Day 4 - Machu Picchu

Day four dawned bright and beautiful, and we felt so much better it was unbelievable. Which was good because today was Machu Picchu day. I got up early and went down to the bar to use the Internet and update my blog and upload some pictures. Then I went to meet Jan at for breakfast. Some people from our group left early to take a bus tour which would meet up with our train later. We opted for the later start. We boarded buses for the train station in Poroy. We got on Harvey's bus and he regaled us with interesting facts as always. Since today is All Saints Day, there are special celebrations. We heard fireworks early this morning, and along the route to the train station, people were selling breads shaped like horses and babies. The young boys get the horses, and girls get the babies. Later in the afternoon, people go to the cemetery and visit their families. He said musicians hang out there and people pay them to play the music their parents and grandparents liked for them. It's apparently a very profitable day for them. There was also a large open-air market selling all sorts of vegetables and meats for the celebrations. I'm not sure how they manage to have so much food just sitting out because there are dogs running around everywhere! Almost everywhere you look, there are dogs in the streets. They don't seem to cause any problems, and they sure know how to keep out of the way of the crazy drivers. We were greeted at the train station with drinks (they seem to want to keep us as lubricated as possible) and some native dancers. We boarded the train, the "Hiram Bingham", named for the man that revealed Machu Picchu to the world. Notice I didn't say discovered Machu Picchu. Apparently people knew about it, but no one understood its commercial value as a tourist attraction. This train is about as luxurious as a train can possibly be. Which is nice because it's a three and a half hour trip from Cuzco to Machu Picchu. The views were interesting. We saw farms and mountains and small towns. Some people waved and some made rude gestures. I guess attitudes towards tourists vary. The train pulled into Aguas Calientes (Hot Springs) which is the small town and market where you get the bus up to the site of Machu Picchu. The road up to the site is only wide enough for one bus in most spots, and sometimes just barely wide enough. I swear there were times I looked straight down could only see the valley far, far below where there should have been a shoulder. There were a few places the buses could pass and the drivers seem, for the most part to manage their meetings very well. There was one place where we had to stop and the other bus had to back up to let us pass.

When you round the last curve and see the front of Machu Picchu, it's just amazing. To think that people with technology not far advanced from the stone age were able to carve this incredible city out of rock is just unbelievable. The weather was perfect. Clear and warm. This is the beginning of the rainy season, and they warned us to expect at least a shower or two while we were there, but the sun was shining and it was a perfect day for taking pictures. Which we did. A lot. It will take a long time just to sort through them and decide which ones to keep.

There were three tours: The hard walk, the normal walk, and the easy walk. We went with the normal walk. After the way we felt yesterday, we didn't feel inclined to tempt fate by taking the hard walk. We were glad we did, too. The hard walk went up to the Sun Gate, and looking up from Machu Picchu, it looks like a looong way, and it's away from the main site, so it seemed counterproductive. The people that took that walk seemed to really like it, though. We got to see the site up close, and take pictures of the terraces on the front and on the side that faces the Urubamba River. One thing the Incas didn't bother with were railings. I guess they figured if you weren't smart enough to keep from falling into the river, you needed an Incan Darwin Award.

Our guide, Marilu (I have no idea if that's her real name) was excellent and showed us many interesting things at the ruins. The difference in the stone work was remarkable. Some used very large stones and obviously required a great deal of craftsmanship to build. Those were mostly religious buildings. Some used smaller stones with mortar, and showed much less skill. Those were things like homes for the workers. Some were in between, using smaller stones, less polished, and with less perfect joints. Those were homes for the nobility (which were higher than the workers' homes), or official buildings. Much of the details and purposes of the artifacts at Machu Picchu have been lost, and we have only the speculation of historians as to their purpose or original appearance. For instance, some buildings appear to have had roofs, and some left open, but no one knows for certain. There's a building whose stone work makes it look like a religious or at least very important building that only contains two small vessels. Hiram Bingham thought they were for using like a mortar to grind corn, or something. When the vessels filled with water, though, historians noticed they reflected the Sun and stars in a particular way so they think it was a type of astronomical observatory. There are actually several of those of various types. There's a room where the sun comes through a window a certain way on the Summer and Winter Solstice, and there's a sundial at the very top of the site. In fact, it's more than a sundial. It shows the equinoxes, solstices, and other astronomical events. Our guide told us a terrible accident happened there while a company was filming a beer commercial. We assumed someone had fallen off the side into the river gorge. As it turns out a camera fell and chipped a little piece off of the stone. I guess you can replace a person, but there's only one Machu Picchu sundial stone.

We headed back to the site entry point (I think it's called the Sanctuary Lodge) and had tea and snacks. Then we hopped on a bus to head down to the market. The market is a lot of stalls selling the same stuff they sell on the streets in Cuzco, only for more money. We had to get at least some tee shirts, though, to commemorate our visit. After we got taken for several Yankee dollars, we reboarded the train for the return ride.

Immediately they came around offering pisco sours, a strong local drink. Quite a few people accepted the offer. Jan, Sam, Dad and I were all exhausted, and ate some of what was offered, and drank some water, and just made the best of the long ride back. It felt really good to get into bed.