The Old Peak and the Lost City (Part 2)

I'm back in Lima waiting for breakfast in Inca Lodge, so this looks like a perfect time to utilize the free internet and dish about the Lost City of the Incas.

But first, a note about cultural exploitation and the luxuries of supposed adventure travel:

My entry from yesterday makes it sound like my trek was really hardcore and rugged. Though we did do a lot of walking at high elevation, this is far from the truth. I was one of three people carrying our own stuff, and even then there were porters carrying our tents and moving along the trail twice as fast (on half as much sleep) to set up camp and make us dinner (often involving several courses). It's unclear how much these people were paid, but given the cost of labor in Peru, probably not that much. All the guests pooled their money to give a generous tip, but even still a whiff of inequity tainted the mountain air.

Also joining us on the trail, were several local children well accustomed to tourists trekking through their backyards. Thus, they knew full well that looking cute could win you some candy and maybe a tip from a gullible gringo. Also, walking through these tiny, rural villages and ogling at the traditional life style the Peru's rural poor, one couldn't help but feel a weird sense of voyeurism and exploitation.

Phew. Had to get that out. An important part of the experience, that while uncomfortable also somewhat valuable ... So, how about some Machu Picchu:

The bus from Aguas Calientes rode up the winding mountain pass in the pre-dawn light en route to Machu Picchu. We were on one of many early morning buses crammed with tourists heading to one of the new Seven Wonders of the World. Upon getting off the bus, you could just see the edges of the city's famous stone terraces. Of course it's obscured by the ticket kiosk and the line entry pavilion. Welcome to the Lost City of the Incas: A Pre-Colombian Disneyland.

After presenting your ticket and passport you walk into the city through the terraced agricultural sector with the urban pyramids rising beyond. My group climbed up to one of the high terraces for a photo op. From there we watched the sun rise slowly over the Andes and illuminate the city. Watching rays of light shoot through crevices of mountains and shine onto Machu Picchu, made my cynical feelings of "being just another tourist" melt away. Suddenly, I could understand why the Incas worshipped the sun.

Our guide Jefeth then gave us a tour of the city, pointing out all the examples of earthquake resistant architecture, the heaviest stones (around 7 tons), every Incan holy place in the city. My favorite thing was the "hitching post of the sun," which is basically a huge stone sundial sitting atop Machu Picchu's central pyramid. The Incas used it to keep track of the seasons. When the shadow of the stone at sunrise matches a certain spot on the ground, it meant it was time for harvest or sacrificing a llama or what have you.

Throughout Jefeth's tour, I felt a tremendous sense of urgency. When we stopped at any given spot for photos or explanations, I just wanted to keep moving, keep seeing more things before the day ebbed away or another wave of tourist buses descended on the city. The city is so expansive and impressive, you constantly feel like you are missing secret Incan alley ways and treasures.

After the tour, several of us decided to hike up to the top of Huayna Picchu (Qechua for the young peak), the tall mountain that stands next to Machu Picchu(Qechua for the old peak). Back in the day, Huayna served as a look out tower for Machu Picchu and a place to send smoke/fire signals to Cusco. It is one steep peak. Though it's a short hike up to the top, climbing the stone steps Incan masons carved into the rocks grinds the knees, and you end up walking along some narrow paths next to very high cliffs. But the view is spectacular. You get a panoramic view of the surrounding Andes as well as a virtual bird eye view of Machu Picchu, and
a new found appreciation of the Incan belief in divine mountains.

After the calf crushing walk down the narrow stone steps. Two of my Canadian friends and I wanted to hike up to the Inca bridge on the other side of the city. But at that point in the day, the streets were packed with people, our legs were shot, and there wasn't enough time. It seems like there never is. When the Incas mysteriously left Machu Picchu only 70 years after they began construction in 1440, the city was far from complete. One wonders what they could have achieved if their hitching post could have actually stopped the arch of the sun.