The conqueror, looking at his conquest Machu Picchu as viewed from Huyana Picchu looks like the Andean Condor.

Q: Why did I go to Peru?
A: To see Machu Picchu.

History: Machu Picchu (माचू पीचू meaning “Old mountain”) was constructed around 1460 AD, at the height of the Inca Empire glory. It was abandoned less than 100 years later as the Inca empire fell to the Spanish. Although the site is only 80km from Cusco the Inca capital, it was hidden from the Spanish and the outside world until 1911. Consequently this site, unlike others, was not destroyed and plundered by the colonizers. It’s an entire self-sustaining city and how the Incas built such mammoth structures on top of an inaccessible mountain is a mystery.

Machu Picchu (Fog-u Picchu) very early in the morning.

I went on the very first bus (5:30 am) from the base town Aguas Calientes, and you need to jostle with hordes of other people who also want to get on that same bus – but no point doing it other than for symbolic reasons. Why? After racing there before sunrise we found that the whole place was covered by a thick fog that did not clear until 10 am or so, haha. But that’s okay, there is so much to see.

Actually I was overwhelmed. And confused – too many things to do – Charlie in the chocolate factory!

Apart from the main Machu Pichu site, there are several interesting things that an enthusiast can do. Walk to the Sun Gate far away on one side of the site, hike to the top of Mount Machu Picchu, hike to Huyana Picchu (which is the only thing I did from this list), explore Huyana Picchu mountain and the Moon temple. The main MP site itself is extremely extremely intriguing.

Fog starting to move away

Llamas graze on the mountains and keep the grass trimmed. Natural grass cutters I walked through the sacred temples and the priests’ quarters trying to imagine how the site would be at its prime glory. I circled around their astronomical clock and wandered on the paths in the city of commons. I think its essential to read as much as you can about the place so that when you go there, everything will start making sense. OR, hire a guide

Something at this site is strikingly noticeable even at a cursory glance: eveything is well organized. The streets, housing districts for different classes of people, storage areas, water supply, drainage etc. Making such a planned city on the top of a mountain is indeed commendable. But then, the Incas were wise planners.

A walk in the clouds

Location: The location of the city was a military secret and its deep precipices and mountains provide excellent natural defenses. From atop the cliff of Machu Picchu, there is a vertical rock face of 600 meters rising from the Urubamba River at the foot of the cliff. The city sits in a saddle between two mountains, with a commanding view down two valleys and a nearly impassable mountain at its back. It has a water supply from springs that cannot be blocked easily, and enough land to grow food for about four times as many people as ever lived there. The hillsides leading to it have been terraced, not only to provide more farmland to grow crops, but to steepen the slopes which invaders would have to ascend. There are two high-altitude routes from Machu Picchu across the mountains back to Cuzco, one through the sun gate, and the other across the Inca bridge. Both easily could be blocked if invaders should approach along them. Regardless of its original purpose, it is strategically located and readily defended.

Machu Picchu, viewed from Huayna Picchu. It is supposed to look like a brid (the Condor)

Huayna Picchu or Wayna Picchu (वायना पीचू meaning “Young Peak” in Quechuan) rises over Machu Picchu (it is 360m higher, an hour long steep hike.) According to local guides, the top of the mountain was the residence for the high priest and the local virgins (?). Every morning before sunrise, the high priest with a small group would walk to Machu Picchu to signal the coming of the new day. The Temple of the Moon, one of the three major temples in the Machu Picchu area is located on this mountain – I didn’t go there because its too far away. Only 400 visitors are allowed to hike this mountain every day, so hurry, go there first. By the time you return, Machu Picchu will be free of fog and waiting for your exploration. However by that time the morning train arrives and with it loads and loads of tourist groups Huyana Picchu offers some breathtaking views of the surroundings.

Pondering over the ruins

Machu Picchu is not a huge site (one end to opposite is just a 30 minute walk) but honestly, for someone who likes to dive down to every detail, even 9 hours are grossly insufficient to explore that place. Every stone has a story, every room has a feel.

