Incan Explorations Part 2: Oct. 7-13, 2011

After an early check out and a brief taxi to the Ica bus depot, I was on my way to Nazca. As I stepped off the bus around noon, I was instantly greeted by a local tour operator. We quickly booked my sleeper bus to Cuzco which was to leave a 9:45 that night. Then we wandered over to the tour office and figured out what I could afford for a tour of the infamous Nazca lines. One hundred dollars US for a half hour flight was just too much, so I opted for the thirty dollar two hour guided drive to a couple of viewing towers in the surrounding desert.

First stop was the Paracas geoglyphs. Dating back nearly 3,000 years, this culture pre-dated and somewhat overlapped the neighboring Nazca culture and left a few unique lines amongst the desert hills surrounding Palpa, Peru. Not much is known about the Paracas cultures except for what was surmised from various burial caverns discovered in the 1920´s containing amazing textiles and some of the geoglyphs they left in the desert hills.

Next stop was the Nazca line mirador where I could glimpse portions of larger Nazca geometrical shapes, a hand, and a tree. The Nazca were a peaceful culture content with their piece of desert. Their culture existed about 1,000 years ago and was subsequently subsumed by the conquering Wari culture... the same culture which took over the Moche before the Chimu came on the scene. Many scientists have studied the Nazca lines and theorized about their significance. They were first discovered in 1927 during a high altitude fly over, and later studied in more detail in the 1940´s. Theories about their significance include: extraterrestrial origins/communication, a type of engineering schematic for larger 3-D constructions, astronomical record keeping, and nature worship, among others. No one actually knows for certain what their significance was.

When I asked how it is that they have survived for a thousand years, the explanation was multifaceted. First, the portion of desert they are located in get maybe one day of rain a year and even then the lines are situated such that geographical contours guide water away from them. Second, the deserts heat reflection, what causes the water-like shimmering mirages, creates a 30-50 centimetre buffer preventing the many dust devels that form from touching down. Lastly, apparently the geological constitution of the area is quite geomagnetic which some people believe has a protective effect... this last theory was not explained in any great detail to me. After the mirador we drove a little ways down the Panamerican to a viewing rock where I could see the extreme straightness of some portions of the geometric Nazca shapes and the distances to which they extend.

Once back in Nazca I had several hours to kill before my bus to Cuzco departed, so I ate, got in some much needed internet time, and watched a celebration parade with costumes, dancing, music, and fireworks. When I got on the bus and found my seat, someone was sleeping in it. After some questions to the stewardess I was bumped up to executive class which meant double wide, fully reclinable, super plush seating. Fifteen hours later I woke up in Cuzco, got off the bus, chose what seemed like the proper direction to the city centre, and started walking. I found a Lonely Planet recommended hostel with little difficulty and began my "new city routine". I chatted with an American and a couple of Israli travelers before going for a tourist map powered wander of Cuzco´s old town centre.

Cuzco was originally a settlement dominating a modest area around it. Legend tells that in the 12th century the Sun god Inti looked down on the earth and decided that the people needed organizing, so he created the first Inca, Manco Càpac, and his sister-wife, Mama Ocllo. They came to life on Isla del Sol in Lake Titicaca. Inti gave Manco Càpac a golden rod and told him to settle in the spot where he could plunge it into the ground until it disappeared: this would be the navel of the earth (qosq´o in the Quechua language). And so Cuzco got its name. It is the oldest continuously inhabited city in South America. The Inca were peaceful until 1438 when the Chanka culture tried to capture the city. The Inca prevailed and began to expand north and southward. By 1525 the Inca empire extended as far north as the present day Ecuador-Columbia border and as far south as Santiago, Chile covering 37 degrees of latitude. The arrival of European explorers and diseases, combined with the fraternal Incan civil war resulted in the end of one of the greatest empires South America had ever seen.

I huffed and puffed my way around until the difference from living at sea level and moving to over 3,000 metres got the better of me. So I headed back to the hostel and befriended a couple of Australians. The hostel was having a Devils and Angels theme night and provided costumes, so we put some horns and wings on and played some poker with a bunch of Israelies. As the night went on I made friends with one of the hostel employees who took us all out to experience some of Cuzco´s nightlife. The next day I chilled out in the massive hostel, ate lots of food, played lots of pool, and acclimatized a bit more to the altitude. From talking to other travelers I discovered a great package deal for a 4 day-3night trek through the Peruvian jungle culminating with a tour of Machu Picchu.

Up at 7 am on day 1 of a 4 day trek, a driver picked me up and gathered other travelers from surrounding hostels. With mountain bikes on the roof of the van we began the drive to our drop off point at Abra-Malaga, 4,350 metres up in the Andes. It was raining, Andean rain... so we all groaned and accepted that we were going to get soaked on the 80 km ride down to the jungle valley bottom 2,880 metres below. Rarely using the brakes, splashing through overflowing creeks, winding through crazy s-turns, getting blinded and covered by mud, and experiencing stunning vistas as the Andean highlands turned into jungle, we arrived two hours later at the village of Nueva Santa Maria. After a hose down and some lunch, our group split up as me and a couple of Germans, Anna and Janine, were doing the 4-day trek while the rest were doing a 2-day one. I relaxed at the hostel until the rest of the 4-dayers arrived: an Italian couple, a swiss girl, another Canadian, and four Israelies. We hung out till dinner and then built a campfire in the hostel yard to dry our stuff.

