we tried hard to gather information.

It seems that the government was interested in digging for oil in the Amazon up north. The natives there didn’t care for the idea and killed about thirty police officers before the government got the message. Trees were felled and large rocks placed across the road to inhibit the passage of vehicles.

Folks in the south felt a kinship with their northern brothers so they did the same thing (without killing anyone). Currently, the road between Cusco and Puno was closed with no word about when it would reopen. This threw a serious wrench in our plans as we were scheduled to take a ten hour bus ride to Puno in two days time. As of today, no buses were running.

Distressing as this sounded, we still had a day of rafting ahead of us tomorrow so we turned our focus to that. We enjoyed our night out in Cusco, then turned in for an early evening. Our bus leaves at six in the morning and we would like to be wide awake for the next adventure.

MJR

Pinch Me!

Sunday, August 16, 2009
June 14

Morning came early. We arose at five-ish to discover that most of the other folks in town had already left. We climbed on a bus and headed up to the top of the hill. Once there, we had to wait in line to show our passports and get our bags inspected. The park only allows small day packs inside, but there is no template for this. Jim Bob was told he could not bring his in even though it was no bigger than anyone else’s.

Upon entering the gate we made our way about a half a mile across the park to another gate. There we awaited tickets that would allow us to climb to the top of Huaynu Picchu. The second trip, at ten, was full so we waited for the first one. This trip was supposed to be allowed to leave anytime, but since they stagger the people climbing, we had to wait almost an hour for our turn. During this time, Carrie discovered that she still had Zachary’s passport and ticket and Nancy realized that Jim Bob had hers! We hoped this wouldn’t be a problem.

Mere minutes before entering the gate, Jim Bob showed up with Zman. The little guy was almost in tears. He had to go to the bathroom which was outside the front gate. Unfortunately, they wouldn’t let him leave or re-enter without a passport and ticket. We quickly traded paperwork and urged them on their way, hoping they could make it the half mile without an accident.

The hike itself was extremely steep. Fortunately, the Incas had placed steps along the way and the Peruvian Government had installed cables to grasp. It was slow going up. From the top were the most spectacular views of the main ruins and the hills surrounding them. It was crowded at the top and difficult to find a place to stand, but the vistas were stunning. We stayed for a while and then headed back down to find JB and Z.

Upon reaching the bottom, we caught up with the others and began our exploration of this magnificent place. Our small group of five had reservations to stay in Aguas Calientes one more night, giving us the entire day to spend investigating. Others from the group were compelled to leave at one. We roamed around until four or so and then bussed it back down to the bottom.

The village took about seventy years to build, but was only occupied for about thirty-five years. The most fascinating part about the whole story to me is the idea that no one really knows what happened there. Why was it built? Who lived there? Did others come to worship? Why was it abandoned? Any answers we got to these questions were merely speculation. As we asked different guides we got different answers.

We all wandered off in separate directions, exploring these ancient spaces at our own pace. We startled chinchillas, encountered dead ends, and laid tranquilly in the grass. At long last we made our way to the front gate where we met our friends and boarded a bus for the journey to town. We were all moved by what we had seen and rode the forty minutes in silence, contemplating this wondrous place.

I first saw a picture of Machu Picchu hanging on Mr. Cantrell’s wall. He was my high school Guidance Counselor. The picture was a poster; it was a place that he had never been. It captured my imagination. For twenty-five years, I kept it in my head that I wanted to see that place, to experience it first hand, and now I had. I was not disappointed. It was worth the wait. No amount of words can describe the feeling I held as we descended that mountain. I shall cherish that memory always.

MJR

WOW

Monday, August 10, 2009
June 13

We awoke bright and early to catch the train. We opted for the Vista Dome, even though it was more expensive. It was an awesome train ride. Seats were arranged in groups of four with a table in between. This was especially helpful when they served breakfast, but also aided us in playing games during the three hour ride.

We passed through lush countryside, farm land, and sheer cliffs before we arrived at our destination. This turned out to be a dirt patch next to the tracks. The five of us alone clambered off the train, stepped away from the tracks, and watched the train roll on. A fellow appeared out of nowhere and led us across a bridge to a shady spot to wait for the rest of our group. We sat next to the river and drank in the tranquility.

When, at last, the others arrived, we were ready to go. Our guide, Silverio, gave us Coca leaves and demonstrated how to offer them as sacrifices to the Gods to give us safe passage. He gave us more to chew. The flavor is neither pleasant nor unpleasant, although it does make your tongue numb! We embarked on our journey up the hillside.