Architecture: I’m a fan of planning and architecture but I will try to make this sound less geeky. ^_^

Most of the construction in Machu Picchu uses the classical Inca architectural style of polished dry-stone walls of regular shape. The Incas were among the best stone masons the world has seen, and many junctions in the central city are so perfect that not even a knife blade fits between the stones. Peru is a highly seismic land, and mortar-free construction was more earthquake-resistant than using mortar. The stones of the dry-stone walls built by the Incas can move slightly and resettle without the walls collapsing. Inca walls show numerous subtle design details that also help protect them from collapsing in an earthquake. The lack of strong draft animals as well as terrain and dense vegetation issues may have rendered wheels impractical. How they moved and placed enormous blocks of stones remains a mystery, although the general belief is that they used hundreds of men to push the stones up inclined planes.

The space is composed of 140 structures or features including temples, sanctuaries, parks, and residences that include houses with thatched roofs. There are more than one hundred flights of stone steps–often completely carved from a single block of granite–and a great number of water fountains that are interconnected by channels and water-drains perforated in the rock that were designed for the original irrigation system. According to archaeologists, the urban sector of Machu Picchu was divided into three great districts: (1) the Sacred District, (2) the Popular District to the south, and (3) the District of the Priests and the Nobility.

Ok, I will stop here!

Picture perfect photograph of Machu Picchu. Huyana Picchu is the tall mountain right in the front.

I thought that my trip to Peru appropriately climaxed at this juncture and I liked my route – it built up the Inca and Peruvian story bit by bit. Had I landed in Machu Picchu first, it would have been confusing. Do let me know what you think about this post and there are many more pictures in the photo gallery

For the complete photo set, slideshow and comments, please see my Machu Picchu Photo Gallery

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Machu Picchu (माचू पीचू*) is a pre-Columbian Inca site located 2,400m above MSL. It is situated on a mountain ridge above the Sacred Valley, Often referred to as “The Lost City of the Incas”, Machu Picchu probably is the most familiar symbol of the Inca Empire. In Quechua, the language of Incas, it means “Old mountain” (Wikipedia).
* ‘च‘ as pronounced in Hindi, not Marathi.

Self explanatory signboard

Visiting Machu Picchu is not cheap.

There are three primary ways to reach Machu Picchu from Cusco:

Oh, and if nothing works, you are welcome to see pictures of MP on the internet, my website for example.

For days and weeks prior to my trip I was worried about these costs. These are too exorbitant – no wonder ordinary Peruvians cannot go to Machu Pichu. Heck, the place appears almost exclusively for rich people / people from rich countries / rich people from some countries (sorry, don’t know how to put it politically correctly, but you know what I mean!)

1. Inca trail: This is a lovely way to go to Machu Picchu. A four-day trek through ancient Inca trail (Incas built many paths all over the Andes, wow) passes through a number of historic, architectural and phenomenally beautiful natural views (or so I am told). Concern about overuse leading to erosion has led the Peruvian government to place a limit on the number of people who may hike this trail per season, and to sharply limit the companies that can provide guides. As a result, advance booking is mandatory. A maximum of 500 people, including guides and porters, are permitted to begin the trail every day. As a result, the high season books out very quickly – often months in advance.

2. Peru rail: I thought that the Perurail is nothing short of a complete scam to squeeze money out of you. Pretty bold statement, but when I make that comment, I am looking at staggering $150 for a 70 km, 4 hr journey. Why? Monopoly. Currently there is no other option available for majority of the visitors. I feel like writing a huge paragraph about monopolies, esp the ones like this that are government imposed. There are two types of trains: The Vistadomes (super expensive) and the Backpacker (expensive). I should clarify – I have nothing against luxury trains (example: Palace on Wheels or Deccan Odyssey in India), they have a target market for sure. The problem arises only when taking the luxury train is the only option you have, and as a backpacker on shoestring budget, I think that’s unfair.

3. Village hopping: The third option is not an option really but a workaround, quite funny and smart. It requires taking a 4 hour ride in combi from Cusco to Santa Teressa, then a 20 minute taxi to Santa Maria, crossing the river to the hydroelectric station, taking a taxi again, and finally walking for 8 km to Aguas Calentes. There are several websites, blogs and guidebooks explaining the process in detail. Unfortunately due to lack of time I couldn’t do this, and with the student discounts on partial train journey it worked out almost the same cost.

