Friday August 28 to Sunday August 30 - Peru Week 2 Machupicchu

This past weekend was my big Machupicchu trip, an item that has definitely been on my bucket list. And it was a very busy weekend of activities which accounts for the super long post. By the way, if you think I am spelling it wrong, I am not. Everything here is spelled one word, Machupicchu, so I don’t know where Machu Picchu as two words comes from but even my spell check thinks it is wrong as a single word.

The sun shining through the clouds as the sun comes up at Machupicchu

My roommate, Ian, planned the entire trip but then got very sick the week before and wound up in the local clinic in Cusco for two nights so he could not go. I feel kind of bad about it because he put in a lot of work organizing it and then could not go. On Thursday evening at 6:30 I set off for Cusco by bus, with Louis, who is another volunteer in Urubamba, and Liam, another volunteer working in a nearby town of Calca. The bus ride was the typical crazy Peruvian affair, packed with as many as the van could carry and the driver going as fast and as reckless as possible. The guy next to me smelled like he had now showered in a while but I don’t think that is out of the ordinary.

It was dark out when we left Urubamba and I think it is considered an insult to Peruvian drivers if they are passed so the object here is to get around everything on the road while simultaneously blocking any vehicle behind you from going by. The last time I went to Cusco there was an ambulance with lights going and everybody kept passing it, not something you see in the U.S. Blind corners also seem to be a great place to pass here. It is also quite normal to turn the high beams on as you are approaching a vehicle in the opposite direction or from behind and then turn them back down again once you are no longer blinding the other driver. Don’t ask me to explain it as it does not make much sense to me but on the road this sort of thing common in Peru.

Cusco at night

After we got into Cusco and dropped our bags, everybody ate and had a drink at of all places an Irish bar called Paddy Flaherty’s right off of the Plaza de Armas. Probably the only Irish bar in Peru and other than the wait staff there was not a single Peruvian in the place. Possibly the whitest place in Peru and just about everybody was wearing an alpaca sweater with Peruvian designs. But I do have to say that the “western food” there was quite good and the grilled ham and cheese sandwich hit the spot for me.

A side note on the Plaza de Armas, every town in Peru seems to have one. It is somewhat like the Peruvian version of Main Street. Every plaza has a large catholic church situated on one side of it and the teacher I work with here told that the Plaza de Armas is the place where disputes were decided, duel style. Hence the name. I guess the church is so that you can quickly pray for the looser.

The next morning the eight of us; Louis; Liam; Sophie; Romaine (pronounced ho-main); Joe; Severins; Hawkeye; and myself, set off by bus for the first part of our trip which was mountain biking.

For some framework, Ian is from Switzerland and is my roommate at the house. He is 24 and also works the teaching project at a different school. Louis is from Germany, 17-years-old and lives in Urubamba where he is doing the sports project until January. Liam is from Wales, not sure but think he is about 21 and is doing a sports project in Calca which sounds like Peruvian Siberia. Sophie is 18 and from Luxembourg and living in Urubamba working on the child care project for one more week before heading to the conservation project in the jungle. Romaine is from France and I think around 21. She is also living in Urubamba before heading home next week but I can’t recall what project she is on. Joe lives in Cusco where he is working on the medical project and is 21 or 22. Severins is also from Germany and living in Cusco taking Spanish before heading out to the archeology project for a few weeks. He is 24 or 25. Hawkeye is working in Pisak on a sports project and is from China. He does not speak any Spanish but can apparently kick the head of somebody 6’5” and is 20.

As the bikes were being loaded they looked OK as they were going onto the roof of our bus but sometimes looks can be deceiving. More on that later. The bus was two hours to Ollantaytambo where we took a snack break and then on to the top of a mountain called Abra Malaga. The road up was one of those crazy switchback roads you see on TV where you can look down the side and should the bus make a wrong turn, it is a long way from the bottom. I was not next to a window and could not look but it would not surprise me if there were hulks of wrecked vehicles below us. To make it more interesting there were convoys of semi-trucks going down as we were going up. I kept thinking that we may not go off the mountain but one of these trucks could 500 feet above us and come down and clobber us like a piano falling on the coyote in the road runner cartoons. Clearly this did not happen as I am typing this but if the road and the trucks were not enough, as we got closer to the top the clouds moved in and soon you could not see more than 15-20 feet away from our bus in any direction. Very surreal and a little bit unnerving at times. Often literally all you could see out the windows was white.

