Wehrell-ed Travel

Well. Another day done and another day closer to coming home. Let’s not think about that for the time being. Vacation is a rare time when everything else in the world ceases to exist unless it is directly in front of you.

Today was my second day at Machu Picchu. Much like the first, it started out leisurely, today more so! We woke up later, caught a later bus, and didn’t worry about a specific time for arrival. Jenna and Karolyn yet again left before Zac and me, choosing to get there and get on with it. Our plan was to meet up with them around the watch tower, at some point, likely not too far behind them. Sound vague? That’s because it was.

This time Zac and I weren’t fortunate enough to miss the hordes of tourists getting off the morning train, but we were able to snake by them when the ticket counter asked if there was a small party to fit on the soonest to depart bus. Apparently all the parties in front of us were quite large. We hopped on that offer, and thus on that bus.

I must admit, I was feeling a wee bit cranky this morning. I hadn’t been feeling so hot the night before, which contributed to my leisurely start in the morning. We arrived at Machu Picchu and began hiking up to the lookout. The lookout is one hut atop several levels of terraces, and requires immediately hiking up steep flights of stairs (of course). We walked the long trail to get there, and spotted Jenna and Karolyn pretty quickly.

We made a tentative plan for the day, which essentially was doing a couple of day hikes and then exploring the ruins more in depth. Our first stop of the day was hiking to the sun gate. The sun gate is where the hikers embarking on the four day Inca trail arrive at. They don’t enter the main gate like we wussy bus riders. They get to enter via a special gate. The sun gate (also called Intipuncu) was beautiful, with another glorious perspective of Machu Picchu in the distance.

The hike to the sun gate was much easier than the hike up Huayna Picchu yesterday. According to one of the Machu Picchu guides (that happened to say hello, not one we hired), Huayna Picchu and the sun gate are at the same elevation. Hiking up certainly did not feel like it. I think part of it had to do with the fact that the starting point for Huayna Picchu goes down to the base of the mountain and then back up, whereas the sun gate starts higher up on Machu Picchu (granted you have to walk up to the top of Machu Picchu first). Regardless, it felt much better to do this hike on our second day, as opposed to our first. My quads were tight and aching. I dread what getting back into my workout routine, post vacation, will feel like.

After the sun gate we tried to back track toward Machu Picchu to hike Machu Picchu Mountain. Machu Picchu Mountain is the highest climbable peak in the general area and takes about an hour and a half to complete. As we finished the trail from the sun gate I realized I had to pee quite badly. There were two options at this point. One, go back out the entrance (which is where the ONLY bathroom in Machu Picchu), which requires exiting and then entering the park again and thus a long line PLUS having to hike back up to the top of the terraces AGAIN, or two, drop trou on the trail.

Now, at this point I was in a great debate with my values and fears. My values tell me that urinating on a sacred land is a no no. My fear tells me that the mountain gods will get angry at my degradation of their beautiful trails. I didn’t want to have some sort of Inca version of Montezuma’s revenge. In the end it didn’t matter because I couldn’t get 30 seconds without someone passing by on the trail. I had to walk to the entrance, and thus, my values were not compromised and my fear diminished.

We moved on to the Machu Picchu trail. Slowly the four of us climbed the vertical incline that is the beginning of Machu Picchu Mountain. A short while in, we discovered that we had to pay extra to climb Machu Picchu Mountain, and we couldn’t pay at the gate, we had to go all the way to the entrance. This was disappointing (but also relieving for my quads). Machu Picchu seems to have moved away from free hiking trails (with the exception of the sun gate—for now) and into considering everything outside of the main site as “extra” that requires additional charge.
Shuffling along, we chose to use the extra time to explore the ruins more in depth, and take our time doing it. This meant stopping for snacks and water frequently. It was a great opportunity to get a better look at the Incan architecture, which is mostly done in ashlar fashion, meaning no mortar was used to connect the stones. Each stone is carved into a “L” shape or trapezoid to accommodate earthquakes, as the stones pushed outwards against one another, rather than caving inward. A common misconception is that the Incas didn’t use any mortar, but the Incas used mortar for lesser important buildings and structures.

There is still debate among archeologists as to the purpose that Machu Picchu itself served. Some speculate that it was a vacation home for the Incan King. Some speculate that it was a religious site, held in significance due to its location and the belief in a special magnetic power that the land holds. Lesser popular theories include an agricultural testing center, so to speak, where new crops were tested or cross bred. Another less popular theory suggests that Machu Picchu may have been used as a regulatory center for buying and trading products among the empire. Some have even suggested that it may have been a prison. The first two theories seem to be the most commonly accepted, as well as the idea that it may have served as some sort of coronation center for kings and royalty.

Whatever the purpose of Machu Picchu, exploring its ruins made for a fascinating day. From the sun temple to the three windows, from the sun dial to the central plaza—stone upon stone of history built up before our eyes, mostly reconstructed from the shambles found by Hiram Bingham in 1911. To imagine how these people lived had my imagination running wild.

We stayed at the ruins until close to closing time. Upon returning to Aguas Calientes, showering, and changing into clothes that didn’t reek of body odor we went out for pizza—a decidedly un-Peruvian meal. It wasn’t in the spirit of the Inca, but it sure hit the spot.