Flashback Series: Machu Picchu

Hardly anyone knows how to pronounce it. Not too many people know exactly what country it’s in. Yet nearly everyone knows what it is. The famous Inca 'Lost City' Machu Picchu, one of the modern Seven Wonders of the World, is by far one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen in my life. This is very late, but I'm just going to pick things up where I left off - I'm in South Africa, but let's pretend it's February again and I'm back in South America. 

                As typical budget backpackers do, we (me, Ceci, Jen, and Kate) went to Peru (in February) with the intention of ‘doing’ Machu Picchu on our own – we’d take a combination of bus and train to the base, stay overnight, then do the hike at the crack of dawn to catch the sunrise and spend the day exploring the Inca ruins. However, once we actually got to Cuzco to try and figure it out, we realized how difficult (and expensive) it could end up being. So, we decided to rely on the best travel guides in the world: fellow travelers. Jen found a fantastic hostel for us in Cuzco, full of backpackers either coming from or going to Machu Picchu. By our first night we had spoken to enough people to realize that to do what we wanted to do for the best price: we’d have to do a tour.

                I’d like to start by saying that my first reaction to any type of tour is aversion. I don’t like being told what to do, when to listen, or where to go at all times. I like to explore, learn, and experience on my own. However, I wasn’t traveling on my own – I was in a group. And three of them wanted to do the tour. It was a four day ‘Jungle Trek’ tour, which included three days of hiking and activities before spending the final day on Machu Picchu, all with a guide. As much as I wasn’t a fan of being guided around, I had to admit that the four days would be full of new experiences, I’d be with my friends, and we’d have Machu Picchu taken care of. I handed over the money without a fight. And now I can say it was absolutely worth every penny.

The crew at Machu Picchu

                One of the reasons the tour turned out to be so much fun was that we had a fantastic group. I mean, we all know on each tour there’s that one person who annoys everybody by complaining left and right, exclaiming loudly at everything that doesn’t require attention, throwing tantrums and causing embarrassment to everyone in the group (not to mention the country that person represents). You all know who I’m talking about, right? Well – we didn’t have one of those! I liked each and every one of us, and I think the others felt the same. We had a German couple, two Aussie boys, the four of us American girls, an Irish guy, and a German guy, along with our guide, Ricardo. (Random fun fact: the German guy, Robin, decided to join our tour after meeting our group at the hostel breakfast table. Why did we hit it off so well? It turned out he had spent a high school exchange semester in...Lake Crystal, Minnesota. Not even 20 minutes away from my hometown. Talk about coincidence). We were all around the same age and seemed to have the same chill attitude – we were there to experience the magic of Machu Picchu and have a fun time doing it. We were excited. The vibe was excellent. We were in for a fun ride. 

And a ride it was, quite literally. Our first morning was actually kind of miserable, but only for an hour. We started off by getting picked up at 6 am, then driving through the morning fog into the farmlands of the Andes, while winding up and up and up the mountain, climbing in altitude. When we finally reached the top, of what seemed to be in the middle of a cloud, it was cold, rainy, and foggy. The perfect weather for…mountain biking? Definitely not at first, but it was what we had signed up for, so to begin our adventure we put on some protective gear, layered up against the cold temperatures, and got on our bikes. All we were doing was biking down the hill we had just driven up, in order to reach the valley where we would begin our hike. Although it was pretty chilly and wet on the first half of the ride, once we cleared some of the cloud it turned into a lovely, and much warmer, view. We biked on the side of the road, mostly in single file, as we had to worry about other traffic following us and coming up the hill (and let me tell you, driving in South America is ten times more terrifying than in the States. And that’s when you’re in a bus, let alone a bicycle). 

First day bike ride.

Shower. Roughing it.

So, what started off cold and rainy ended up pleasant and cloudy, with beautiful views of the Peruvian Andes mountain valleys. Our first day of hiking consisted of trekking uphill to a little family café for lunch, then a few more hours of hiking up to our evening destination. We were being hosted by a woman who lived in a place only accessible by hike, which meant she was a very, very fit woman, considering we were all pretty wiped out by the time we reached it. The Andean people are naturally adaptable to hiking long distances, which they credit to a special plant. Ricardo explained to us the old tradition of chewing on coca leaves, which are endemic to the Andes. Most people would better know coca leaves as the source of cocaine, which it becomes once chemically altered and processed. However, the coca leaves themselves were and still are believed to provide extra energy and strength to those who chew on them continuously. There is even a local brand of coca tea that is produced and drunk regularly for its noted energizing source. 