So we get to the top of this and unload our bikes and our guides start pulling out all this body armor to go with it and mine has red stuff on it that looks a little like dried blood. There are at least two other bike outfits on top with us and I have to say their equipment looked better than ours. They had full blown moto-cross helmets while we had a mix of bike helmets and what looked like bucket helmets for little kids. We also had these orange vests that looked like a life jacket from a distance. As for the bikes, they did not bring any spares and quickly our guide told us that his was broken so we would be biking down on our own. The brakes did not fully work on some of them and the rear wheel on my bike had a little bit of a wobble to it. The back tire also could have used some air.

The road down the mountain at the half way point

So the equipment was total sketch-ville, we are up in the clouds next to the road with the trucks and can’t see beyond 100 yards and we find out we are riding down on the street, not a dirt trail. Actually this was a good thing as I was a bit afraid of what a dirt trail was going to look like but at the same time, this is Peru and the drivers here are crazy impatient. Off we go, without our guide who is following behind us in the bus but it was not as bad as it sounds and the road was good and fairly easy to navigate. But there were numerous crosses set up on the side of the road where I am assuming it means the same as in the U.S. and somebody went off the side and plunged to their death. One spot had about 12 crosses, two huge ones and what I would guess was around 20-30 names.

Magic white cloud pony of Peru on the side of the road

The ride down was nice and I did enjoy it, however I probably would just choose another outfit the next time around. Except that I don’t know the name of the one we had so I could just as easily wind up with them again. But the views were great.

Half way down they had warned us at the bottom that we would need mosquito repellant but sadly, nobody said anything when I would have been able to buy some, so at the end we became mosquito lunch. I did not realize it at the time but in about 20 minutes I am guessing I collected around 100-150 bites on my legs. Since then I have been bathing in Benadryl for the itching and it looks like I have a case of the Chicken Pox. After a week it is still there but much better.

Sexy isn't it!

After loading up the bikes and equipment we took off for lunch and to switch to another bus to take us to a river rafting trip on the Urubamba River. I was a little skeptical of the rafting, especially after seeing the sketchy equipment and location once we got there. But I have to say it was actually really cool and other than Machupicchu, one of the highlights of the trip. We had some relatively minor rapids, class 3 at max, but enough to keep it interesting, the canyons we rafted through were cool, the water warmer than expected, and all and all it was a lot of fun. As darkness was starting to set in the entire area started to buzz with cicadas which were very loud. We got off just before darkness set in and that is probably a good thing. The drive to Santa Teresa, where we were staying that night, was in some ways better off taken in the dark when you can’t really see what is going on.

The road was dirt and gravel and scratched onto the side of the mountain. Often it was barely wide enough for two cars to pass and it was literally strait up on one side of the road and strait down to the river on the other. There was a full moon out so we could see enough to know that if you went off the side you were not going to land for at least 100 feet and possibly more. Fortunately there was not much in the way of traffic on the road and since I had no control over the situation I just sat back and enjoyed the moonlit view, hoping I would not get too close a look at it.

There was nothing between the dinky town we left after rafting and Santa Teresa but we came across at least three people walking along in the darkness. I have no idea where they could have been coming from or going to in the dark.

Santa Teresa is a very weird place and is a little town buried in the middle of the mountain jungle that probably would not exist except for the hikers who are going to Macchupicchu on the Inka Trail. It reminds me a little bit of the movie The Beach. Not that it is pretty like The Beach, it is not, a little trashy is more like it. But everybody there are westerners and mostly between the ages of 18 and 30 and the atmosphere there is drink and have sex, like the movie. There are some older people my age there too and plenty of Peruvian’s who are happy to take your money, which the drunken westerners happily hand over. The city is dumpy hostiles and bars/restaurants and the skyline is dominated by martini glass outlines in blue, red and green lights and overshadowed with a big illuminated cross on the mountain, floating above it all.

It is probably my age talking but the place we stayed was rather a dump and at 6:00 am the next morning the proprietor was knocking on our door to take away our room key?!?! There was one dirty bathroom to service our floor of six rooms with four people in each room. I did not shower that morning.

Our tour picked up more people here and most of our group had signed up to go zip lining in the valley that morning but Louis and I had decided we would hike the three hours to Aguas Calientes instead. In the morning we went to the zip line station with everybody else and were told to wait while they got everybody else ready and blared electronic music through an old beat box. Then as they were leaving we asked again about hiking and were again told we needed to wait. Then they all left and 40 minutes later we were still waiting. Everybody’s bags were there so we knew they had to come back, or at least somebody needed to pick them up, but it was somewhat annoying as they essentially dumped us there. Finally somebody did come by and told us we could hike if we wanted to but there was no trail, only a dirt road that we had to find on our own.

