The Lost City of the Incas

14 October 2010

The Lost City of the Incas

The harsh sound of the telephone awoke me from sleep around 4:30 that morning. It seemed I had barely lain down to sleep and now it was already time to drag my tired body out of bed for another full day of hiking. Machu Picchu was the main reason I had always wanted to visit Peru, and now it was finally time to see this amazing old city. We were leaving the hotel early that morning so that we could appreciate the sunrise from atop Machu Picchu. Clearly we were not the only ones with this idea though. As we briskly walked to the bus stop for Machu Picchu, I could see the long line of tourists waiting to be shuttled to the top of the ruins.

Machu Pichu sits at 2,430 metres (7,970 ft) above sea level and one can either hike up or take a bus for a few dollars. The vast majority of people opt for the bus which is fast and efficient. It takes hundreds of tourists a day up and down a switchback road named after the American who rediscovered Machu Picchu, Hiram Bingham. Before long we are filing off the bus and scrambling to get in another queue. We were trying to get a stamp on our ticket which would allow us to hike up to the top of one of the mountain ridges that surrounds Machu Picchu. Only a few hundred people are allowed to hike this trail per day, so the early risers are the only lucky ones to get in. We managed to get the last few stamps before they ran out.

Once we got through the entrance gates, we quickly headed upward. The sun was just about to peak up over the mountains and we wanted to get to one of the terraces overlooking Machu Picchu ruins as fast as we could. It was a quick but strenuous walk up narrow stone staircases through thick vegitation to get up there. We had to dodge some out of shape tourists along the way. It may have only been about 5:30 in the morning by then, but the sun was already getting strong and warm.

All of a sudden it seemed that we were free of most of the other tourists and the views were open again. Helen, Jonas, Erik, Dylan and I were the first of our group to get to the top. We were now standing on some of the upper terraces of Machu Picchu that look down on the rest of the old city. There was a stillness still in the air at that time of the morning. The sunrays were practically bursting above the ridge of the mountains and the sunlight was filling up the valley below it. I love how the sun has such clarity to it that early in the morning. It saturated the rest of the world in rich colors. We furiously snapped pictures of the pristine ruins below, and of each other standing in front of them with arms wide open. The whole group finally showed up and we all stood together for a group shot above Machu Picchu. It felt like we were celebrating something…perhaps the culmination of a rigorous hike through the Andes…but it was enough just to celebrate the beauty of this ancient city below us.

Once we had all of the pictures out of the way, it was time for Jaime to lead us on a guided tour of the ruins. For the next three hours we walked in and around the ruins of Machu Picchu through what would have been old homes, kitchens, religious centers and garden terraces. Along the way we learned the history of this beautiful place.

Machu Picchu was built by the Incas in and around the early 1400s, as an estate for the emperor Pachacuti, during the height of the Inca Empire. Jaime pointed out, as we looked from above, that an entire mountain ridge would have had to be removed to create the unnatural plateau atop which the city sits. It is incredible to think that these people removed a large mountain ridge before the time of explosives.

As grand as Machu Picchu is, it was unfortunately only inhabited for about 100 years. It is believed that the Incas fled this lovely city in hopes of hiding it from the invading Spanish Conquistadors. The city was essentially lost from the 1500s until the early 1900s when Yale history professor, Hiram Bingham, rediscovered it.

Hiram Bingham traveled to Peru for years in search of the Inca city of Vilcabamba. He believed this to be the great, lost city of the Incas. While traveling with a local guide in the Sacred Valley region, a young Quechua boy led them to the site of Machu Picchu. A few locals were living in some of the ruins at that time and much of the site was overgrown with jungle. Once he discovered it, Bingham undertook an excavation of the site and it was restored closely to its former splendor. He referred to it as the “Lost City of the Incas.” In 1913, National Geographic devoted an entire edition to Machu Picchu and so it became known worldwide. Bingham collected many artifacts which are still at Yale University today. The Peruvian government is fighting to get these artifacts back in the museums of their own country now. In 2007 it seems that Peru and Yale reached an agreement that they would put the artifacts into a traveling exhibit between Yale and Peru, but according to Jaime, the fight still continues.

When Jaime finally finished our tour, we had to say our goodbyes to him. He had been a lovely addition to our journey thus far, and we all gave him hugs goodbye. After his departure, most of us split apart. Some people returned back to the town of Aguas Calientes to relax or shop. Seven of us went back through the ruins to use the stamp on the ticket we had gotten early that morning. It was time for one last hike.

We were heading up to the top of Huayna Pichu, a mountain that sits 360 metres (1,180 ft) above the ruins. More Inca ruins sit atop this peak after one climbs up hundreds of steep steps and winding trails to the top. It is believed that the top of the mountain was the residence for the high priest and the local virgins.

