City of the Incas

I'm currently on my way home from a two-week work shoot following the arrival of Hurricane Sandy along the East Coast.  Our Monday night flight from Austin, Texas, to New York was canceled so we flew instead to Chicago and have been driving back from there ever since.  Tonight my producer and I are holed up in Youngstown, Ohio, and hope to make it home tomorrow.  I hope all my "loyal readers" out there are safe and sound after the storm!  I actually just recently surpassed 10,000 page views so I guess that's something to celebrate.

To finish up the tale of my travels (only one or two posts left!), we head back to South America where my parents had met me in Peru in the middle of June.  After a few days at the high elevation in Cuzco, we headed down by train to the town of Aguas Calientes just outside the ancient Incan city of Machu Picchu.  A car picked us up early in the morning to make the 20-minute trip to the train station where we boarded a tourist train for the four-hour ride.  My dad had considered not coming along since he still wasn't feeling that well, but in the end decided it would be better to head down with us to a lower altitude.  On the train, my parents and I sat next to another American family with two daughters about my age and a son and had a nice conversation with them while we ate breakfast and watched the beautiful mountain scenery roll by outside the windows.

When we arrived in Aguas Calientes, we dropped off our luggage with a porter and met the guide who was going to bring us up to the ruins.  There were about a half dozen other people in our group who joined us on the shuttle bus that brought us up to the top of the peak.  It took about 20 minutes winding back and forth up switchback roads for us to reach the entrance to the park.  Crowds were already starting to form, but since we got to the mountain at around 10:00am it luckily wasn't too congested yet. 

We walked through the front gate, down a short path and got our first view of the city spread out all around us.  It is exactly like it's pictured in photos, but obviously even more remarkable in person.  Our guide brought us to an out-of-the-way spot where he gave a short talk about the history of the Incas and how they built the stone city in the 15th century.  The 7,000-foot high site was built on a series of terraces hewed into the steep Andean slopes surrounding Mount Wayna Picchu, which overlooks the ruins.  It was abandoned only 100 years later during the Spanish Conquest.  The city was "rediscovered" in 1911 by the American historian, Hiram Bingham, who was brought there by some local Peruvians.  Our guide brought us around the main part of the site, showing us the Temple of the Sun (which you can't actually go inside), the Royal Tomb, the Three Windowed Temple, the quarry, the solar clock/observatory and all the other highlights.

After our guided tour ended, it was time for us to have lunch.  We made our way out of the park to a restaurant right next to the entrance.  Three or four of the other tour group members joined us at our table, including a young Japanese guy who was studying medicine in California.  We had a pretty decent buffet lunch that was part of our package deal before heading back into the park.  Most of the other tour members had to get back to Aguas Calientes to catch the train to Cuzco, but the Japanese guy joined my parents and I for the afternoon.  Once back inside, we decided to hike 20 minutes down a trail to the Inca Bridge.  The bridge is part of a stone path that was cut into the cliff face leading westward out of Machu Picchu.  It spans a 20-foot gap over a 1,900-foot drop.  Visitors can't actually cross the bridge any longer, which is probably a good thing since it looks rather frightening.  I was able to walk right up to the edge of it before a barrier blocked my progress.  After making it back from the bridge, we wandered around the stone structures for a little while longer before catching the bus to the bottom of the hill.

The shuttle bus dropped us off at our hotel in Aguas Calientes where we were able to pick up our bags and get into our room before going into the village for dinner.  We ate at one of the typical tourist places so it wasn't really anything special, but luckily everyone was feeling better by this point so we all were able to eat dinner for the first time in a few days.  Back at the hotel, we had to get up bright and early the next morning so after taking showers we all got ready for bed.

The alarm went off at about 5:00am the next day, alerting us it was time to wake up to see the sunrise.  We got one of the first shuttle buses back to Machu Picchu, but by the time we arrived it was already starting to get light out.  This was actually probably a good thing since it gave us enough visibility to climb up the steep hill to the Watchman's Hut without tripping all over ourselves.  Luckily, it took a while for the sun to actually rise over the mountain peaks so we didn't miss much of anything of great importance.  We met our Japanese friend once again at the top where we were able to catch the sunrise as it slowly illuminated the whole city down below us.  It was definitely a magical sight to witness in spite of the hundreds of other tourists gathered to see the same thing.

After sunrise, we made the arduous trek up to the sun gate high above the city walls.  For those who trek to Machu Picchu, the view from the sun gate is the first they see of the city after several days on the Inca Trail.  We did it in the opposite order, but it was still pretty majestic all the same. I can imagine it's a completely amazing sight for hikers who view it for the first time coming up from the other direction.  I sat meditating for about 15 minutes with Tibetan chants (I know, wrong region) playing on my iPod since it was so peaceful and serene.  It was then time to walk the hour back down the trail with my parents.  When we got to the bottom, my mom went to rest while my dad and I tried to find the Mortar District where there are two carved-out stone circles that form reflecting pools, which were once used as large mortars.  My dad wanted to try to get a better picture of the reflection of the sky, but we had the hardest time finding the right room.  The city became a maze that continually led to dead ends, including one where we ran head on into a llama that was munching on some grass.  We nearly gave up before finally finding the spot, though the lighting wasn't quite right to the get the shot that my dad wanted.

Following one final glance at the ancient wonder, we decided to head back down the mountain to Aguas Calientes.  We wandered around the small village for a little while and then sat down by the river in front of our hotel before walking to the train station.  On the way back through the mountains there was a crazy fashion show right in the middle of our train car.  Our cabin attendants showed off alpaca wool to the beat of loud pumping music in an effort to sell the clothing items.  It was amusing to watch, but the clothes were insanely overpriced.  When we arrived back in Cuzco, there was a driver there to meet us.  On our way to the hotel, I commented to my parents that I was having a bit of a hard time with having everything completely taken care of for me and not having to constantly think about how to get from Point A to Point B.  It was a total departure from my normal routine and actually made me feel a bit lazy.

That night we went back to the"organic" restaurant where my dad and I had gone the first night in Cuzco since my mom had not been able to join us then.  Fortunately this time we were all acclimated to the altitude and were able to enjoy a good meal.  I did, however, pass on a second stab at the alpaca steak.  The next morning, we got up early once again for the short ride to the airport.  We boarded a plane and were off to Lima for the last few days of my journey.

I'll post more photos from Machu Picchu and all the photos from Cuzco in the next few days.  I don't know if I'll have internet once I make it back home, but I'll do the best I can.