There were plenty of switchbacks leading us up through lush forest, climbing ever higher until our breath ran short. We stopped often for air and water and to drink in the beauty of the scene laid out before us; trees, mountains, and a river way down at the bottom of the valley.

We arrived at our lunch spot just before noon. Silverio led us to some ruins nearby and talked about the different architectural features. To a great degree, these speeches lose me. I am just in awe that people without beasts of burden and steel tools could manipulate these rocks into the forms they now exist in. They have stood for centuries like silent sentries among the trees.

Lunch was lekker! It was prepared by a couple of fellows who had lugged it all up on their backs. In fact, everything at the lunch site had to be hauled up by hand. This included beer coolers, stoves, ovens, cement, and all the fixtures. There were plenty of people around as this was the last stop for those who had chosen to take the four day hike over the thirteen thousand foot pass (called Dead Woman Pass!). There was even a canteen where one could buy chocolate and cigarettes or rent a towel for the hot showers.

Once we had eaten our fill, we pressed on. This time the trail was fairly level, following the side of the mountain. The trail was actually a highway of sorts, being built by the Incas to get around. Rocks had been set into the dirt to solidify the path. There was a sheer rock wall up to the left and a near vertical drop through undergrowth to the right. Zachary was happily oblivious and kept trotting up and down and back and forth, much to our chagrin.

We walked for nearly six hours that day. One part of the hike included “The Gringo Killer”. This was a set of fifty some odd stairs set into the mountain that we had to climb in order to proceed. These things were made all the more daunting by the fact that we were well above 9,000 feet when we did them. Finally, we arrived at the Sun Gate, overlooking Machu Picchu. It was glorious! We snapped off pictures, drank our water, and cracked jokes. We descended into the high valley where the village is located around five in the evening; just in time to catch the last bus into town.

There are no cars allowed at the top. One must hike in or take a bus. The road in is one switchback after another. We were all tired, but very happy with the day’s work. I dozed on the bus, content in the knowledge that I had made it to this wondrous place.

We stayed that night in Aguas Calientes; a small town built mainly for the purpose of accommodating tourists. It was clean and well kept and very quaint. There were plenty of pizza parlors and artisan shops, but we left those for later. We opted, instead, to eat dinner and sleep early. We had all agreed to wake up around five to catch the first bus to the top. This was arranged to allow us to get tickets to hike to the peak of Huaynu Picchu, the hill directly behind Machu Picchu. Limited numbers of people are permitted to climb this hill each day and we wanted to be among them.

MJR

Rock Puzzles

Thursday, July 02, 2009
June 12

Today was a long one filled with driving and ruins. We loaded into a bus early in the morning and drove for a while. Beautiful scenery surrounded us as we drove to our first Incan ruin. We hiked uphill for about twenty minutes until we arrived at the site of an ancient temple. After a short lecture we walked around gazing at the amazing stone work.

The intricacies are amazing. These guys had no steel tools, yet they managed to fit blocks together perfectly. There are curves, niches, and doorways made from perfectly crafted granite. The doorways are trapezoidal so as to counter the effects of the many earthquakes in the region. Sometimes the rocks were dragged miles from where they were quarried to where they were worked and placed. The building of one village may have taken generations to finish.

Our next stop was Ollantaytambo. This was comprised of large terraces and a temple for the sun God. The rocks were quarried from the mountain across the way. When asked why they weren’t taken from the top of the hill we were standing on, we were told that the rocks on this hill were not as hard as the rocks from the hill across the way. Rocks were quarried and dragged down the hillside by humans (they had no cows or horses). When they arrived at the river they diverted it, dragged the rocks across the bed, and then let it flow naturally again so they could get it the rest of the way up the mountain.

After lots more driving we ate lunch and then we drove some more. We arrived at the final site which turned out to be a village. We stopped at an artisan’s workshop. Here we were treated to a demonstration of how they dye the wool to make the colors for the spectacular textiles they have come to be known for. We passed through a market in the town square. Much to the chagrin of the guide we stopped to make some purchases before settling into the Catholic Church to learn more about the early inhabitants.

We ended up back at the hotel in time for dinner. It was a long day full of fascinating, new things. We were all tired and anxious for the morning when we would be loading into a train and then hiking up to Machu Picchu. By this time tomorrow we would be gazing upon this mystical place.

MJR