Machu Picchu is in the middle of the Andes and the town at the base of the mountain is the little town Aguas Calientes (अगुअास् कालीअांतेस्). There is no approach by road to Aguas Calentes, and the only way to reach there is by train or a long trek. So people usually do the option #1 Inka trail – for which booking is required months in advance, or they have to take the option #2 – overpriced Perurail train. As a result, Aguas Calientes is outrageously expensive and touristic. There is nothing to do here and people are forced to be here only for the purpose of visiting Macchu Picchu. Afterall its the entrance to one of the new 7 wonders of the world!

Statue of the ‘First Inca’, Plaza de Armas, Aguas Calientes

There’s more. From Aguas Calentes, Machu Picchu is 500m higher. This means one has to hike or take the bus. The bus takes 20 minutes and the company has a monopoly, so no points for guessing how expensive it is. If you decide to hike but you also want to see the sunrise, then you have to start walking at 4am. Good luck.

Finally the MP site itself. Entrance ticket for Gringos (i.e. foreigners) is S/. 122 i.e. approximately $47.

Where does all this money go? The Peruvian friends I met were highly critical of this blatant money making business. They say its a government scam and the money goes to Spain and Chile (?). That is also a reason why Peruvians themselves cannot afford to go to MP! Sunday, the day I went there, is discounted by 50% for locals, so there were many domestic tourists.

Peru rail, Ollantaytambo train station

I did a partial train journey from Ollanteytambyo for $62 return. Still wayy too high, but a smaller hole in my pocket anyway. Students get discounted price – you will need a university student id or the ISIC (International Student Identity Card). Yes, all this sounds frustrating and cumbersome and it is to an extent if you are not prepared. But at the end when you reach Machu Picchu, suddenly it’s all worth it.

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“Middle of Nowhere”: You might have heard this phrase, but I have actually been there!

I wanted to go to Moray and I asked my driver to let me off at the appropriate spot. He did. I got off the bus and he sped away in no time. I looked to my left:

Middle of Nowhere -1

Then I looked to my right:

Middle of Nowhere -2

Thats right, I was in the middle of nowhere. All I could see was a side road going to the middle of nowhere else.

Clearly, it was fruitless to panic, so I sat down on a big rock enjoying the views. Since there was nobody around, I started singing loudly in my unbearable sweet voice to my iPod music and reading my guidebook and lazily searching for any sign of human presence. After waiting for a while I saw a bus arriving and a Spanish-French couple got out. They had the same puzzled look on their faces that I had 20 minutes ago. – haha, amateurs!

Moray – The Agricultural Laboratory:

Moray site

Crazy Incas. Moray is noted for a large complex of unusual Inca ruins. These include most notably several enormous terraced circular depressions that were perhaps used to study the effects of different climatic conditions on crops. The depth of the pits creates a temperature gradient of as much as 15° C between the top and the bottom. As with many other Inca sites, it also has a very sophisticated irrigation system for providing the plants with water. These guys built a natural greenhouse-slash-botanical research laboratory!

That’s me at the center

Yes that’s me, and the picture is not even taken from the top. I gave my camera to the couple I met and sped down while they took the picture. It took a while to climb back, but I didn’t like the picture, so I jumped down again for the second time. pheww! Later I thought that it was futile to do this exercise anyway (I could have done it in photoshop.)

The sites are gigantic and this is only one of them. Civilizations usually construct towers, but Incas dug and went inside the earth. Thinking out of the box?

Stairs, Inca architecture, prevalent at most sites including Machu Picchu.

Salinas – Salt pans on a mountain:

Salinas

Bizarre. A spring with salty water was discovered in the mountains surrounding the valley. The Incas built salt pans to harvest salt from them. And guess what, these salt mines are still operational! There are about 3000 odd cubicles where water is evaporated to get salt. This salt is iodized and sold as specialty salt to North America and Europe. When I asked what was special about the salt, the guy at the desk answered, “Very good salt.” hmm.

Salinas

These sites were my last activities in the Sacred Valley. This was the last native Peruvian thing I saw and what a fantastic way to end this trip These are off beat locations and the standard tours don’t visit here, so its very quiet. Oh wait, the trip is not yet over, there are 3 (or maybe 4) more posts.

