Machu Picchu

Day 257 – Aguas Calientes, Peru

Finally, Machu Picchu, one of the highlights of my trip!

When I arrived last night in Aguas Calientes (nowadays called Machu Picchu Pueblo), the town at the foot of Machu Picchu, I made sure to have my bag ready so as not to wake up the other inhabitant of my room. (I didn’t manage, but at least I was quick.)

I had my alarm ready at 4am. Breakfast at 4:15, all the time to drink leisurely a cup of tea before heading to the bus ticket office at 5am. The first buses leave at 5:30, in time to arrive at the 6am check-in. I had an early ticket, as you can see. (Timed tickets have been introduced in 2019, I have read on the ‘net.)

It was still night when the buses left but as we were climbing up the mountain, the light got progressively stronger. That doesn’t mean that we could see much: fog or cloud, we were in the thick of it.

Machu Picchu in the morning cloud

I actually didn’t mind that much for two reasons: one, I was convinced that it would lift later on in the day, and two, it hides the other tourists, so you feel alone.

I had the brilliant or stupid idea to start by climbing a mountain. (The same day it is brilliant, the next stupid.) I’m not talking about the climb from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu itself, though there is a trail/staircase for the courageous who want to do it. But Machu Picchu is built between two peaks, Machu Picchu Mountain (who gave its name to the forgotten city) and Huayna Picchu. I thought the easiest was MP Mountain, so that’s the one I bought a ticket for. Apparently it is less steep (ah! talk about things being relative!), but it is higher.

See the picture header? That’s taken half-way down the mountain. You have a view over Machu Picchu… and Huayna Picchu, which is lower than from where I took the picture. That will give you an idea.

The access to the mountain opening at 7am, I had an hour to kill, between making my way to the access point and all. Since we were still in the cloud, I took picture of the terraces… and the lamas grazing on them. There are apparently around 20 of the beast, belonging to the government, taking care of the grass and providing a lot of fun to the tourists.

Machu Picchu – Lamas

Finally I started my climb. At the control post we show our ticket and some form of ID, then we sign a log book, which we have to sign again once we go down. A good way to keep track of visitors, I find!

So… you know how I said that steepness was relative? Well, that means that here the path is almost exclusively stairs. I guess they have ladders at the other peak! Fortunately I could use my trekking poles as long as I kept the rubber protection on it. Since I lost one yesterday at Ollantaytambo, I could use only one. But it was invaluable.

Machu Picchu Mountain – Stairs

So I made my slow way up the mountain, lost in a cloud, overtaken by the occasional fellow climber, and looking at the flora to replace the lack of landscape.

Machu Picchu Mountain

Finally I hit a point where the clouds opened just enough to have a view over the valley behind Machu Picchu.

Machu Picchu Mountain

That… didn’t last long. I kept climbing, keeping an eye on the time as I had a guided tour at 11am. The stairs become steeper and narrower the higher you climb, with often a straight fall on one side. The air is humid and doesn’t move -at least it is a good thing not to have wind that high!

I got the occasional peek at the nearby peaks above of between clouds, but the top was still heavily swaddled in clouds when I approached. Having already kept climbing a bit longer than I should have, I stopped short of the end and started making my way down.

If it is tiring to climb steps, going down is awful on the knees! And when the steps are so narrow that you have to take them sideways, it doesn’t help.

But I was rewarded half-way down when the sun finally chased the clouds away and gave me an unobstructed view of Machu Picchu. (See both picture header and, while it lasts, the header of the blog.)

I will say that people climbing with music -just loud enough for their group, but still- are not my favorite thing.

For the fun, two pictures of the same place, taken on my way up then on my down:

Machu Picchu Mountain – On the way up

Machu Picchu Mountain – On the way down

I signed out of the mountain at 11am, so late for my guided tour! Fortunately the group accepted my apologies and we started. Of course by this time I could hardly go up stairs, though going down was its own form of torture. Why did I think it was a good idea to do both the same day, I’m not sure!

I learned a lot about the history of the place -what little is known, as the city was built in the first half of the 16th century and abandoned before it was finished. War and the need for soldiers is blamed as the main reason.

We saw terraces for food crops, houses whose walls are built with a 14% angle, so as to collapse inward in case of earthquake, after giving the inhabitants the time to go outside, a sun observatory, a big central plaza, a temple not yet finished, and more. (There are stairs everywhere, of course!)

Machu Picchu – Central plaza, terraces – temple on top

We were lucky with the weather, quick to change from dry to humid to wet and back, but without any wind nor real coldness.

At the end of the tour, I had a knee mutiny with a hip seriously considering joining, so instead of hanging around I went (almost) straight to the bus shuttle. I made a stop at a place where you can put a Machu Picchu stamp in your passport.

Machu Picchu – View from a house – I wouldn’t complain!

I had the last seat in the shuttle, the passenger seat next to the driver. So I had a very good view of the hairpin bends we had to take! The road was regularly crossed by the hiker’s trail, and I’m happy that I hadn’t decided to take it. Steep and broken by staircases… been there, done that!

I very slowly made my way back to the hostel, for a hot shower and a nap. And I had the dorm by myself the next night!

All the pictures are here!