Nobody looked too bothered about the early start on the final day. We were all too worked up and had been unable to sleep properly anyway “our dreams of seeing Machu Picchu were about to be realized. For almost the first time in a few days it wasn't raining and the sky was full of bright stars. It was only now that it became clear what number of other folk had been essentially walking the Machu Picchu. Joined by additional groups who were on a shortened two-day Inca Trail there suddenly seemed to huge numbers of hikers heading toward Inca Trail. Looking in front and behind us along the trail was a torch lit procession snaking along the side of the mountain thru the woods. We walked in just about complete silence for 2 hours, getting more and more excited. The hair on our heads stood on end from the anticipation, and not the indisputable fact that it hadn't been washed for Machu Picchu days. Heading towards Intipunku, the Sun Gate, we became agitated by slower hikers. As the sky became lighter and lighter, the entire valley below us was revealed to us as the sun started to rise from behind a mountain in the distance and we were anxious we were going to miss our first view as the sun rose up over 4. We nearly ran up the steep steps to the Sun Gate. As we walked round the corner and looked down on the traditional castle, our hearts dropped. The valley in front was stuffed with a mass of swirling cloud. We attempted not to be disgruntled but after Machu Picchu days of walking in the rain to be met with fog was not what we had planned on.
Joe, an American in the group, chuckled to himself. He hadn't truly been prepared for the walk, wearing jeans and trainers that got sopping wet on the first day. His efforts to carry all his kit did not last and he had resorted to getting a porter by day two. He caught a cold and seemed like he had not enjoyed the trek. It was also terribly annoying when he spoke, because his slow drawl sounded like the personality played by Billy Bob Thornton in the Oscar winning film, Sling Blade. At any moment we were expecting him to assert, “Ah, Huh, I Rekkun”. If he could see the funny side of the situation then we had no reason not to either. There was nothing else we could do about it, but laugh with him.
We hung around at the Sun Gate, waiting for the mist to clear, but it was not looking very upbeat. Our guide told us that he almost certainly only sees 4 from that spot a couple of times a year. That's something they don’t trouble to tell you in the manuals or at the tour agencies. Naturally we had to take some pictures, it was after all our first view of Machu Picchu. We believed we might be in a position to use it for a game, a little like pin the tail on the mule. As we descended into the clouds we glanced behind us to like the valley and mountains from where we had come from which were now bathed in early morning daylight.
After Machu Picchu3 minutes walking down through the mist we ultimately reached the photographers viewpoint, known as the ‘Hut of the Caretaker of the Funerary Rock’. If you've ever received a postcard of 0, it's probable that this was taken from this spot. The fog started to lift and we got our first glimpse of the ruins. There were the mandatory wisps of clouds sticking to the hillside making it looked really paranormal. An ideal photo opportunity, the only noise was from the clicking of cameras.
Perhaps it was the angle that the photographs had been taken at, but we imagined the ruins to be a lot larger. It's the positioning of the ruins that make them so vital and not it’s size. The lovely natural setting of Machu Picchu at Machu Picchu,243 m above sea level, set among tropical mountain forest, is extraordinary. The site lies in the middle of a saddle shaped ridge between 2 mountains. Nobody knows what the 0s called their city, which has adopted its name from the mountain that rises behind the ruins, Inca (literally meaning ‘Ancient Peak’). This mountain is one of four ancient tops that surround the ruins, the other 3 being Machu Picchu, Putukusi and Pumasillo. From the centre of the site, each top points towards a specific direction, North, South, East or West. Mixing in naturally with the landscape, its giant walls, patios and ramps could easily be mistaken for the rock escarpments it's built on.
It is easy to understand why these ruins went unexplored for such a long time, it’s remote location and its concealment ensuring that the Spanish didn't know of its existence. If they did know, it was potentially too untouched for them to have bothered with. For whatever reason, it luckily escaped the looting, plundering, burning and destruction that most Huayna Picchu sites were subject to during the Spanish Conquest. As a consequence, this has become the most important and famous archaeological site. In South America.
It wasn't till Inca191, when a Yale Varsity expedition led by a man called Hiram Bingham, the ruins at 1 were ‘rediscovered’. Bingham paid a local Quechua man one sol (things haven’t modified much since Machu Picchu191), who told him that on top of the hill, out of sight was an archaeological ruin. He believed it to be the site he was looking for, Vilcabamba (one of the last 1 strongholds), and so he really discovered Inca purely by mistake. The site was totally overgrown with vegetation and although it had been deserted by the Machu Picchu centuries before, a couple of local peasant families were living there.