Salt. Any palmists? Please tell me that my future is filled with travels! Well I know it is.

For the complete photo set, slideshow and comments, please see my Moray and Salinas – Sacred Valley Photo Gallery

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The Sacred Valley of the Incas is a valley in the Andes of Peru, close to the Inca capital of Cusco. The Valley is generally understood to include everything between Písac and Ollantaytambo, parallel to the Urubamba River, or Vilcanota River or Wilcamayu, as this Sacred river is called when passing through the valley. It is fed by numerous rivers which descend through adjoining valleys and gorges, and contains numerous archaeological remains and villages. The valley was appreciated by the Incas due to its special geographical and climatic qualities. (Wikipedia)

Plaza de Armas, Pisac

Like I suggested in previous post, the best way to travel in this region is independent travel. It gives you the choice to travel where you want and when you want. The cost is as low as possible and the experience of interacting with the locals, getting lost, finding the buses etc. is wonderful.

Local buses or collectivos (mini vans) run frequently between various towns, but there are 2 major routes on either side of the river. Often the driver will wait until his vehicle is fully packed with people. Make sure you tell the driver loudly (so that everyone will know) where you want to get off the vehicle.

As a rule, it is always safe to travel in public vehicles as people will try to help and offer plenty of advice. It’s only when you seek individuals such as taxis do you get exposed to potential crime, cheating etc. Foreigners (gringos) will be loved in the buses and people will watch your actions with curiosity

Pisac market

The town of Pisac is great for shopping and there are hundreds of little shops on market days (Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday). Urubamba is a bigger city, and there is nothing much to see there. I halted in Urubamba briefly at the fuel (gas) station while waiting for my next bus. A night’s stay in Pisac and Ollantaytambo would be very enjoyable as these towns are very quiet.

Pisac market

My path in Sacred Valley looked like this (very confusing without a map):
(from Puno) > Cusco > Ollantaytambo > (to Aguas Calientes and Machu Picchu) > Ollantaytambo > Cusco.
Cusco > Pisac > Urubamba > Moray and Salinas > Chincherio > Cusco
I would have loved to spend more time here cycling the valley, but as I said before – some things should be left for the next visit

Next post: Middle of nowhere.

For the complete photo set, slideshow and comments, please see my Sacred Valley Photo Gallery

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Cusco (also spelled Cuzco, कुस्को) is the historic capital of the Inca Empire. At an altitude is around 3,300 m, many tourist companies start tours in Peru from Cusco because it provides a good preparation for Titicaca and Arequipa among other regions. Cusco is a beautiful city. However, being close to Machu Picchu, the primary reason for visiting Peru, Cusco is extremely touristic and expensive.

Inca National Flag (colors of the rainbow), Cusco. Easy to confuse with the LGBT flag which has 6 colors.

History: The Killke tribe occupied the region from 900 to 1200 A.D., prior to the arrival of the Incas in the 1200s. Archaeologists discovered, on March 13, 2008, the ruins of an ancient temple, roadway and irrigation systems at Sacsayhuaman, a famed fortress overlooking the Inca capital of Cuzco. This discovery was just before my visit and therefore was widely discussed.

Cusco was the capital of the Inca Empire (1200s-1532). According to Inca legend, the city was built by Sapa Inca Pachacuti, the man who transformed the Kingdom of Cusco from a sleepy city-state into the vast empire of Tahuantinsuyu. The first Spaniards arrived in the city on November 15, 1533. Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro officially discovered Cusco on March 23, 1534, naming it the “Very noble and great city of Cusco”.

The original Inca city, said to have been founded in the 11th century, was sacked by Pizarro in 1535. The Spanish undertook the construction of a new city on the foundations of the old Inca city, replacing temples with churches and palaces with mansions for the conquerors. A major earthquake in 1950 badly destroyed the Dominican Priory and Church of Santo Domingo, which were built on top of the impressive Coricancha (Temple of the Sun). The city’s Inca architecture, however, withstood the earthquake. Many of the old Inca walls were thought to have been lost after the earthquake, but the granite walls of the Coricancha were exposed, as well as many walls throughout the city. While some wanted to restore the buildings to their colonial splendor, a contingent of Cusco citizens urged city officials to retain the exposed walls. Eventually they won out. More on Wikipedia

Plaza de Armas, Cusco

Tips: Everything is expensive in Cusco, even bottled water. If you want to buy Incan souvenirs, regardless of what travel agents say – do not buy from Cusco city. There are better and cheaper (if bargained heavily) products in the non touristic villages of Sacred Valley.

