Machu Picchu! (Added bonus: hike of death & Richard Simmons)

Yay Machu Picchu!!!! This is what we were thinking as we groggily woke up at 4:45am this morning in order to catch the 5:30am bus to the ruins. We had heard that if we went early we'd miss the hoards of tourists and have the ruins mostly to ourselves. Not true! We stumbled to the bus station in the dark (the stars were beautiful) only to discover that 200 other tourists had the same idea as us. Local women knew it, too, and were prepared with baskets full of orange and banana cakes, sandwiches, mate de coca tea and candy (to help with altitude sickness), you name it. We couldn't refuse some good orange cake now, could we? We boarded one of the 8 buses that were there to shuttle us to the top of the mountain. The road passed along the rio, across a bridge, and then started zigzagging up the mountain... after about 20 minutes the sky had lightened a bit and we could make out juuuuust how high up we were (and just how narrow the dirt road was that we were on!). We arrived at the main entrance gate and had to wait a few minutes before the started letting the crowds in. It was a bit chilly up there at the top of the mountain, but surprisingly not as cold as I thought (and later I'd be really happy I'd dressed so lightly since it was already burning hot at about 8am).

We were good little girls and followed the ¨no food¨ policy... though we did bring a ton of food since it's ridiculously overpriced at the cafe up there, we checked it all at the storage room before we entered the ruins. However, later we realized that everyone else had brought food anyway and they got to have nice little picnics on top of Huayna Picchu and we didn't. Boo. So much for rule following. I really liked the other rule printed on the back of the entrance ticket, though, which specifically stated that walking sticks could only be used by ¨old people¨. Way to be blunt.

Experts aren't actually quite sure what the purpose of Machu Picchu was, and can only made educated guesses. Past theories have included the belief that it was a city of chosen women, since many female skeletons were discovered there, but later it was found that the city had close to a 50/50 ratio of males and females. Other theories are that it was built as a prison for people who had committed terrible crimes against the Inkans, that it was a defensive retreat, or that it was the original birthplace of the Inkan people. Today many people believe it was the estate of Inca Pachacuti. It was built around 1450 but was abandoned only 100 years later. It's believed that the Inkans there were wiped out by smallpox before the Spanish conquistadors even arrived. The Spanish never discovered the ruins, and so they remain very well preserved compared to other Inka sites. The jungle grew over the ruins and it was only in 1911 that they were ¨discovered¨again by Hiram Bingham (even though some local Quechuans were living amongst the ruins at the time) while he was on a quest to find the last refuge of the Inkans during the Spanish conquest. Because of the vast numbers of tourists who visit each day (sometimes up to 2,500 people), Machu Picchu has been placed on the most 100 Endangered Sites in the World watch list We're just some more tourists added to that giant mass... but at the very least we tried to respect the rules and minimize our physical impact on the ruins, as should every other visitor.

Anyway... once we got through the gates, we made our way up to The Hut of the Caretaker of Funerary Rock from where the classic Machu Picchu postcard picture was taken. Of course we had to take the same picture.

We also chanced upon some strategically placed photogenic llamas, who may or may not have been placed there on purpose for the tourists. They patiently held position as I photographed them gazing over the ruins in the background. There was a baby llama, too, which was super cute Llamas, alpacas, vicuñas... Peru has most of the camelid family and it makes me happy since they're all so funny looking. Down below us to our right we could see some of the cultivation terraces going down the hillside. The greens were so vivid. The terraces seemed to go down forever, and I later discovered that there are actually still some more terraces way down below, almost at the river, which are still being excavated. All around us were those beautiful, jagged mountains again, this time mostly covered in jungle growth... some far away mountains were snow-capped and since the sky was incredibly clear so early in the morning we could see for miles and miles.

Despite the fact that there were more tourists at 5:30am than we were expecting, I still think it was a great time to view the ruins and surrounding landscape just because the sky was sooo clear and the morning light striking the ruins was so amazing.

We then made our way down into the main ruins area through the prison, industrial, and residential areas. It was almost maze-like at some points. I couldn't quite tell where I was within the ruins since I was just surrounded by stone walls and there were a lot of twists and turns that just led to dead ends/empty rooms.

Again I somehow managed to lose Rachel again... at one point I discovered her a level below me while I was videotaping, but by the time I made it down to where she was, she had disappeared. We finally bumped into each other again and decided to head toward Huayna Picchu (the large, steep mountain the background of the ruins) before it reached the maximum of 400 hikers per day.