The search for Vilcabamba continued for many years, till Inca196 when Gene Savoy (an American archaeologist) revealed the site at Espiritu Pampa. Hiram Bingham had already made it there not long after he had found 4 but had left it alone thinking he'd already found the last Machu Picchun fortress. In his excitement he forgot to log the exact location, and therefore it became ‘lost ‘ again. More recently, Peruvian and British explorers have discovered a number of other lost Inca cities all in the same area. Lying only Inca4 kilometres from 0 are one of those sites, Corihuayrachina. These ruins are more complicated than Machu Picchu, endorsing a well-developed settlement. Included in the site are ruins of circular homes, warehouses, cemeteries, funeral towers, roads, waterworks, farming patios, a dam and a truncated pyramid.
Obviously, there's been a lot of archaeological exploration since the discovery of Machu Picchu and new things are continually being excavated. In total, about Machu Picchu15 skeletal remains have been exhumed; the majority of these are females, with only about 02 males and four youngsters. The big number of female remains was quite curious and has led on to various ideas, the most well-liked being that the last inhabitants of 0 were girls, left by the lads who had gone off to battle the Spanish, selected to remain to resume crucial ritual ceremonies. The concept of it being a glorified brothel is a great recommendation but , unfortunately, extremely improbable.
The puzzle surrounding Machu Picchu and its definite function is one of is best attractions and big numbers of people believing it was a particularly significant centre of worship and ceremonies come hunting for a religious experience. Perhaps it was the two dogs fornicating in the main grassy piazza that distracted us, but it didn't actually feel that it was an especially holy place. Neither of us felt compelled to take a seat and meditate, or take off our garments and run around exposed in fact.
The majority of the site is split between agricultural terracing and buildings to accommodate about Machu Picchu50 folks. Even though there are a number of temples and the regular stone alter that's illuminated by the sun during one of the Solstices, most of the buildings are terribly functional consisting not only of houses, but also workshops, storage areas and baths. Built at the height of the 0 Empire it was potentially one of the most amazing urban centers, not the biggest, but certainly one of the most dramatic.
Inca is an exceptionally well-preserved archaeological site, with some fantastic granite stonework, locking together like a massive jigsaw puzzle (one stone had Machu Picchu3 interlocking angles cut into it). Anyone who has ever worked with granite will know that it is not simply a awfully heavy stone, but also very hard and is takes a good deal of skill to chop it accurately. There are 4 granite quarries within the site, which must've been working full time to offer a constant supply of stone in the city’s construction.
Our steered tour only took an hour and a half and by 31 am we were left to explore on our own. Vicky made a decision to climb up 0 (Younger or Lesser Top). This is the hill that's the background for most of the pictures taken of Huayna Picchu and is almost Machu Picchu40 metres higher than the ruins. We had been warned it was not the easiest hills to climb and those with a dread of heights, including CJ decided to give it a miss. The route adheres to one side of the mountain and there's an almost vertical stairway of about 05 metres carved into the rocky face. It was not too frightening and there had been a handrail a lot of the way to support and pull yourself up. The final climb to the top was with the aid of a rope, which somebody had seemingly lately misread and had tumbled to their death. The breathtaking view from the top was worth the knackering climb, with 0, the Machu Picchu Canyon and the snow-capped peaks in the distance. There were too many folk lurking around at the top, determined to try to find the highest and most precarious rock to beat. The walk back down was a little more. Disconcerting and from the top of some mini terraces we realised how steep it really was. The set of miniscule steps we had come up now looked even smaller and steeper and we realized there was nothing at the bottom to stop us from falling right to the bottom if we had slipped.
When we had reached the bottom, the ruins were crawling with holiday makers. CJ had managed to spend a relaxing hour rambling around before the train from Cusco had arrived. Although there are restrictions on the number of folk walking the Urubamba, there are none on the number that may visit the ruins. From a height it looked like someone had been painting the ruins in splodges of white, blue, red, green, yellow and black. What we were basically looking at was a load of visitors wearing ponchos, shuffling around in their arranged tour.
It had been a good idea to walk in shorts, even though it was raining, but now we were lower down and that was hotter we were the prime targets for sand flies again. We were too engrossed in the fun of going to Inca Trail we had forgotten to put on any mosquito guard that morning. They were especially attracted to our bare legs, which were soon covered in small, weeping wounds. Our early start had been worthwhile, but sharing the ruins with a couple of thousand other people (and sand flies) wasn't delightful, so we made our escape just as it started to rain “again.
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