Nightlife is active in Cusco since it is invaded by tourists. Consequently, crime exists. However if common sense is applied, there shouldn’t be problems. For example – choosing a cab from known companies, not walking alone at night, not displaying fancy cameras or phones, keeping passports and money locked in your hotel, etc.

Cusco is also close to active adventures such as mountain biking, river rafting, abseiling (rappelling), rock climbing and many more. The rainforest is pretty close and many tour operators have 3-4 day packages.

All kinds of foods are available in Cusco, and if you are like me you will gratefully accept a break from potatoes! – Indian, Mediterranean, Japanese, African, Thai, to name a few. There are some excellent bakeries, fruit bars and coffee shops – all expensive ofcourse.

Fountain at Plaza de Armas, Cusco

Information: All taxis in Cusco have a flat rate – S/. 3 ($ 1). The Terminal Terrestre (Bus Terminal) is about 10 minutes away from City center. By road, the city is well connected to Lima, Arequipa, etc but all routes pass thru Puno / Juliaca (which is where I came from!). The airport is at the edge of the city and is also well connected to Lima (which is what I did) and Arequipa.

Being a tourist city, all kinds of accommodations are available – From as low as S/. 15 ($ 5) to anything. There are lots of tour agencies around Plaza de Armas and some of them offer good packages if bargained well.

I would suggest using Cusco as your base for travels into the Sacred Valley. While tourist agencies offer day tours to various towns starting from S/. 60 ($ 20), the whole journey, infact a much better one can be done by using local transport for less tha S/. 10. The tradeoff is between comfortable buses with preplanned touristic destinations OR rickety local buses with the whole valley open to you

Cathedral at Plaza de Armas. The terrain is sloped, not the photo!

Some articles compared Cusco to Jerusalem, and indeed they identify each other as sister cities. Like Jerusalem, Cuzco was believed by the Incans to be the navel of the world. Today both cities have a strange mix of ancient and modern constructions, which is very interesting to watch.

People speak English fluently in the tourist areas, so communication is not a problem. But once you step out to the real (Peruvian) part, everything suddenly changes – language, prices, food, everything.

Street in Cusco

I was in Cusco for 3 nights and 2 days. The first day I relaxed in Cusco and the second day I explored the villages of Sacred Valley. This, btw, is inadequate time in Cusco (but you can always leave something for next visit! )

For the complete photo set, slideshow and comments, please see my Cusco – Sacred Valley Photo Gallery

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A welcome break from sleeping in hostels or buses, this night I spent in an authentic Quechuan village in a real home with indigenous people. The tourist company arranged to take us to Amantaní (अमंतानी) and Tequile (तकीले) (not Tequila!) islands which are inside lake Titicaca and about 4 hours away from Puno city by motor boat.

The island of Amantani

We reached Amantani island around noon and our tourist group was split into smaller groups of two and three. A “mother” led the three of us (Me, an Australian lady and an American guy) to her house and showed us to our rooms. It was a very simple house, with small rooms, a courtyard, and a backyard. The inhabitants of these islands are quite short and so the roof and the doors were quite small. The locals spoke Quechua (क्वेचुआ) language, which is the original language of the land (until the Spanish arrived). They worship traditional Inca deities, elements of nature and their ancestors.

Our house for the night.

After a late lunch which consisted of a plate full of potatoes of various types, sour cheese and herbal tea, we started hiking to a local hill called Pacha Tata (पाचा ताता – Father Earth). It had a small temple dedicated to the deity and offered a wonderful view of the lake Titicaca. We spent long time there – some people wrote journals, some people took pictures, while others sat and spent time with themselves or their partners. Things were remarkably calm, peaceful (and very cold!).

Pacha Tata (Father Earth) Hill

These islands are the highest inhabited islands in the world, and consequently some members had breathing problems. It was also quite cold (less than 10 deg C) and thankfully I shopped for some Alpaca wool sweater and a colorful hat which kept me warm.

