MONDAY, JUNE 18, 2018
JOURNEY TO MACHU PICHU: IN THE LOST CITY OF THE INCAS
Machu Pichu is the reason we traveled to Peru. It is the Bucket List item we wished to explore. We fully expected it to be one of the highlights of our trip. To that end, we were not vexed at having to wake up at 4.10 am for a 4.50 am pick-up from our hotel in Cuzco (Imagen Plaza Hotel). Through the dead-silent streets of the fabled city nestled high in the elevations of the Andes Mountains, our van sped to Poroy Railway Station, some 30 minutes away. We left the sophistication of Cuzco behind, in about fifteen minutes, and were in the poverty-stricken heart of Peru: low brick structures are unplastered, stray dogs abounded—they are appealingly furry and completely unaggressive.
When we arrived at Poroy, we joined a short queue to obtain our tickets through the exchange of our vouchers. Daylight was just beginning to break and we could see our train—the Machu Pichu Special—awaiting the boarding of passengers. We purchased cups of warming coffee and munched on granola bars before we jumped on the train through our assigned seats.
On the Machu Pichu Special:
The train was beautiful. It reminded us of the special Royal Scotsman and Rocky Mountain Highlander trains that have glass roofs and balcony lookout cars. Our seats were extremely comfortable and within minutes of our journey, we were delighted to find a refreshments’ trolley being wheeled through the carriages doling out hot drinks (we chose lovely stimulating Inca tea made with coca leaves and eucalyptus) and were given a small anise and oregano-flavored muffin. We left the suburbs of Cuzco behind and found fields, cattle and shepherd huts flying by. It was not long before we started to near the foothills of the mountains and in the distance, we spied the ice-encrusted peaks of the Andes towering above us. We ate our tasty breakfasts and made our way to the look-out carriage to take stirring pictures of the passing landscape. Swiftly-rushing icy streams filed with rounded stones passed us by. The entire journey was spectacular. We were thrilled by it and our sense of anticipation for what we would find in Machu Pichu increased by the minute. An hour later, the trolley arrived again to dole out hot Andean corn and cheese and rolls filled with ham and cheese with more hot drinks. We received better service on this Inca Railway than we had on many international airlines! About three hours later, we arrived at the end of the train line, the town of Agua Calientas, (‘hot springs’ in Spanish and named for them) that has developed into a kitschy tourist Mecca with rows of shops selling souvenirs and knitted and woven native wares of the Quechua people who populate these highlands.
Final Lap of Journey by Bus:
We made inquiries and found the ticket window to buy bus tickets for the final lap of the journey to Machu Pichu. It cost $24 round trip—passports are required everywhere for purchase of tickets in Peru. Ten minutes later, we found the bus stop and the green Ecologique mini-buses that take passengers up the hairpin bends of the Andean Mountains to get them to the hidden city of the Incas. The bus journey is equally spectacular for around every curve there lies the sight of verdant mountains draped with tropical vegetation and an abundance of wild flowers—-bromeliads, birds of Paradise, crab claws and hundreds of cacti and succulents.
About 25 minutes later, with the Andes ascending all around us, we were deposited at Machu Pichu base, where at 10.00 am crowds were already thick and the sun was already hot.
It was necessary to find our bearings and to discover that our tickets permitted entry from 11.00 am onwards. We kept our eyes open for a tour guide—the place was simply milling with them—and chose a guy who called himself Milton. He charged us 40 soles for a private tour in English—a steal, we thought. With instructions from him to return to an appointed spot on the square in an hour, we set out to kill time.
On the Inca Trail:
The legendary Inca Trail is named after the Incas, the fabulous dynasty of powerful kings who ruled Peru before the arrival of the colonials. Francisco de Pissarro arrived in Peru in 1534 and immediately began to create a strategy that would defeat the Incas, bring Christianity to Peru and destroy most of the incredible legacy they had created. We have friends who have walked the Inca Trail from Cuzco to Machu Pichu—a trek on foot that takes 5 days and 4 nights with camps at varied Inca ruins along the trail in what is known as the Sacred Valley. The last part of the Trail ended in Machu Pichu and it was on that final stretch that we decided to stretch our own legs. Leaving our friend Blair seated on a low wall in the shade, the three of us, Llew, Chriselle and I, set off to walk the Hiking Trail. We realized, before long, that it sinks deep into the valley which is reached by a steep flight of stone steps. As we did not wish to tire ourselves out, we trekked on it for about fifteen minutes before starting to climb back to base. For a lot of the time, we were out of breath as we summoned all the reserves of energy and stamina of which we were capable to enjoy the immensity and magic of the site.
At the top again, we rewarded ourselves with cups of tasty gelato—passion fruit, custard apple and chocolate—and before long, it was time to reconnect with Milton and begin our walking tour. By 11.00 am, with the first set of visitors (who had been there at dawn) ending their visit to the site, it was free for the exploration of the second lot—to which we belonged.
Touring Machu Pichu—Some General Impressions:
By the end of our three hour tour of Machu Pichu, my mind was adrift with so many impressions and so much understanding of the site and its significance that I was deeply grateful we had such a good guide and such an incredible opportunity. Although I still have not processed all the complexities of the site, now considered one of the New Seven Wonders of the World and a UNESCO heritage site, this is what I came away with.
The site was probably built by an Inca chief called Pachacutek who ruled over Peru until the arrival of the Spaniards, led by Francisco de Pissarro, in 1541. The site was probably chosen for its inaccessibility—it is tucked away in the folds of the Andes mountains amidst towering peaks, one of which the Incas called Machu Pichu (in other words, for the Incas, Machu Pichu, or more properly Huayna Pichu) was the name of the large conical mountain in whose shadow the town was built. The Incas were constantly at war with neighboring dynasties and the importance of finding a site from which to rule that was hidden away and challenging to reach, was imperative.
