Machu Picchu - The City in the Clouds

This was a trip that I had been planning for a few years and I was a bit apprehensive - would it be everything that I had hoped and imagined it would be, would it be the highlight of all my travels – pretty difficult considering all the amazing places I have been too including many on this trip itself.

Anyways, the day that I had been waiting for finally arrived as I found myself heading to Machu Picchu! We had an early start that morning as there was a 20 mins drive from our hotel to the train station in Ollantaytambo and we needed to arrive at the station 30 minutes before the departure time. As we waited for all to board the bus, I noticed these mountain peaks amidst cloud cover and this one snow covered peak stood out with the sun light falling on it – a very hypnotic sight. Was this just the start of a spiritual journey?

A scenic ride and we were there, all queued up and I wished I have a nice window seat on the Peru Rail…luckily I do and so worth it –one and a half hour of stunning views of the Peruvian Andes and Andean scenery. The train ride from Ollantaytambo is geographically diverse, and runs along the canyon floor with views of the majestic mountains and glimpses of ancient ruins. We travel along the thunderous and roaring Urubamba River...someone comments – that would be nice for river rafting. I am hydrophobic but why is it that every time I see rapids I want to go river rafting. And once I am on the raft…I enjoy it but also curse myself and promise myself that this will be the last time I will ever go river rafting. But then…there never is a last time as I find myself in a raft somewhere else…sometime later. Luckily there is no river rafting here!

We cross several small colorful villages and are also pointed out the starting points of the 4 days /3 nights and the 3 days/2 nights Inca trails…which is another thing I wish I could have done but know that I don’t have the stamina for it. Maybe someday I can do the shorter one day hike at the end of the Inca Trail. We reach our destination at Aguas Calientes from where a 20 minutes dusty bus ride completes our journey to the Inca site of Machu Picchu. The ride itself is spectacular as the narrow track winds its way through a series of 18 switchbacks up the mountainside. But also very, very scary at times - with almost vertical drops plunging down into the Vilcanota Valley below, whenever a bus came from the other direction my heart missed a beat! Noticed splashes of pink and orange flowers on the mountain side – later came to know these are the orchids or Wiñay Wayna.

The Citadel of Machu-Picchu often referred to as The Lost City of the Incas is one of the most renowned examples of Inca architecture. Surrounded on three sides by the rapids of the Urubamba River, Machu Picchu (meaning old mountain) sits on a ridge at the foot of a hill called Huayna Picchu (meaning young mountain). There is another mountain called Wayna Picchu right in front of Machu Picchu. Many people climb this peak for stunning views of the site from above.

Experts differ on the purpose of Machu Picchu. Some say it was the domain of female priests, the Virgins of the Sun, but remains found on site are of both genders. Some of the female remains show the women had given birth. Others speculate that the Inca Pachacuti built it as monument to his own greatness, possibly as a summer or royal retreat. Perhaps the city was an agricultural outpost, given the number of terraces, water channels and irrigation canals. Or perhaps an observatory, the summer home of the Inca rulers, or a combination of all?

Constructed around 1450, at the height of the Inca Empire, it was abandoned just over 100 years later in 1572. It is believed that the inhabitants were wiped out by smallpox before the Spanish invaders arrived in the area. Hiram Bingham, a lecturer at Yale University has been credited with "re-discovering" Machu Picchu on July 24, 1911. He was led up to Machu Picchu by a local 11 year old Quechua boy named Pablito Alvarez. Left untended, Machu Picchu would quickly become lost again, covered with rampant rain forest vegetation.

Watch Tower / Guard's Hut

Our first stop is the Watch Tower or Control gate which consists of a building with three walls and windows. From this place, one can see the urban and agricultural sectors as well as the surroundings and is an ideal spot for picture taking. The lush cloud forest, the brilliant green grass across the ruins, the massive yet immaculate structure of the ruins - spellbinding! Adding to all this, the mystery surrounding the site so that as I stood and looked down across at the site, I was left totally mesmerized.

Funerary Stone

We pass the upper cemetery with the ritual stones. In every Inca city, the dead were buried on the outskirts of the town, which is where the archaeologists found human remains. In the upper part, they also found sculpted stones that belong to the area, which indicated the Incas used the stones to make offerings to their gods. On this same piece of ground lies a granite boulder sculpted with steps – the Funerary Stone. It is a curiously carved that some historians believe was used as a sacrificial altar, given that the Incas were prone to sacrificing llamas. Bingham himself believed that it may have been used as a mortuary slab where the deceased were laid out in the sun before mummification. In the Upper Cemetery just above this rock, he found a significant number of skeletons. But the most striking feature is that it is pierced with a ring, the purpose of which is unknown. In the upper part one can see a body-shaped spot as if people had been placed on their backs.

Old City Entrance

From here we split into two groups. My group had a steep walk up before we started our walk through the citadel. Machu Picchu was built according to its natural surroundings, with its constructions following the natural curves and dips and rises in the land and is divided into two sectors: extensive agriculture terraces and urban landscapes, which contain the main square, temples, palaces and residential terraces.

