When planning this trip, I will admit that Machu Picchu was sort of an after thought. I know, I know. It had been on my bucket list, but it was more of a fleeting dream rather than a top destination. Instead of a goal, it was more one of those “it would be neat to see” places. In fact, it was more of an after thought even after I had chosen our countries of destination. Now that I’ve been in the presence of the majesty of the holy city of the Incas, let me encourage you to move it up on your own bucket list.
There are lots of options when visiting Machu Picchu, and it also isn’t as straightforward as it may appear. There are a limited number of tickets each day as they work to protect this treasure for future generations. So that it is never too crowded inside the holy city, even tickets are sold to different “circuits” so that visitors actually only see parts at a time and no one actually sees the entire place. (Note to future travelers: ensure your ticket is either circuit 1 or 2 or you will not see the overview of Machu Picchu.)
We had heard of the Inca Trail and wanted to have the opportunity to be on at least part of it, which also has a limited number of passes each day. There are options for a varying length of time on the trail. Although I’m confident we would have loved it, Jess and I opted for the two day version rather than the four day version which includes sleeping in tents along the way and having porters carry your things. I cannot recommend the two day version enough! You’ll see why as I continue.
Let me start with a little history, which our phenomenal guide, Fredy, gave us along the way and of which, I ashamedly knew incredibly little. Five thousand years ago, there was a great civilization in South America, one that built pyramids. Through disease and natural disasters, this civilization broke apart and the people scattered forming small communities. About a thousand years ago, one such community, the Incas, slowly began to acquire other groups, becoming one larger group. This was done through violence, of course, but in large part through religion. As they went, they adopted religious beliefs of other groups, melded them into one and so it was easier for their newly conquered people to become part of the Incas. They grew in power and their “golden century” is known to be from around 1350-1450. As incredible architects, astronomers and farmers, they grew and created an empire that covered several countries and included, at its peak, millions of people. Cusco was the center of the Empire.
It is believed that soon before this golden century, a king of the Incas awoke from a dream and said the gods wanted him to build a holy city. He had cartographers begin to look for the perfect spot. Machu Picchu (Old Mountain) was on a high, flat area, surrounded by mountain peaks with a source of water, and so the work that took sixty years to create began.
All that is known about the town is hypothesized through theories and archeological evidence. The Incas do not have a known form of written language (although their ingenuity suggests they do, but rather we just do not know how to interpret it). Stories vary as to whether the city was abandoned before the Spanish arrived due to earthquakes (there is a fall line that runs through the middle) or if it was a last rendezvous for the escaping Incas who abandoned it as they escaped from the Spanish.
The Inca Empire was already weakening before the Spanish arrived due to a civil war between royal brothers as well as disease and natural disasters. When the Spanish arrived in the early sixteenth century, their advanced weaponry meant they fairly quickly conquered the Incas. We know that the Spanish never found the holy city. Machu Picchu, in the middle of the jungle, quickly became overgrown and was lost to the world until an American explorer in search of the “Golden City” or the “Lost City of the Incas” found it in the early twentieth century.
Now, back to my pilgrimage to the city. Fredy picked us up at our hotel at 4 am. Yes, 4 am. We drove about an hour and a half out of town where we boarded a train that would take us to our destination. (There is a train that goes from Cusco all the way to the town adjacent to Machu Picchu. I’m still not totally clear why we drove the first half of the journey, but the company has been organizing travel groups for a long time, so I’ll go with their expertise!)
The train ride took us through the Sacred Valley. It is so called not only because of the history of Machu Picchu, but because the area that receives practically no snow has several glaciers atop the rocky peaks. Also, the life-giving river that flows through the valley creates fertile land where farmers harvest crops, mostly corn, for much of the year. The surrounding mountains protect the valley from weather extremes and the valley stays relatively mild all year long.
Diversion story… an energetic college girl traveling with her family sat next to me on the train. She was from Colorado and so quickly connected with Jess. When I said I was from Alabama, she said her roommate was from Alabama. She couldn’t remember exactly where, but she knew it was near Birmingham. Saying her name, I immediately recognized it as a Shades Cahaba student and could picture the bright smile and talented athlete I knew many years ago. What a small world!
The train stopped a couple times along the way, and I was so thankful Fredy was with us, for we got off the train in the middle of no where. Yes, there was a sign and a bridge that crossed the river, but no buildings of any sort that we could see. This was not the start of the Inca Trail, but rather where we were to start on it. Jess and I felt like quite the celebrities because, while the trip was not inexpensive, we had NOT paid for a private tour. But as no one else had used this company for the same tour on these same dates, we had a private tour with our own guide. The groups are often six-ten people. So, since it was just the three of us, we got to ask all sorts of questions, outside of the historical ones, and set our own pace. What a treat!
We started at a checkpoint where passports were checked, and everyone who enters the trail must be with a licensed guide. Fredy walked us just out of the checkpoint to a small Inca ruin where we spent about an hour getting some background information. Fredy reminded us that Machu Picchu was built as a holy city. At its peak, it probably supported around five hundred people but they were only the chosen few, the elite, the skilled artisans and religious leaders of the empire. Those who took the trail into the holy city were on a pilgrimage. Legend has it that they took their valuables with them on this pilgrimage. People once thought that meant they took gold and silver, but now they understand that people were taking their family members there to be buried. Again, it was only the chosen ones who could make this journey and who could be buried there. Fredy helped us, even with some essential oils, and moments of meditation to imagine that we, too, were on some sort of a pilgrimage, whether religious or not.