Pacha Mama (Mother Earth) Hill (viewed from Pacha Tata)

You could see both – sunset and sunrise from this point. The splendid view of the Sun dipping into the gigantic lake behind tall mountains was accentuated by the display of brilliant colors in the sky. It was as if the sun was setting with a fanfare after celebrating a whole (and quite eventful) day on Earth.

Sunset over lake Titicaca.

We retreated from the hills. Everyone was already hungry as our little excursion at very high altitude was quite demanding and took almost four hours. After we returned, supper was ready for us. The mother of the house was very friendly, and she spoke only Quechua. With my guidebook and the limited words it offered, I tried to strike a conversation but it was useless After dinner I offered to wash the dishes, but she said that boys are not allowed to work in the kitchen. How traditional!

Fiesta. Dancing with my host mother

The night was just starting. The mother dressed me up in a traditional poncho and a hat and we went to the village hall where tourists and their mothers gathered for a Fiesta. Young boys played wonderful music, very typical while we were shown to some kind of dance. The celebrations ended after more than an hour after which we went back to our house and slept a very peaceful sleep. Away from the world, with just two light bulbs in the entire house, and ofcourse, no internet

For the complete photo set, slideshow and comments, please see my Amantani and Tequile Photo Gallery

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Ever since some European backpackers told me in broken English that “We make pictures at Penis temple”, I was curious to check that place out.

Inka Uyo

It’s a rock, it’s a farm, it’s an erect penis! The Inka Uyo

Chucuito (चुकुअीतो) is a little village about 18 km south of Puno along the coast of Lake Titicaca. There is nothing much to see here except for an archeological site called “Inca Uyo” (अीन्का अुयो). “Uyo”, in Quechuan (one of the original ‘native’ language of central Andes and the second largest spoken languages in Peru) literally means ‘penis’.

Dedicated to that idea, was the ancient Temple of Fertility at Chukuito. The site contains dozens of mushroom shaped erect penises few feet long. They are symbolically pointing towards the Inti (Sun God) and Pacha mama (Mother Earth).

A penis, hard as a rock, symbolically mating with Pacha mama, the Mother Earth

Someone told me that on specific days, virgin women arrive here at night, perform rituals to the God of fertility and sit on the phalluses. It is a symbolic ritual to increase their fertility.

A fake site?

Temple of Fertility

I was surprised that the Spanish left this site intact while they destroyed most of other Incan/Pagan temples. Infact, there is a large colonial church right next to this temple! The other thing I observed (and is quite obvious) was that the penises were circumcised… something that the Incas did not do. Some articles question the authenticity of the temple in its current form, although the authenticity of the stones itself is not questioned. Someone might just have rearranged and touristified what was otherwise a broken temple.

I purchased some phallic souvenirs and came back to Puno.

Look! A foreigner

Me and a school boy in a Combi

Traveling with local people in the crowded Combi was the best part of this journey. They were all staring at me, watching my every action, and even laughing at my broken Spanish. Earlier that day, a roadside banana seller told me in Spanish how to go to Chucoito (I was nodding as if I understood everything). From the local Collectivo stop in Puno, a ride to Chucuito costs only Uno (one) sol. The lady money collector however was teasing me and asking for “Uno Americano Dólar, Señor” (अुनो अामेरीकान्यो दोलर, सेन्योर) while I went “Si” (सी=yes) and joined the laughter.

A Collectivo could be any vehicle such as a bus, mini van or a car that is used for public transport. Specifically, a Combi is a shared taxi. The driver will wait until the vehicle is full and then leave. Often he will stuff more people in. Combi’s in Peru are the same as ‘Tuk-Tuk’ or ‘Phat-Phat’ (or any other names I dont know) in India or ‘Sherut’ in Israel or ‘Marshrutka’ in Russia or ‘Jitney’ in US/Canada.

Inside a Combi just before it got too crowded. Women are usually seen wearing round hats.

The rest of the town is pretty much typical – A Plaza de Armas, Churches, few shops around and houses and fields.

Colonial Church at the Plaza de Armas, Chucuito

For the complete photo set, slideshow and comments, please see my Puno Photo Gallery

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