In addition to functioning as an impenetrable fortress, the site was a means by which to show off the sophistication of Inca architecture. Indeed, you have to be at the spot to marvel at the manner in which rocks weighing tons were hauled up the mountains and brought to the site. In course of time, it was found to be more practical to cut and hew the rocks in situ-hence, quarries developed and refined methods of fashioning volcanic black stones out of the native rock were created—the use of hammers to chisel out ridges that were filled with wooden staves and water was explained to us. When the water froze, the staves expanded and pushed the ridge out to create perfect blocks of stone that were then placed atop each other to build walls—the same black stone walls that are still evident in the Church of Coricancha in Cuzco. Architectural features at Michu Pichu include temples, homes, palaces (to house nobility), etc. In addition to being built with a superb sense of architectural precision and durability, they also show knowledge of astronomy—in particular, the movement of the sun around the earth with special reference to the Summer and Winter Solstice. Hence, the dates of June 21 and December 21 each year bring thousands of pilgrims up the mountain to the site as Machu Pichu was also a sacred space built in reverence with nature and the elements—an understanding of the sun, the moon and their relation to the earth was very important to the Incas. Being that it was a sacred space, there are altars on which sacrificial rituals were carried out—both llamas and human beings were sacrificed in homage to the Gods. Furthermore, the presence of certain creatures that were sacred to the Incas-condors, snakes, pumas, for example—recur in the iconography that one finds at the site.
To walk through the man-made magnificence of Machu Pichu, set amidst the natural wonders of the emerald-clad mountains, is to use up every bit of stamina you possess for there are endless flights of stairs to be scaled, hewn out of giant rocks, some of which are original and others more recently reconstructed. In fact, 60% of Machu Pichu is original, the rest refabricated in accordance with archeological understanding of the manner in which the city was constructed.
So how was this splendid township discovered? Apparently, the lack of fresh water (the only source being the river Urubamba that flows in the canyon below) led to the abandonment of the site by the Incas. Through the centuries, it fell into utter ruin. The Inca Trail that had led to it and the town itself were fully overtaken by the thick tropical vegetation that surrounds this area. Hence, the Spaniards never did find it (it remains a speculation exactly what they might have done, had they found it). It was only in 1911 that Hiram Bingham, a Yale archeologist, arrived in Peru, convinced that there was a Lost City of the Incas called Vicuhambra to be found somewhere in the area of Cuzco. He apparently asked the native people if they knew of any ruins in the vicinity. They led him to the site that had fallen to complete disuse. Bingham returned in 1912 and 1915 to carry out a series of excavations that brought the fabled site to the attention of the world. Hence, he is still credited with discovering the venue in its modern avatar.
Since its discovery, a century ago, Machu Pichu has grabbed the attention of the world. Today, tourists and hikers throng its environs, each taking away something different from it. The crowds can be overwhelming, the heat can be oppressive (especially if one is coming from Cuzco where it is freezing and one is clad like an Eskimo). One keeps peeling layers off as each flight of challenging stairs is conquered. Everywhere, there is something to catch the eye—other than the dominating presence of the magical mountain itself (which hikers still scale on a daily basis), there are steps cut into the mountain side, once used for the cultivation of corn, potatoes, squash, tubers and today covered with vivid green grass. There is flora to catch the eye—bromeliads in vivid colors. There is fauna (llamas and their fawns are everywhere obliging tourists by posing for pictures) that are not found in other parts of the world such as llamas and alpaca (with which I absolutely fell in love for they are adorable).
After two or more hours, Milton took his leave of us. We were left to appreciate the site and do what we wished—meditate, pay, write poetry or make journal notes. We chose to say a prayer (at exactly 2.00 pm) for our friend Mukarram who lay in a coma in a hospital in Lima. About a half hour later, we decided to tread our way down the mountainside to arrive at base from where we could hop into a bus down the mountain back to Agua Caliente.
Machu Pichu had left us filled with wonder and appreciation for the expertise of the Incas. No matter how much one has heard about this spot to actually be there, take it in through photographs (none of which do it justice), walk in the excavated remains of a glorious civilization, was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that cannot easily be replicated. I had first heard of this city through the poem of the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda while I was still an undergraduate in Bombay. Little did I know that I would one day walk in the midst of this singular lost city that he so extolled through his work. We have walked amidst the ruins of other grand civilizations—Pompei in Italy for instance, or Delos in Greece or Mohenjo-Dario in Pakistan—but at this venue, nature and man’s genius blend together so perfectly as to create a completely unique space that awes and fascinates.
After buying a few trinkets and souvenirs, we waited in the Waiting Room of the train station for our 4.12 pm train back to Poroy. The return journey was a re-enactment of our journey in the morning. We were each served a packet of potato crisps and a half-bottle of red or white wine which was a happy surprise to us. Darkness fell swiftly over the mountains and when we arrived at Poroy, the cold hit us again sharply.
We found a taxi that took us directly to our hotel as all of us were thoroughly beat. We had a very early departure from our hotel the next day and decided to make do with the many eats we had been accumulating. Furthermore, when we arrived at our hotel and received WiFi connection, we were devastated by the news of the passing away of our friend Mukarram who suffered a cardiac arrest about a half hour after we had spent time praying for him at Machu Pichu. A swift call to our friend Shahnaz left us even more grief-stricken and hardly able to go through the motions of showering, eating and packing up for our departure upon awaking.
It had been such a memorable day—in so many ways. We talked about our feelings before we prayed for our friend and then fell asleep.
Until manana, adios...
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