RTW: Exchange in Chile

Awe in the lost city

It was all I imagined and more. Getting there was a job itself and the train ride seemed neverending -even despite the awesome landscapes presented all over the place (below). The atmosphere in the train was expecting at the very least, everyone tried to marvel the sights and the other ruins along the way but all we really cared about at that point was getting to the damn lost city. The train made zigzag stops that took a total of about 40 minutes to navigate and it did not help at all the anxiousness of people.

Arriving to Machu Picchu (note the correct spelling) required the trip to the mountain itself and the options were to either hike or take a bus to the top. Having arrived with the later tourist train (thus the site being full of them already) and with a huge headache either from the Pisco sours (drink from grape brandy Pisco, national drink in Peru) the day before or too little sleep in the past few days, I took the bus. Walking down had to do for the experience part.

There was one more obstacle: the ticket to the site. The only functioning ATM in the Machu Picchu pueblo (known as Aguas Calientes) only gave out dollars and the ticket at the gate could only be bought in soles. "Luckily" there was a jewel store in the facilities that could go to the lenghts of exchanging the money -at 3 soles per dollar as the actual course was about 3,35. So I paid over 10 percent extra, cool. At this point, having paid some here and some there, I just started laughing. The scene from Lethal Weapon 2 creeped into mind where Joe Pesci goes: "They F*** you at the drive in, they F*** you at the.." Just hope that fat peruvian bureaucrate chokes on the entrecôte I just bought him.. At least I think I scared the lady in the jewel shop. Anyway, the price to pay was worth it easily. The sight that I had seen so many times in pictures was there! With no clouds, I could see the whole place in all its glory (see pic). Even the tourist masses did not bother me at that point. Probably the most impressive moment of the whole trip was there and I just laid back for a while. It is just out of this world, I can not describe it better. I was left in awe of the place. Though my stop in Peru was intended for nothing else than this, I suddenly did not care what else the country would have had to offer me.



First of all, the whole place is indeed carefully hidden. No wonder that even the greedy conquistadores didn't find it. It's difficult to imagine the Incas building the site up there, a few kilometers up a very steep wall from the river Urubamba valley. And around it there are similar mountains all around the place. I had trouble breathing just taking my time with the smaller steps.. The site itself is built on a small field between two peaks and it houses all kinds of wonders from the temple of the Sun to the ceremoneal baths. And it was all carefully planned to serve a purpose, the windows placed in a given manner, etc. The lamas wandering around just completed the picture of the great site.




For the future, the Inca Trail, probably the best known hike in the continent is a must. Now I had no time (3-4 days) or gear for it -and it was still closed for cleaning. I saw some unbelievable fotos of it in my hostel walls and that is definately something to see and experience. There are Inca ruins everywhere along the way and Machu Picchu is just the grande finale.


The day was nicely finished with the walk down the mountain. Arriving at the town the rain started falling, and it did not seem to have an end. Once again I had luck! After a filling menu del dia it was just another neverending train trip to Cuzco...

posted by Kassu @ 12:34 PM