Machu Picchu

THIS POST OUT OF CHRONOLOGY BECAUSE IT WAS UPDATED ON JULY 16 ( with  video clip).

 

 

 

I have been wanting to go to Machu Picchu for a very long time. That is a lot of expectation.

 

The day started with the usual hassle of trying to get boys to eat eggs. I think I did something awful to chickens in my last life. I can't tell you how many egg traumas we have had this trip. 

 

Then to the bus lines. I luckily bought our bus tickets the night before so we only had ONE line, the bus line, to deal with in the morning. I think we caught a 9:00 AM bus...I thought for sure we would miss the crowds...and I think we probably did, but there was still a healthy line. (This starting late thing pretty much became out habit. In the rainforest our guide asked, what time in the morning we would like to have breakfast, maybe 6:15? Our reply was: NO. Then he was like, 7:15?...and we were leaning towards NO again, when he said, "7:15 is the latest breakfast." But more on the rainforest later). 

 

The buses (and trains) run superbly. They are fast and efficient and high tech--QR codes, passport scanners (you need a passport for EVERYTHING in Peru). Then we take the 8KM bus ride basically riding the edge of every road. It felt a little like riding up a mountain while almost falling off, at the same time. Machu Picchu is really high up there. Like, really, really high. 

 

When we got off the bus, we were met with a mass of people milling about the gates of Machu Picchu. There is no bathroom in the site, so that was the next line up. The cost to use the bathroom is 1 sol (60 cents CDN). 

 

Then you line up to enter Machu Pichhu. You need to buy tickets months in advance. We hired a guide, stood in line, and walked into the massive ruin. 

 

Machu Picchu is massive. And it sprawls out on the mountain, with paths and building going up surrounding mountains. They have not unearthed all the ruins there yet, and probably never will. 

 

I could spend paragraphs and paragraphs talking about the ruin. It has to be experienced, really. I think everyone would take away something different. The site is highly regulated with lots of employees watching to make sure that people obey the posted signs and don't cross into restricted areas. I was sad about the restricted areas...it would have been wonderful to just walk around the ruin freely. But having said that there was still a lot of places to explore...the stone work is astounding. 

 

To me the real feat of Machu Picchu isn't that it was built, or that the Inca chiseled the stones out the mountain quarry, fitted them seamlessly together to create massive structures, including the unseen foundation and retaining wall systems, or that they ran clean water through the the city and connected this city to the Inca kingdom via dozens of Inca Trails. The real feat of Machu Picchu is that someone looked at that high, high mountain and  thought, "I'm going to build a massive structure up there." 

 

That is a bold imagination and unstoppable human will. Machu Picchu is a marvel of human ingenuity. And I am so glad I had the chance to walk where master dreamers and builders once walked. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

At Machu Picchu at Last!

Going through the the front gate. The guy with the umbrella is our guide, Gilbert.

Machu Picchu

So many stairs

Notice the difference in the stones...indication of class

Llamas live in Machu Picchu

Tourist shot

The place is huge...it is said that there is no bad picture at Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu

This stone in the plaza is the same shape as the mountain in the background (covered with clouds right now).  

Yes, I climbed all those steps and inclines.