Day 35: Machu Picchu!!

2/28/2017

Today was an early morning starting out at 4am in our hotel in Urubamba. We were picked up and brought to the train station in Ollyantambo where we caught the Vista dome train. The train ride was fantastic. It followed the Urubamba river all the way to Aguas Caliente, and thankfully the rain held off so the views were amazing. They fed us, had comfortable seats, and nice music that made for a great ride. As we descended along the river, we could see the obvious change in ecosystems from Low Highlands to cloud forest. The treeline went from bare mountain rock to dense forest to tall jungle. As we continued down in elevation, the jungle continued to grow in size. The trees were larger and the forest was more dense. It wasn't quite the same as what I saw in Belize, but I think this is because of the altitude change (and obviously I am in a very different part of the world too.) There were orchids, palm trees, and birds.

After the train ride we met our guide in Aguas Caliente and caught the bus up to Machu Picchu. The road was windy and steep going up the mountain. When we arrived, we went left up the hill to the watch gaurd hut where the classic overview of Machu Picchu is. It was cloudy with misty and drizzling when we arrived. Everyone was wearing ponchos and raincoats. But it didn't matter. Once we reached the top, just through the clouds, Machu Picchu could be seen in all of its glory. It was an amazing site to see. Honestly, if it had been perfectly sunny and blue skies I would have felt like I was getting special treatment. Most of the year is unpredictable weather with rain and clouds with short bursts of hot sun. The weather is so unpredictable in the Andes, and that's exactly what we got. The guide took us around the entire site explaining the meaning, significance, culture, etc. of the site. Here are some facts that I remember from the tour and interesting information about them:
    ▪ There are 480 houses with 4 to 10 people in each family. Therefore, they believe there were about 1,000 people living at Machu Picchu.
    ▪The sun was very important in predicting when to start planting crops. This was obvious by both the sun dial and the sun temple built for the winter (June) solstice.
    ▪Natural rain was used for all of the farming, not irrigation. The way the Inca's terraced the hillsides and layered rocks with sand to create the irrigation was amazing for their time. They were incredible farmers, astronomers, and engineers which is all evident by their structures.
    ▪Machu Picchu was built 1440. To me this seemed so recent! Especially after exploring Mayan ruins that existed in BC that were thousands of years old.
    ▪70% of the site is original! I found this astounding. Some of the houses had been restored to show what they looked like and the town had looked like before. Some were completely restored, whereas others had not been touched and we're still on rubble. The stones hadn't even been moved to show the contrast of how the site was found.
     ▪The condor, jaguar, and snake were also very important to the Inca. The condor represented the Highland  (the sky), the jaguar the middle land, and the snake the lowland.

After three tour we ate lunch, then went back into the park to explore ourselves. The clouds had cleared up a lot throughout the tour, but we're rolling back in after lunch. We did the Inca Bridge trail where an ancient bridge that was built out of stone for protection of the city was built. Afterwards, the clouds continued to clear up. We walked around site some more, mostly enjoying the view from the watch gaurd hut. By mid afternoon, there was hardly anyone left at the site. Then by about 3:30 the clouds had completely cleared the site and the view was incredible. I ran back up (a very steep and long staircase) just to see it one last time. By 4:30 the gaurds were ushering people out of the park for closing. We took the bus back down and checked into our hotel.

We rested for a while, then got dinner which was a delicious four course meal that was included with the stay! Afterwards, we headed to bed after an exhausting day, and for another long day at Machu Picchu tomorrow.

If you're ever planning a trip to Machu Picchu  (which I recommend you do in the next four years as our tour guide told us that they will be closing off most of the site to tourists to preserve it because of erosion) here's how to do it. I found it very confusing, so I hope this helps!
• Go to Cusco (probably fly here from Lima)
• From Cusco, it's recommended that you stay either here or in the sacred Valley for at least 2 days to acclimate to the climate. Here are the different altitudes:
     • Cusco: 9,300ft (3,100m)
     • Sacred Valley: 7,200ft (2,400m)
     • Machu Picchu: 6,100ft (2,040m)
• From Cusco or the Sacred Valley, go to Ollyantambo (a town in the Sacred Valley) to take the train to Aguas Caliente. (Aguas Caliente is the town at the base of Machu Picchu.)
     *Note: only a small day pack can be taken on the train so you have to leave your luggage at your hotel in either Cusco or the Sacred Valley and then get it when you return.
• Stay two nights in AG, one before and after you go to MP so that you get a whole day there without having to go late or leave early for your train.
• From AG (in the morning of going to MP), take a bus (about 25min) or walk (about an hr) to MP.
     *Note: it is 100% worth getting a guide. Go early in the morning  (first bus is at 5:30am and you'll see the sunrise) as its not very crowded yet, plus, an awesome sunrise. Then, do a guided tour. Bring a sack lunch as you can leave the park once to eat (there's a restaurant at the top but it's very expensive.) After the tour, wander around by yourself. Most people also leave around lunch time to catch the train back, so if you stay past 2pm, there will be 1/4 of the people there. There are also two hikes to do that are free. One to the Inca Bridge (1hr round trip) and the other to the Sun Gate (2hrs round trip.) Also hiking the two peaks (idk the exact names but one is the young mountain and one is the old) costs extra and tickets must be purchased in advance.
• Go back to Aguas Caliente when the park closes to stay the night.
• Return by train the next morning.

*Note: this is different than what we did because of our tour package, but it's what I recommend for doing by yourself if you only have 1 day at MP.
• Repeat

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