7am - still raining. 8am - still raining, now torrentially. We had to get up to get out of the room by 9am (very early check out). At 9am, still raining. Luckily we had brought rain jackets and an umbrella, but not torrential down pour gear. Our train back to Cusco wasn't until 5:30 that evening so we had plenty of time to see if the weather would cooperate a bit more.
Thankfully around 9:30am, the rain lifted just as we were finishing breakfast. We headed down to the bus station armed with our rain jackets and umbrellas just in case the heavens decided to open again.
The bus ride up took about 30 minutes, up a very windy and small mountain road. I didn't like to look down when we got up because there were sheer cliffs off the roadside. I made it back in one piece. The bus drivers were very good though - they do this several times every day so this is probably a piece of cake for them. It was very cloudy when we got up there, so much so that you couldn't see the surrounding peaks.
At the top, we decided to hire a tour guide to lead us around the ruins. Let's see how much I remember. Machu Picchu was rediscovered by Hiram Bingham in 1911 (an American, of course) - but there are some claims of people who supposedly discovered it earlier, but he who has the most media coverage wins. Hiram was a pretty active guy - later a governor and Senator in the US. Through the years, he excavated the site and restored it, but taking lots of artifacts back to the US (the Peru government is still working to recover these). Machu Picchu was founded in the 9th century by the Incas, and was under constant construction until 1536 when the Spanish invaded the town. The Incas had heard about the Spanish arrival in Cusco the year earlier, and left with all of their belongings and prized possessions and headed about 200km away. When the Spanish reached Machu Picchu, they couldn't find anything of value, and luckily left mostly everything intact.
Machu Picchu had sophisticated urban planning - with a sewer system and earthquake proof houses. They built nothing along the fault line which goes through the middle of the ruins - I wonder how on earth they were able to determine that with such precision so long ago - very smart Incas!
Because of the rock cliffs, very little farmland existed, so they built terraces with an extensive fertilizing system to grow crops. The society was communal with no private property and every working for the common good - whether it was growing food, protecting the land, fighting in the army, etc. The workers lived toward the bottom of the town either in one room houses or barracks. The king had his own palace further up the hill.
There was a sun god temple in the middle of the city with the only circular wall built in the city. Sacrifices were often - animals (including lots of llamas - they have found lots of llama bones in the excavations) and humans - usually from the nobility.
After our 2 hour tour, we grabbed a bite to eat at the local cafe. We then headed back to retrace our steps and get the famous Machu Picchu postcard picture. We went up to the guardhouse which had an amazing view. The clouds had all cleared and the sun was coming out. We had a clear view of all of the peaks around, including Wayna Picchu - a separate hike that we could have done if tickets hadn't sold out.
We took loads of pictures and admired the view. My brain was having a hard time processing the incredible grandeur and beauty of what I was seeing. We both got loads of Machu Picchu pics. We rounded the corner to walk a little further up and in front of us was a llama.
About 20 llamas graze Machu Picchu. According to the tour guide, they are the best lawn mowers ever. Our llama was munching on some grass and was in the perfect location for a picture - so we went camera crazy and took lots of the llama - he will be famous (see pic below).
We walked around the ruins some more and just kept looking around in amazement, but then noticed our skin was a bit pink. We were getting fried alive under the sun, so we thought it would be best to take the bus back before we completely turned into lobsters.
We had an hour to kill and grabbed lunch in a highly recommended place called Indio Feliz. It was incredibly delicious and just what we needed after a long day at Machu Picchu.
We were back on the train on time for 5:30pm for the approximate 4 hour journey home. We were thinking it would be a nice quiet train ride home, but boy we were wrong. We were served another snack on board - this time a pasta salad with mini pizza. Not bad for just an hour and a half train ride. And then, the entertainment began. From my vague understanding of the Spanish announcement - every year in the Sacred Valley (where we were switching to the bus to go home to Cusco) there is some type of festival where lots of dancing is involved. Next pops out a masked man dressed almost in a circus costume dancing down the aisle to some type of Peruvian techno. He got a few of the passengers up to dance. We weren't quite sure what was going on, but couldn't stop laughing. Next up was a fashion show of all sorts of alpaca clothing that was for sale. Only in Peru...
After the odd, but very fun train ride, we boarded the 2 hour bus back to Cusco. We were very glad to finally get home, get to bed, and nurse our sunburned arms. Fantastic day in Machu Picchu, and well worth all the travel to get there!
Pics below:
1. The clouds when we got there
2. View of the terraces on Machu Picchu
3. Machu Picchu without llama
4. Machu Picchu with llama!!
5. View from the guardhouse
6. The masked man on the train with the fashion show Perurail employees - what an experience!
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