For the last week in South America, we headed to Peru. In the matter of a few days we had the extra journey planned and headed our way out of Chile.
It was very different heading to Cusco, the starting point to get to Machu Picchu once in Peru. The city is about 20% tourists, and locals do not appreciate having their photograph taken, except for those who pose as part of their profession to earn tips. This I can totally understand in the sense that the people don't want a camera shoved in their face every two seconds, among other reasons. This was an interesting experience as a photographer. Some were friendly anyway, and regardless of whether or not I have pictures of it, the trip was outstanding. The people were welcoming to us, and the culture rich.
Machu Picchu is definitely the gem of the country, and one of the largest tourist destinations. The ruins around Cusco are also worth seeing, but once you are Macchu Picchu you begin to think of the You make your way to Cusco, and from there either pick up a hiking group (you can only hike with a guided group now) along the Inca Trail or the Peru Rail train. There is the backpacker's train, which is the way we traveled, but they also have a deluxe train with dining cars and a dome top. If you decide to trek, porters carry the supplies for the four-day journey. You can also get dropped off of the train at a couple of different points to do shorter versions of the hike, again with a group.
Machu Picchu is currently under major threat. With over 300,000 tourists visiting it each year, and over 60,000 who take the Inca Trail, the amount of use could contribute to the ruins tumbling down the mountain and the trail is littered with waste. The requirement of guides did not help this issue much. There are talks of putting a cable car up the side of the mountain to decrease bus traffic, but a project such as this could bring tourism up to 400,000 visitors a year, which would be unmanageable. It is hard when you do go as a foreigner to not feel like you are just another tourist visiting, but we did our best to hold ourselves to a standard, thinking of conservation and respect and picking up waste when we saw it.
Once in Aguas Calientes (named for the hot springs in the town and the destination for Machu Picchu), the streets are lined with restaurants and artisan's stores, through there is also a large church and a farmer's market near the town square.
The first day we were there, by the time we got off of the 3 hour train ride, we didn't have enough time to get to Macchu Picchu, but our Hospedaje manager suggested another hike across the valley. We were greeted with a mountainside of ladders to climb up, and then up the top of another mountain from there. Once at the top, we had our first glimpse of the ancient city. It must have been something to come across that place when it was in its full glory.
After having our dinner and trying Inca Kola (which tastes oddly like strawberry bubblegum), we got our tickets for the park the next day. If you ever go, get your tickets and bus tickets the night before. We opted for the bus to do the sunrise (which is totally worth the early hours), and when we got to the stop a half hour early there were already over 100 people in line! Bus after bus after bus loaded up and snaked their way down the river and up the mountain.
We found our spot and relaxed as the sun rose. It is like magic watching the city appear from beneath the clouds. A guide from a trekking group that arrived from the Inca Trail started playing a flute just as the sun cracked through the clouds to reveal the city. We spent all day in the city, making our way through the ruins, doing the hike up Wayanpicchu (which is way harder than it looks!) and seeing the city from high above, hiking our way to the Sun Gate (the last portion of the Inca Trail), and hiking our way back to Aguas Calientes. There are a ton of tourists visiting the city, but for whatever reason you kind of forget that anyone else is around you unless you take a moment to bond about what an experience it has been.
After hiking back to the city, we had a dinner of alpaca and a dip in the thermal baths (as Phil found out, do NOT get any water in your mouth by accident or there is hell to pay the next day!). We used the second half of our bus trip to go to the top again the next day and hike back down, then caught the train back to Cusco. The Japanese tourists sitting around us definitely made the ride home worthwhile.
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