That evening we all had a great dinner, after our much needed showers, and enjoyed getting to know each other while relaxing after our big day. We even had a power outage (not uncommon in the Andes) that made the night even more fun, especially when Ricardo began telling ancient Inca legends. We were even a little disappointed when the power finally came back on. We headed to bed early, ready for the next day's adventure.

Morning view from our room.

The next day was our big hiking day, so after waking up to our incredible view in the middle of the mountain jungle, we had a delicious breakfast and took off around mid-morning. We had to hike up a little longer before hiking back down, as we began to delve further into the mountains. At one of our pit stops our guide decided to give us some 'traditional' face paint, made from a special kind of berry that he mixed with water. I doubt the designs on our faces were actually traditional, but it was a fun break and a nice excuse to paint on everyone. We even got to return the favor and paint on him. The joke was on us though, since we weren't aware that the 'paint' was a natural sun repellent. One of the girls had 'I love Peru' sunburnt on her arm for three days.  

Face painting results. 

Hiking in the Andes.

Our hike that day was long, but we had a nice two hour break in some hammocks at our lunch stop - most of our meals consisted of a soup, some vegetable salad, rice, and some tasty meat. We also always had a pitcher of freshly squeezed tropical fruit juice. Perfect food for hungry hikers. Once we got ourselves going again we had another three hours of hiking, along with crossing a river in a pulley cart because it was too high, until we reached our reward: a hot springs pool. 

Hiking break.

The hot springs pool, though not actually very hot, was a very nice way to end a long day of hiking. We met up with another group doing a similar trek, and discovered we'd all be staying in the same small town that night. Ricardo nicknamed the little town 'Sin City', thanks to the seedy little Latin dance club located on one of the four streets in the town. We had a fun (and mildly innocent) night in Sin City dancing and trying to imitate all of the locals doing their Latin dancing - with little success, as you might have guessed.

Our third day started off with an adrenaline rush (though some didn't start the morning at 100 percent, if you know what I mean) as we strapped ourselves up in harnesses and put our helmets on in preparation for our ziplining tour. It was my first ziplining experience, and I'm pretty sure it will be very difficult to beat flying over the Andes, so perhaps it will be my last. We had a great day for it, and everything about the tour was well done, from the guides to the course to the length. We were even able to zipline upside down. I loved every minute but felt it went by much too fast. I guess that's what you get when you're flying across mountain valleys at high speeds. 

Ziplining. 

After ziplining we had a bit more hiking to do before reaching our lunch spot. While eating, we encountered our first major downpour, which led to a impromptu game of cards while waiting it out. We set out on our last hike of the trip, which was actually just walking on a straight trail through the mountain passes. Machu Picchu is the mountain just behind me on the right, which we came into clear view of once we crossed this bridge. 

After walking the last few kilometers, we reached Aguas Calientes, our final destination. We all headed straight for the hot showers, then got things ready for the morning. That evening spent some time exploring the cute little town that was purely serviced for tourists, complete with inflated tourist prices, and had a final group dinner with Ricardo. We were exhausted, but excited and ready.

Finally, it was Machu Picchu day. At 4 am our alarms went off, and we were up in the cold, rain, and dark to get ourselves and our bags ready to go. The gates to enter Machu Picchu opened at 6 am, but to reach the gates we had two options: take the bus or do the hike.  I’ll let you guess which one I chose. If you need help guessing, please look at the picture. 

Success at 6 am. 

Yep, the boys and I ‘took the stairs,’ all 8 kilometers of them. I think it was close to 2,000 steps, which I decided were much much worse than the stairs we had to run for training during university swimming. Plus it was dark. And in the rain. But worth it! We did the climb in less than an hour, the rain stopped halfway through, and made it to the gate by 6 am to meet up with the rest of our group. It was time for Machu Picchu, after three days of anticipation.