Day 2 we were up at 6:30 am, got ready, had breakfast, and began our 2 day hike into the Peruvian jungle. We all quickly sweat through our clothes while we trekked through a veritable produce stand plucking magoes, papayas, pineapples, oranges, limes, bananas, and avocadoes fresh off the trees which lined our path along the Rio Urubamba. After passing through extensive Coca plantations we began ascending the slopes of the jungle in order to reach an intact portion of the Inca trail clinging to cliffs above the river. On the way we saw some monkeys and jungle pigs as well as a huge assortment of jungle insects. Something about the jungle is that it´s constantly noisy, the air filled with sounds of myriad large insects speaking in unison creating an all pervasive pulse of living sounds. It´s not too surprising considering the jungles of South America contain over 30 million species of insects with about 10,000 new species being discovered every year. One acre of Amazon jungle can contain up to 70,000 species of insects. We walked the Inca trail until we reached a restaurant in the middle of the jungle where we lunched.

Several hours down the river we approached the Cocalmayo hotsprings. After hours of sweating through the jungle for 15-20 kms it was a pleasure to rest our sore muscles in the clear 35-50 degree celcius waters and watch the full moon rise over the sharp, high Peruvian mountains and ridges encasing the Rio Urubamba valley. With some vitality restored to our bodies we all piled into a combi van for the short drive to Santa Teresa. There was only one problem... not enough room for everyone inside the vehicle. So our guide, the swiss girl, Diana, and myself climbed onto the roof and held on as the van bounced its way into the village. In Santa Teresa we ate dinner, got our rooms assigned, and then went out to enjoy the town´s 45th anniversary festival complete with traditional dancers, costumes, live music, and lots of loud fireworks.

The first half of day 3 was a heat soaked meander continuing up the Rio Urubamba valley with more of a desert-scape than jungle. Not much to look at so I learned a bit about Israeli and Swiss military training from a couple of my trekking companions. Lunch brought us to the entrance to the Machu Picchu reserve lands. The Rio Urubamba wraps around the backside of Wayna Picchu (the ruins of the city of Machu Picchu lay in the saddle between Wayna Picchu and Cerro Machu Picchu or Machu Picchu mountain). We trekked along the railroad tracks running along the valley floor, catching an occassional glimpse of the ruins far above. This part of the journey brought us back into jungle and cloud forest landscapes stuck to steep jagged teeth of mountains looming over us in the afternoon shadows. A couple hours later we entered the super touristy town of Aguas Calientes, also known as Machu Picchu Pueblo, nestled at the junction of the Rio Urubamba and Rio Aguas Calientes. The middle of the town was criss-crossed with bridges, bright neon, and what seemed like more tourists than locals.

  

After our settle in routine of get a room, have a shower, and eat some dinner, most of our group decided to celebrate our arrival at the foot of our destination... suffice to say, it was a late night. With three hours sleep those of us who opted to hike in instead of take the bus got up at 4 am. No breakfast, pounding headaches, dark menacing mountain shapes looming in the pre-twighlight misty gloom, and rain were the ingredients for the beginning of our sojourn. Twenty minutes later we found ourselves at the bottom of the Inca staircase leading up to the ruins. Our tour guide, Cesar was truly awesome, had said that there were 1,700 stairs to the entrance, I aimed to find out if he was right. 1,872 stairs through murky mists and wet jungle brought us to the gates of the Incan city of Machu Picchu.

With its spectacular location, Machu Picchu is the best known archaeological site on the continent of South America. This awe-inspiring city was never revealed to the conquering Spaniards and was virtually forgotten until the early part of the 20th century. Apart from a couple of German adventurers in the 1860´s, who apparently looted the site with the Peruvian government´s permission, nobody apart from local Quechua people knew of Machu Picchu´s existence until American historian Hiram Bingham was guided to it by locals in 1911. He was looking for the fabled lost city of Vilcabamba and thought he had found it, but later it was discovered further into the jungle at the ruins of Espiritu Pampa. The Machu Picchu site was initially overgrown with thick vegetation. Bingham´s team returned in 1912 and 1915 to carry out the difficult task of clearing the thick forest. Despite many studies done on the site, knowledge of Machu Picchu remains sketchy. Some believe the citadel was founded in the waning years of the last Incas as an attempt to preserve Inca culture or rekindle their predominance, while others think it may have already become an uninhabited, forgotten city at the time of the conquest. A more recent theory suggests that the site was a royal retreat or country palace abandoned at the time of the Spanish invasion. The site´s director believes that it was a city, a political, religious, and administrative center. Its location, and the fact that at least eight access routes have been discovered, suggests that it was a trade nexus between Amazonia and the highlands.