Fredy had warned us that the hike included a lot of up hill, and well, he was not wrong. We started even with the river and hours later the river looked like only a small stream. The path was narrow, on the side of a mountain, but rarely was it terrifying. The steep rock stairways scattered throughout the journey were breath-taking at a high altitude, but with short photo breaks that Fredy indulged us with, it never seemed like too much of a struggle.
The amazing part was how the greenery changed as we traveled. At first, the landscape was dry, desert like. Cacti were scattered around us and yet also small orchids. Then, after a turn, we moved into greenery much more similar to a rainforest with moss and ferns taller than me, (hold the short jokes please) with damp ground despite the lack of rain. Fredy said it was the geography of the mountains that moved us from a cloud forest to a rain forest. The drastic change in such a short period of time was incredible. Along the route, when the trail was in the direct sun, there were a few spots where small shelters had been built to offer weary travelers a moment of rest. A lovely waterfall, once in the rainforest was also a welcome respite. (I will confess, particularly to my Alabama friends, that this was the first time I’ve felt humidity since leaving home. I know, I’ll get plenty of it upon my return!)
After a particularly steep climb on rocky stairs, Fredy had us stop in what appeared to be a huge arena built into the side of the mountain by the Incas. He told us about their wide depth of knowledge, in particular with rocks, plants and the calendar. The area we were standing in was actually an expansive greenhouse where the Incas would cultivate crops allowing them to grow at different altitudes. The rocks around them, collecting the warmth of the sun acted as our clear roofs today would act. What incredible scientists and engineers they were!
We stopped for lunch at a large campsite that is used for people doing the four day trek and from there the trail was relatively flat until we neared the end of our seven and a half mile journey. The stone steps at one point were closer to a ladder than steps and were affectionately called the “gringo killers.” Thankfully, we are still here to tell the tale.
Then, in the distance at the top of a slow incline of stairs, we saw a structure. Fredy’s face lit up, as he watched our faces grow with recognition and understanding. We had reached the Sun Gate, the spot where during the summer solstice, the sun rises through bringing light to Machu Picchu. We had reached the gate that would offer us our first views of Machu Picchu just as the weary travelers would have approached the city hundreds of years ago.
It was breathtaking, stunning, rewarding and worth every struggle along the way for that moment and that view of the sun shining on the holy city down below. When seen from that distance, its placement makes even more sense.
It was still a bit of a hike down to Machu Picchu, but it was down, so it was quite the relief to the up we had done so much of during the day. One of the great benefits of doing the two day trail is not only feeling like you “earned” Machu Picchu, but getting to see Machu Picchu two days in a row. When you enter from the Sun Gate, you enter from up above and don’t really have to show a ticket. So, upon entering the park, after several photo shoots and an unbelievable amount of photos of the same thing (man am I thankful for digital), we just sat atop a stone wall in awe of the city below us. We sat in wonder of the incredible talent of the people who had been here so long ago and of the meaning this city had given to so many.
A harrowing bus ride of tight switchbacks takes you down the mountainside into the neighboring city of Aguascalientes that grew up because of tourists seeking glimpses of the holy city. It was a cute itty bitty town, but it also has the feel of being a tourist capital, understandably of course. Prices tend to show it and I felt we heard more American accents in this tiny town than in all of our travels so far combined.
After a delicious dinner and a well-earned shower, we slept hard in a delightful hotel and once again woke up before the sun rose. We were in line for the bus back up the hillside a few minutes after five. Fredy took us through the holy city telling us more history, pointing out building marvels, and letting us pause for infinite more photos. Machu Picchu came alive with birdsong and swallows flitting about. The city was brightly lit soon after our arrival, but it was nearly two hours after our departure from the town that the sun peaked her stunning face over the surrounding mountain peaks illuminating the historical city below.
Inside the city, the stonework itself is a marvel. Some structures were built with stones and mortar. Others, temples no doubt, were built with stones that had been polished down to fit exactly together with no mortar. Through hundreds of years, earthquakes and natural disasters, these structures still stand. It seems we have much to learn from these ingenious architects.
Tickets into Machu Picchu are limited each day, and I must admit that this is helpful to regulate the crowds. You are even limited to the time you are allowed within Machu Picchu, but of course this is hard to regulate. So, those working inside Machu Picchu mostly look out for the tour guides whom they recognize as frequent travelers and when it looks like they’ve been there for a while, they urge the tourists to leave. So, as a gift to us, after a detailed, nearly two hours within the park, Fredy left us to our own devices. Jess and I went as slowly as possible through the remaining part of our designated circuit. We wanted to soak it all in, watch the sun hit different aspects of the holy city, and feel the warmth of the day. Knowing that this was probably our only time to visit this mystical city, we took our sweet time and wandered through ruins and up and down staircases hundreds of years old.
It’s hard for anything to measure up to a morning like that, so the rest of our day was spent at a leisurely lunch of quinoa and alpaca pizza as we watched cats sunbathing on rocks along the riverside, meandering through market stalls and people watching in a small square before catching the train that would bring us back to Cusco.
I didn’t realize before I came how special experiencing Machu Picchu truly was. I’m a bit embarrassed by that, but also incredibly thankful that I made it a priority. It was an experience of a lifetime!
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