                So, what is Machu Picchu, exactly? I have a link here if you want to read a little more about it. Basically Machu Picchu, which means ‘Wise Mountain’ in Quechua, the language of the Inca empire, became a city of refuge and hiding for the Inca rulers when the Spaniards invaded and tried to conquer them in the sixteenth century. Machu Picchu was so well hidden within the mountains that the Spaniards never found them, and the city was left in peace. However, the citizens mysteriously disappeared without a trace, and Machu Picchu seemed destined to be lost forever…until 1911 when Yale professor and explorer Hiram Bingham followed a hunch and found the ‘lost city of the Incas.’ Today it is one of the most visited tourist sites in the world, and there is still much research and restoration being done in order to learn more about such a wonderfully preserved historical site.  

After getting our tickets and entering the gates, we finally laid our eyes upon the famous Lost City. It was foggy and cloudy, but considering we were visiting it during the rainy season, we were incredibly lucky not to be dumped on. But, we were there regardless, and we were excited. And so, so tired. Ricardo had about two hours of guiding to do for us before he left the tour and went back to Cuzco, so we tried our very very best to listen to his stories, but it was tough. We followed him around the complex, where he pointed out places like the university, the temple, and the farming terraces. And of course, we checked out the llamas who graciously allowed us to intrude on their home.  

New best friend.

 After Ricardo left us, we had the rest of the day to finish exploring the city, and could head back to Aguas Calientes anytime we wanted before the complex closed at 5. We had pre-booked tickets to climb Huayna Picchu, one of the peaks next to Machu Picchu, since they only allow about 400 people to climb it a day, in two different time slots. The hike wasn't as bad as the early morning one had been, but it was still pretty steep (see picture below) and strenuous. The views from the top, looking over the entirety of Machu Picchu, were stunning. Sidenote: Do you see the zigzag line next to the city? That's the bus route, compared to the basically vertical hike that goes straight up the center.

Hiking Huayna Picchu.

After Huayna Picchu, which took about three hours total, we headed back to the city and I took some time to myself to wander, take pictures, and think. I sat for a while and tried to picture the city in its prime, wondering what the people would have looked like, what daily life was like, how much it had changed, and how in the world they built it to look so perfect. Once again, I thought about how lucky I was and how many people wished they could see what I was seeing at that moment. 

The most peaceful and humbling moment I had on Machu Picchu came at the end of the afternoon. After my hike up at 5 AM, then the tour, then exploring, and then Huayna Picchu…I was pretty much done with the mountain. And wiped out. But Ceci wanted to hike back up the main mountain in order to see the lookout and get ‘the picture’. It was entirely my own choice, but the stubbornness in me wasn’t going to let the others see something cool that I missed due to being grumpy. So despite my very anti-lookout perspective, (I mean, I’d been staring at this thing all day by that point), I climbed. For the third time that day, I climbed. I reached the top, saw the picture perfect postcard view obscured by some clouds, said “I’m done” out loud, and then plopped down on the far end of a ledge to stare and take pictures. I was so done that I didn’t even stick with the girls to take pictures and they actually thought I had gone back down. But then, after about a half hour of just staring, admiring, and thinking about the incredible past four days, something amazing happened.

The clouds cleared. And the sun came out. 

We won. Everything was worth it – the hike, the cold, the climb, the fatigue – all for that moment. I was done. And so happy I’d hiked up in the rain and the cold, to add to the final feeling of satisfaction. It was absolutely stunning. I was swept up in the magic, the intrigue, and the mystery of this incredible place at that moment. 

The rest of the evening we spent relaxing in Aguas Calientes, after eating a nice meal together and getting ready to say goodbye. Our late train ride back to Cuzco consisted of nearly everyone on the train passing out…except for our group, who chose to stay up, celebrate with some adult beverages, and serenade each other with songs from our home countries. (I did not partake, I might add, and tried to keep the volume down for the sake of everyone else on the train like the good citizen I try so hard to be. My efforts didn’t really work.) We said goodbye when we all got back to the hostel because the next morning we got up early to head to Puno. Our adventure trek was over, but we had more than enough memories, photos, bug bites, and sore muscles to remind us of our incredible four days spent in the sacred mountains of Machu Picchu.