The rain had stopped and the clouds left their dew on us as we entered the ruins. Daylight was glowing around us illuminating the mists and making it difficult to see anything. My two stalwart trekking companions, Diana and Ty, had to head for the entrance to Wayna Picchu for their pre-booked hike to its summit... only 400 people per day are allowed up to its summit. I continued on the path in front of me thinking it would lead me into the ruins proper... I kept counting the stairs I was climbing. When I had counted 3,000 stairs (from the bottom of the valley) I realized I was NOT heading into the city ruins. All of a sudden the mists parted and I saw that I was actually climbing a steep staircase of stone clinging to the side of a massive cliff face, the valley and Aguas Calientes far below. Having made it thus far, I decided to push on and see where they took me. At around stair 4,000 the mists had cleared enough that I could see I was now on a ridge heading for a peak... a ridge with little to walk on and precipices on either side. The last stair was number 4,313... there was only one other person up here... an American named Kevin. I asked him where I was and he told me that we were standing on the summit of Cerro Machu Picchu. The sun was cresting the horizon and the mists of the cloud forest scattered before its rays. Far below, I later learned about 600 metres, lay the ruins of Machu Picchu spread across the saddle between the peak I was on and that of Wayna Picchu.

I soaked in the vistas surrounding the jagged outcropping of the peak and was able to make out the Rio Urubamba in its winding path around the mountains. I could see where we had traveled the previous day and in the distance still hidden partially in clouds were snow topped peaks likely over 5,000 metres. After about a half hour of enjoying my triumph, more trekkers began arriving and it was time for me to head back down and get an up close look at the city I had come to explore. As I neared the ruins I passed a hut... when I had originally passed it, it had been locked up with signs for water on it, so I thought it was a refreshment stand. This time a site staff member was in it who hailed me to come over. He asked me to sign-out so that they knew I had left the peak and not died or gotten lost. I told him I couldn´t sign out because I had not signed in, having passed the hut around 6:30 am with no one there. After some grimacing he asked me to write my name down anyhow, even though I had NOT paid the $20 US you were supposed to pay to climb the peak... woops! Freebe for me!

As I passed some grazing llamas and caught my first up close glimpse of the ruins I heard someone call my name, it was Cesar my tour guide. Apparently I was a little late for the beginning of the tour which had begun without me. When I told him where I had been he was a little surprised as it´s apparently supposed to take over 3 hours to ascend and decend the peak... I had done it in less than 90 minutes with a break at the top... no wonder my legs were killing me. We proceeded with the tour and I´ll not bother you all with the minutae of details about all of the areas of Machu Picchu, but it was one of the most ineffable experiences of my life to date. The tour came to its end at the entrance to Wayna Picchu where I caught up with Ty and Diana. We decided to explore the rest of the ruins solo and meet up at the entrance gate for some food and the hike back down to Aguas Calientes.

With food in us we started walking down the road because we had all had enough of stairs. Part way down we caught a look at some of the lower agricultural terrace ruins separated from the main ruins by a band of jungle. I needed to relieve myself so I found a little path at one of the u-turn switchbacks and took care of business. While pondering my surroundings I noticed that the lower ruins were about at the same height as the trail I was using as a urinal... my adventurer´s spirit grabbed hold and I continued up the path. I came to gate with a whole next to and decided I was not yet quite done with my ruins exploration for the day. Five minutes later I was walking in ruins that few non-locals have ever had a chance to explore. I could see where the jungle encroached upon the remnants of the Incan constructions. I sat down and soaked it all in for a few minutes when I saw my trek mates below on the road. I gave them a hollar, whistle, and a wave and even with the distance that separated us I could see the surprise in their faces and bodies. Mission "been where few have been" accomplished, I decided to catch up to them, and about 10 minutes later I did.

Back in Aguas Calientes we all took naps on the couches in the hostel lobby and got our train tickets for the trip back to Cuzco. Everyone except me was on the 6:45 pm train while I was on the 9:30 pm train. So we all shared one more meal together, hugs and handshakes, and they were gone and I had several hours to kill. I strolled through the town taking in the tourist insanity all around me when I heard someone call my name... it was Daniel the magician I had met at the hostel in Cuzco 5 days earlier. We both marvelled at the ways in which travelers run into one another on the road and shared a drink before I made my way to the train station. While waiting in the throng of passengers on the platform I heard my name again... this time it was a couple of Danish guys, Erasemus and Casper, who I met earlier that day. We were in the same coach so we hung out for the train journey and made plans to meet up in the Plaza del Armas in Cuzco the following day after a good night´s rest.

Back in Cuzco at 2 am I went back to my hostel and collapsed from exhaustion. The next day was laundry, shower, and recovery day. Met up with the Danes and found out they´re heading into Bolivia too, so we planned to meet up in La Paz in a few days. Bought my bus ticket and relaxed. Now I´m about to go out and meet up the people from the trek for one last night of fun and then its off to Bolivia... goodbye Peru! Sorry I didn´t get to try eating some Guinea Pig!