The sun was high in the sky and blazing when we started our climb. I was missing the cool damp breezes from the mountains where we walked a few days ago. The equatorial sun was strong and I already knew my fair skin would be burned before the day was out. The narrow and steep trails were busy with tourists coming and going from the top. Most were heavily panting on the way up and many stopping on the edges of the trail for a break. It was a constant steep trail upwards whether on the ground or on stone staircases. Although my legs were tired from the previous days’ work, there was a little extra burst of energy and excitement left in wanting to see those views from the top.

On the way up, we walked for awhile with a girl from California. She had just arrived at Machu Picchu at sunrise that morning. She and her mother had done the four day classic Inca Trail trek which leads from lower in the Sacred Valley and culminates at the old gated entrance to Machu Picchu. Looking back, I was glad that we had not taken this more touristy route to get to Machu Picchu as I had simply loved our quiet experience in the mountains, off the beaten path.

Near the top of Huayna Pichu we started climbing through the Inca ruins. These stone buildings were literally built on a stone edge of a mountain cliff. It is hard to imagine how difficult and dangerous it must have been to construct this. The views were lovely though and the top was finally in sight!

There was a wooden ladder that brought us up the last few feet to the very top of Huayna Pichu. The top was not much more than large boulders and perhaps fifteen people were sitting up there, soaking in the views. Machu Picchu, which before seemed huge and grand, looked incredibly tiny from up here. All around us was a panoramic view of tree covered mountain peaks. I was surprised that up this high, there was a fleet of orange butterflies flying around our heads. It was an amazing viewpoint.

Jonas was the first to venture further out to the edge of the boulders. Before we knew it, it looked like Jonas was going to the edge of world. Some of us laughed, others tried to stop him, as he slowly stood up on top of a narrow rock with nothing but mountain valley below him. If the wind had blown too much, that would have been the end of him! He raised his arms triumphantly and we all cheered and took pictures. Once he was safely back with the group, of course the other guys couldn’t let Jonas be the only daring one. Dylan and Jonas followed suite and ventured out to stand on the pointy mountain edge. More picture-taking and squealing from the girls ensued. Now my competitive feminist streak set in; I couldn’t let this just be a guy thing.

It was definitely a little easier to watch then actually do myself. It was a narrow little ridge that I crawled out on with steep drop offs on either side. To get to the rock where the boys had stood, I had to scale up a large boulder. My legs were not as flexible as usual after all the hiking and I took my time to get safely to the top. I straddled that rock at first, feeling a bit vertiginous at that height. There was just enough width on that rock for my two feet to stand and I slowly stood up and also raised my arms up. I have to admit that my legs were shaking and my heart was beating fast, but I felt victorious too.

We had a lovely time up top of Huayna Pichu, laughing, taking pictures, admiring the sights. We probably would have even stayed there longer if we were not starving for lunch. I found the way down to be actually fun as I hopped down those steep mountain steps, letting gravity do a bit of the work for me, but clearly still feeling the muscle burn.
When we reached the bottom again, I was absolutely famished, as we all were. We made a beeline for the food area at the entrance of Machu Picchu. Sadly, we found that the food was incredible overpriced. It would be about $15 for a sandwich and $35 for the buffet. There was no way one could justify spending this kind of money when there was better food for a fraction of the price down the mountain. We settled for a still expensive, but reasonable, soft-serve ice cream. It hit the spot!

By the time we took the bus back down the Hiram Bingham Highway, we were too hungry to go far for food. In fact we ended up going to the restaurant exactly across the street from the bus stop. It may have been touristy, but we didn’t care at that point. We all sat down, ordered up beers and waters, and checked out the menu. One could order everything from pizza to burgers to ceviche to burritos. Pizza was the most popular choice in our group, and it was hard to resist when we could watch them taking them in and out of the wood-burning stove. Our little group of eight people had a great time chatting, reminiscing about the trip and sharing some laughs. The same Peruvian band from the night before set up their band in front of the restaurant. It was just so right! And we were able to appreciate the beauty and splendor of that musician’s mullet in broad daylight. Jonas was also able to purchase his Peruvian pipes from one of the band members. Richard couldn’t have been more thrilled at the idea of hearing Jonas play those pipes over the four hour ride back to Cusco that night.

After our late lunch, reconvened with the rest of our travel group and Erik led us all to another restaurant. We were all grabbing one last meal before it was time to board the evening train back to Cusco. I was so stuffed from lunch that I just had a soda. On the way back to the train station, I bought a piece of banana bread from a woman selling it in the street. It was homemade.

Apparently the train back to Cusco is a party train. There was loud Peruvian music piping through the train as it moved along. The tourists were knocking back beers on the way. Some lively travelers in our car even got up to start a dance party in the aisle. It didn’t last long but it was entertaining. I have never had a train experience quite like this one! But I have to admit I was exhausted. I was finally feeling the effects of the week and my body was ready for a good sleep in a real bed. But alas, we still had a two hour bus ride from Ollantaytambo ahead of us before we’d get back to Cusco. Well, I guess I can sleep once I get back to Texas!