So we waited for everybody to come back. There were some hammocks at the site so we took a nap while the tour slid back and forth on the zip lines strung across the valley and above our heads.

After everybody returned we loaded up onto another bus, probably our 5^th or 6^th new bus in 24 hours. Every time we shifted to a new vehicle and driver so there were lots of opportunities to loose stuff and I felt a bit like we were being shuttled between “coyotes” in Mexico. Another dirt road and we got to the trailhead to Aguas Calientes where we would have lunch and hike the three hours into the town at the base of Machupicchu. The hike was really nice and ran along the railroad tracks of the train that takes people in and out. It was just as well we had not been able to hike in the morning as by the time we made it into Aguas Calientes my feet were pretty much done. The hike took us along a river through the valley that is dominated by jungle growth but has some small restaurants hidden in it. It is a little strange for me to see this in the jungle but everything about Machupicchu is set up to take tourist money, so in hind sight, restaurants buried in the jungle in the middle of the trail is not so weird.

Butterflies were everywhere, some as big as the palm of my hand

We got into Aguas Calientes as darkness was falling, got our hotel room, and the group headed out for dinner at one of the many restaurants in the area. I am happy to report that this hotel was nicer than in Santa Teresa and the restaurant much better too. We had a really good meal actually and it has been one of the nicest places I have eaten in Peru to date. Aguas Calientes reminds me a bit of Aspen Colorado actually. It is loaded with options for the wealthy tourists who come through it to have a meal, buy a souvenir, get a massage, have a drink, and so on. There even a Westin hotel.

Aguas Calientes

The next morning was a 4:00 am wake up to get on the trail by 4:30 so we could be at the bridge head to Machupicchu by 5:00 when they open. From there it is about a one hour climb strait up the mountain side in the jungle. My group pretty well broke up for the hike but I walked up with Sophie and Severins. We were all making the walk at about the same pace so it worked out well. The walk was tough but actually not as tough as climbing Table Mountain in Cape Town. Pretty much all stairs but the altitude is lower than Urubamba, so that was not as much a factor, but the air was humid and about 30 minutes into the hike we were all drenched. The path also crossed the roadway up for the busses in several spots and every time they would go by they would kick up lots of dirt and dust so we accumulated a level of grime on everything as well.

We started out in the dark and fortunately a few people brought lights. Lights, like the bug repellent, is another thing that nobody bothered to tell us to bring. It would have been real easy to fall on your face on the stairs so I am glad a few people at least had some foresight. After about 20 minutes of hiking up the morning light was just enough to just be able to see the stairs so the rest of the way was not so bad.

First look at Machupicchu as the sun was rising over the mountain range.

The thing about the hike was this, you start out at 4:30 in the morning to get up to the top by the time the sun actually rises over the mountain and this is about 45 minutes before the first bus starts to run. But by the time you get to the top the busses have shuttled around 500-1,000 people to the top before you and the line to get in is totally huge. It was totally aggravating to do the entire hike only to find a line 45 minutes long at the top. Fortunately our guide showed up and we snuck in to the front of the line with him so we did not have to wait the entire time. Normally I don’t like this but fuck that, we hiked up and these people lounged in a bus. We got into Machupicchu, hiked up some more steps and finally stopped at one of the agricultural terraces that overlook the site to start our tour of the site and watch the sun come up.

If you go to Machupicchu I would strongly suggest signing up for one of the tour groups as it makes a big difference. They walk you around and tell you about the different areas of the city and give the history of the place. Actually they give you the assumed history of the place as there are no written records about Machupicchu to tell anybody what they city was used for or even what the real name was. Machupicchu is the name given it by a German named Herman Gohring sometime around 1875. He ran across looking for the El Dorado city of gold but apparently the local Peruvians have known of its existence long before then.

The fact that nobody knows the real name or exactly what the city was used for did not stop our guide from providing his opinion on the site. He said the site was primarily a university and religious site for the Inka’s and a place for the Emperor to take a vacation. He also said that only the wealthy professors, students and religious figures lived there and all the workers lived at the base and walked up every day. It was kind of funny, he would tell us that nobody knows what the city is for but then essentially tell us he knows because of his Peruvian ancestors?

