Cuzco and Machu Picchu

Last week I made my first trip outside of Lima with my fellow UNK students since we arrived in Perú eight weeks ago. The destination was Cusco and the world famous ruins of Machu Picchu. I had been looking forward to this trip ever since I decided to study abroad and was very excited to go.

My flight left at 8:00a.m. last Thursday, so my host brother and I got up before dawn to make the trip to the airport. I made it through security with no problems and my flight took off on schedule. The flight was very enjoyable. I had a window seat and a fantastic view. As we took off, I was able to look down on Lima and recognize many landmarks of the city. One landmark in particular was the "hill" that stands close to UPC campus. Before visiting the Andes I had thought this huge mound of earth to be more of a mountain than a hill. But as we flew over Lima I saw the real Andes mountains rising up into the clouds, making the hill next to campus look like a prairie dog mound. When the plane got above the clouds, snow capped mountains more than 18,000 feet in the air began appearing in the distance. It was a very impressive sight.

Coca Tea

The flight lasted an hour and a half, and when we landed I stepped of the plane and felt cool air for the first time in two months. It was actually quite refreshing. February is the rainy season for Cusco but we lucked out, and only had minor showers during the days we were there. The elevation at Cusco is 11,200 feet and I felt the difference in the air immediately, but I had taken some elevation sickness pill beforehand and they must have worked because felt fine the whole trip. From the airport our travel guide took us to our hotel. The we were served some coca tea (plant from which cocaine is made) which is supposed to help with the elevation adjustment as well. We spent the morning acclimating in the hotel.

During the afternoon we toured around the city of Cusco, which was the capital of the Incan Empire and a key point of Spanish conquest. The first stop was the Temple of Coricancha (Temple of Gold in quechua) with a Spanish convent built on top. This theme of Inca foundations with Spanish buildings on top was common throughout the trip. In the temple/convent we saw many paintings and some great examples of Inca/Colonial Spanish architecture. The Incan temples were built from only the best stones cut exactly to fit together without mortar like a puzzle. Instead of mortar, pegs and holes were formed in the stones to hold them together. The Incan structures, though hundreds of years older, are in better shape than the Spanish buildings on top of them. In fact, 25 years ago when a strong earthquake hit Cusco, many Spanish structures fell while the Incan ones stood strong.

Convent. You can see original Incan wall on the left side. It was drizzling.

Cathedral. Poor photo but its the only one I got.

The other tourist sight we went to on our first day was the Cathedral in the Plaza de Armas. We were not allowed to take our cameras in but believe me when I say the sights were unbelievable. There were wooden gold leaf shrines that went from the floor to the ceiling 60 feet above. The domed ceilings in the main hall reached even higher. Many beautiful paintings hung on every wall. An alter of solid silver that must have weighed thousands of pounds sat on the floor towards the back of the main hall. The size of the cathedral, with its columns, shrines, and alters of precious metals, was simple breathtaking.

On the second day, we rose early and made our first stop at Sacsayhuaman. This archeological sight may have been the most impressive part of the trip for me. These ruins were built with the same method as the temple but on a much larger scale. Some stones are more than 15 feet tall and 8 feet wide, yet they are all cut to fit perfectly without mortar. How the Incas built this place is unknown. Most experts say it was done with ramps, rolling logs, and some major man power. However, some people swear it must have been aliens. Sacsayhuaman sits at an elevation of 12,200 feet and has a wonderful view of the city of Cusco.

Cusco viewed from Sacsayhuaman

Dried fish, beef jerky, and corn. Supposedly they eat that.

After Sacsayhuaman we journeyed down the Sacred Valley of the Incas and the Urubamba river. At the end of the valley we arrived at the small village of Ollantaytambo. Many indigenous people live in this town and on our tour we were able to see one little neighborhood that appeared to be straight out of the 15th century. This village reminded me a lot of the readings and discussions that we've had in my Indigenous politics class with the different language, clothing, food, houses, etc. These things brought to life everything we had talked about; these communities still existing and how much they differ from Lima and other big cities.

The third day we went to Machu Picchu. We left our hotel at 4:00a.m. and made the bus ride back to Ollantaytambo. From there we got on a train and headed for Aguascalientes. We followed the Urubamba river wich turned very rough after Ollantaytambo. I've been to the Rockies and have even white water rafted. But those "rapids" are nothing compared to what I saw on the train ride. Millions of gallons of water raged against rocks the size of houses. Seeing the water crash its way down the valley gave me butterflies in my stomach and dropped my jaw to the floor.

Me with my hometown newspaper.

We arrived at Aguascalientes and I was expecting to be able to see the ruins from there. However, one has to climb or take a bus up another thousand feet before he gets to Machu Picchu. So we got on a bus and finally arrived at our destination. The views were unbelievable. The terraces had been cut out of the mountain and started a hundreds of feet down and worked their way up to the top. Llamas were wondering freely all through the ruins. Just chilling and grazing the terraces.The important buildings, such as the temple of the sun, were built using the same method of cutting the stones exactly to fit. The peak of Wayna Picchu also has buildings and we could see tourists climbing the trail to the tippy top. After a good tour we were free to wander as we pleased. However, we couldn't climb Wayna Picchu because there is a limit and we didn't get the required ticket. However, we did make it up to Intipunku which is at the top of the Inca Trail leading out of the valley and back to Cusco. The hike took about an hour but it was a great view and actually sits higher than Wayna Picchu.

Intipunku victory pose. Main ruins are far behind us next to my head. I was excited.

 The fourth day we checked out of the hotel and took a flight back to Lima. The trip was a great experience and it was really good to get out and see more of Perú beyond Lima.