We had to wait in line to register to hike up Huayna Picchu. It felt a bit like Disneyland, like we were waiting in line for the Matterhorn, ¨jungle style¨... especially with the large group of Japanese tourists in front of us. While in line we met a 20 year old guy from Newport Beach who was touring around Peru with a group of photographers to build his portfolio... and as an added bonus, our new friend Philip introduced us to his hilarious guide, Marcos, who just happened to look like a Peruvian version of Donny Osmond and Richard Simmons. Philip told us how even though they'd traveled just about everywhere in Peru already, Marcos always seemed to know everyone... to illustrate this point, Marcos happened to disappear just as Philip was telling us this, and suddenly he reappeared in the registration booth and closed the gate on us, telling us he was terribly sorry but there were too many people on the mountain and we couldn't enter. Marcos ended up adopting us on our hike up Huayna Picchu, producing an Andean flute out of the blue and serenading us with some cheerful music as we hiked up and up and up the Inkan stone steps. I felt like I was on another planet... Richard Simmons prancing along the trail behind us, background music to our hike? Haha.

The hike to the top was steep. Our guidebook said it was steep, yet you did NOT have to be related to a mountain goat to climb it. I disagree slightly and I think Rachel does even moreso. I am smiling here, but my thighs were hurting and I was covered in sweat. Machu Picchu was getting smaller and smaller in the background the further up we hiked...

After an hour of climbing up and down (but mostly up) tiny Inkan stone steps, ducking under a rock, and climbing up a small ladder, we made it to the TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN! The view was absolutely amazing... you could see the tiny ruins of Machu Picchu below, the river even further down, as well as all the majestic mountains surrounding us. I couldn't stop taking pictures. Well, actually I could since my camera battery started to die very unexpectedly and I had almost filled up my SD memory card that I'd just bought the day before. But at least I'd already taken pictures of almost everything at that point. Once at the top, Richard Simmons directed a photo shoot of Rachel and I on a rock that had a prime viewpoint over the ruins of Machu Picchu.

He then hopped and skipped about the rocks a bit, mysteriously produced some bottles of water out of nowhere, before asking us if we were ready to go with him and Philip on a second hike to the Temple of the Moon on the backside of the mountain. We went along, not quite knowing what we were getting ourselves into. Richard assured us the hike was all downhill, even the return bit. He was true to his word, partially... it was all downhill to the ruins. Just not back up. As we hiked down, down, down I could feel the air get thicker as we trekked into the cloud forest. Here and there we came across some steep ladders and 30 or more tiny stone steps carved out of a single boulder that we had to walk down. Donny pointed out the tinest orchids in the world on a tree branch as we paused to take a breather... the flowers were about 1/4 the size of my pinky fingernail. We finally got to the ruins, which are really well preserved for how old they are. The temple is essentially a giant cave with ¨cleansing¨areas carved into the rock inside... we weren't clear if they were for spiritual or physical cleansing. Our floutist friend said that once he'd spent the night there (though I thought it was illegal to sleep over in the ruins) and watched the moon rise while hanging out in the cave. He also mentioned that he'd managed to run (not walk) the Inka Trail in 8 hours during a competition once. Normally it takes hikers 4 days to hike.

Our return journey turned out to be entirely uphill. From the lower backside of the mountain all the way back up and around to Machu Picchu again. Richard lied! He said the Peruvian tradition was to just enjoy the surroundings and not think about the actual hike itself, which makes sense, though I still couldn't help wondering when we'd ever get back to the registration gate. It had to be a good hour and a half hike up tiny stone steps... and up some more... and some more... neverending! I was soaking wet with sweat, and even though my thighs were screaming ¨help me!¨I was enjoying the hike just for the adventure of it and once we got up out of the cloud forest again and could see the views of the mountains it was just so gorgeous. I kept pushing myself to go further and faster because there were people on the trail who were older than I was... some in their late 50s or 60s... and I thought if they could do it, I should be able to, too! For some reason I only drank about half of my water bottle during the 3.5 hours of hiking... I'm not sure why I wasn't thirsty, but it seems to be a common thing for me on this trip. Rachel drinks about 2 bottles of water for my 2 sips. I hope that nothing is wrong with me, but I just don't feel thirsty very often and I don't seem to be feeling bad from it, so I'm guessing it's okay. Just to be safe, though, I drank a whole bunch after we finally finished the hike.

Anyway, after that hike we were pretty much pooped. It was only noon. We had originally planned to do another hike to the Sun Gate, but at that point Rachel's hip tendonitis was acting up and she was not in any shape to do another hike and hurt herself even more. We enjoyed our cheap lunch on the picnic benches outside the entrance gate while everyone else around us ate $10 sandwhiches and drank $7 drinks. I am so excited that we had the chance to visit Machu Picchu and do those insane hikes... the only things I regret are not bringing my Nikon camera (South America is not as dangerous as I thought it was) and not having another day to go back and explore the ruins some more. I feel accomplished that we managed to hike Huayna Picchu and see the Temple of the Moon, and I am really lucky to have had the chance to see the Inkan ruins of Machu Picchu. Even though they are a bit too touristy for my liking, the entire complex is incredibly fascinating and beautiful... because of its interesting Inkan history, complex stonework, and perfect location in the mountains. I need to go back... next time with a better camera and more time