I will start with the bad about Machupicchu. The place has become a total tourist trap to get your money. You pay a lot to get there and once you do, they hit you up for all sorts of fees, like what the airlines in the U.S. do to you. For instance, the trip up is not included. You can walk or take the bus but if you take the bus it is $12 U.S. dollars in each direction, the U.S. dollar only. Also you had better have clean money with you as any tear or stain on the U.S. dollar and they refuse it. I mean any. Food cost twice as much, a bottle of water that is 3 Soles in Aguas Calientes (twice the cost as in Urubamba) cost around 6 Soles at Machupicchu, even the toilet cost you 1 Sole to use and there were no seats on the toilets in the men’s room. There is also a ton of people and at one point our guide said up to 6,000 people a day have visited Machupicchu. At $24 a round trip bus ride you do the math. The site is actually being damaged by all the heavy traffic and they have started scaling back the areas you are allowed to visit. I don’t think 6,000 were there the day I was but I would not be surprised if it was around 3,500. The place has been turned into a total tourist destination to the point that it is somewhat like Orlando.

But fortunately there is still more good than bad. Machupicchu itself is amazing to see and much larger than I had expected. There are some sensitive areas that you are not allowed to go to but for the most part you have the run of the place. There are also several hikes, some cost more money to go on of course, which you can take to eliminate the crowds who don’t get beyond the city itself. The views of the surrounding valley are breathtaking and it is amazing to think that you are walking in a place that was active in the 15th century.

North America has nowhere the length of history that you find in South America. Yea we had the Indians living in North America all along but they did not build anything like this. The main areas like the Guard Tower are always busy with people but there are also other areas that you can escape to that few people go to when visiting Machupicchu. We had all day, 10 hours, to go around and find them and at one point found a nice shady spot in the grass just below the village where Severins, Louis, Sophie, Romaine, Hawkeye and myself took a nap and enjoyed the view for about 2 hours. This was probably my favorite spot while visiting Machupicchu as it was peaceful and we were on the agricultural terrace under an overhang and could look out on the valley below. There were not a lot of people hiking to this spot and you could actually forget about all the other tourists above us.

Our nap place overlooking the valley. L-R: Romaine, Sophie, Louis, Severins. Not shown me and Hawkeye

Our view overlooking the valley from our nap place. We were on the side of a ledge but it was only a few feet down to the next terrace. Enough to hurt but not to kill you.

The agricultural terraces at the Guard House was another favorite spot of mine. One because this is the initial spot where you get to see the city but also because the view of everything is spectacular from there. Most of the pictures you see of the city are shot from this vantage point.

The city from the Guard Tower

Like I said we had around 10 hours at the city but by 8 hours I was “Machupicchued out” and hung out at one of the restaurants just outside the gates with Sophie and Severins until the rest were ready to go around 3:30. From here we could watch the crowds come and go to the bus, have something to eat and drink, and hang out with the dogs that liked to sleep under our table.

By the time we got back down to Aguas Calientes I was pretty well done but we still had 5 hours before our train left so I went on a hunt for a drugstore to buy stuff for my bug bites. For some reason they were all closed and after 45 minutes and the 4^th store I finally found a place open but did not have anything other than Vicks VapoRub. Not exactly what I had in mind but I was desperate and surprisingly it did work. My legs had a very cool feeling to them and it was just rather messy but the itching stopped.

I spent another four hours in a Mexican restaurant with Sophie, Romaine, Louis, and Hawkeye eating, drinking and playing Jenga and card games until it was finally time for us to catch our train. It was the last one out that night, our car was perhaps 20% occupied which was nice. But being away from the crowds was fine with me and I was just planning on sleeping anyway.

The trains in Peru are really nice by the way and Amtrack could learn a thing or two from them. I think I was in a 1^st class car as we had wait service that provided coffee, tea and snacks and I suspect some of the other cars did not have this. But each seat had a table and was quite roomy. However, also in Peruvian style the cars were designated A through G but they were not in order. It went something like A, B, D, E, C, G, I do not think there was an F.

Peru Rail going through the jungle the day before.

The train took us as far as Ollentatambo where at 11:00 pm we had to catch a bus the rest of the way back to Urubamba. I finally got in just after midnight and was very happy to see my bed but not so happy when the sun started coming through the window in the morning and I had to go to work.

All and all it was an exhausting three days but one I am very glad I did.