We entered through the old city gate entrance into Machu Picchu. After crossing the threshold into the ruins of Machu Picchu, I am totally mesmerized by the scale and beauty of the place. There are four squares located in different levels. Embedded steps interconnect these. In these squares social and religious activities took place.

The window lines up
perfectly with the guard tower

Doors are a common sight in Machu Picchu and especially in this sector. They vary in texture, size and architectural style that set them apart from each other, although all have the same trapezoid shape. Some only have one doorjamb and lintel, and some have two. Some doors are simple and others have different security mechanisms such as stone rings, central trunks and other mechanisms which served to tie together beams to make the doors more secure.

The stones all lined up to the angular trapezoid-shaped doorways and windows. At one particular place there was a window and if one looks through the window, it lines up perfectly with the guard tower at the top of the ruins. The Incas apparently were really big on windows lining up with things!!!

Many buildings have a triangular shape that mimics the shape of the mountain behind it.

There are many ceremonial temples and sites at Machu Pichhu. But the Temple of the Sun, used to honor and celebrate Inti, the Sun, and an important Incan deity is considered the most important.

Temple of the Sun

Formed by a series of buildings dominating the whole citadel, the temple has a semicircular shape and is located on top of a solid rock with a natural curve 34.4-ft long. It is composed of highly polished polyhedrons. There are two trapezoidal windows in this building with protruding knobs at every comer, and on the north side there is a carefully-sculpted door with bored holes in the doorjamb. When the sun of the winter solstice in June enters through the central window, it falls directly on the large ceremonial stone. The round building protects the stone. It is best observed from the side, descending the stone staircase in the main plaza.

Royal Tomb

Beside the Temple of the Sun is a two-storey building known as the Palace of the Princess, also sometimes referred to as the Temple of Pachamama. There are tall niches for offerings and the base of the rock forms a kind of cave that is called the Royal Tomb even though no human remains were found here.

The hillside, above the Temple of the Sun is believed to be an Agricultural Zone. To prevent erosion at the sides of the plateau, terraces were constructed, each shored up with stone walls, which were also reinforced with soil. The agricultural terraces were watered from natural sources and were separated from other sectors by a wide staircase.

We cross a tall stairway along which runs a succession of sixteen artificial waterfalls. Most of these fountains are carefully carved out of polygonal blocks and surrounded by drainage canals gutted out of the same stone. The water comes from a source located in the heights of the Machu Picchu Mountain and was canalized during the Inca era.

In the royal sector where Pachacuti may have stayed alongside other members of the nobility, the buildings are particularly large with massive rock lintels weighing as much as three tons, characteristic of imperial Inca architecture. The Temple of Three Windows, together with the Principal Temple close to it and the Intihuatana, make up what Bingham called the Sacred Plaza. The Temple of the Three Windows has a rectangular shape and gets its name from the fact that its main face has three windows and two blind bays. Bingham believed that the three windows framing the distant mountains represented the three mythological caves from which the Ayar brothers, children of the sun, stepped into the world. The walls are made of great polygonal blocks assembled in the fashion of the pieces of a puzzle. Together with the Main temple, this is the most impressive architecture in all of Machu Picchu- the enormous polyhedrons have been carved and joined with millimetric precision.

Temple of Three Windows

Principal or Main Temple

To the back of the Main temple is what is called the Priest's House, or the House of Niches. This construction was unfinished.

Intihuatana  Stone

Another famous feature of the site is a carved natural stone known as Intihuatana Stone- hitching post of the sun which is believed to have been designed as an astronomic clock or calendar by the Incas. This stone is one of many ritual stones in South America. It was believed that when destroyed, these ritual stones lose the godliness as the gods departed. This stone at Machu Picchu remains intact and many believe it is still sacred. This could be where all the energy in Machu Pichu comes from – since it is one of the major vortices or high energy spots on the Earth – I believe it is at No 2. It is believed that if you place your hands above the stone, the energy will pass onto you. Many in our group felt rejuvenated…but honestly, I didn't feel anything as such at the Intihuatana stone itself, though the Machu Pichhu as whole has a great positivity about it, leaving you feeling energized.

Intihuatana Hill

Intihuatana is a hill whose sides have been arranged into terraces, giving it the shape of a great pyramid with a polygonal base. It is reached via a stairway behind the Main Temple. At the top, surrounded by elite buildings, is the Intihuatana stone which is arranged to point directly at the sun during the winter solstice. It is carved so precisely that the four corners point directly north, south, east, and west. The Intihuatana Stone indicated both solstices and the two equinoxes, as during those times it would line up with geographic features in the landscape surrounding Machu Picchu. Also, at a certain angle, you can see that the stone is carved to look like the shape of the Huayna Picchu, the sacred peak rising beyond the ruins.

As explained by the tour guide, on the June 21 this stone casts a shadow onto a circle marked on a nearby stone to mark the winter solstice. The mark made by the Incas many centuries ago is still visible.

Calculating the angle of the Sun

He poured some water and it formed a circle!!!  And the shadow on it would help calculate the angle of the sun. The Incas believed the stone held the sun in its place along its annual path in the sky. On March 21 and again on September 21, the sun is directly overhead and there are no shadows whereas on June 21 the stone casts the longest shadow on its southern side and on December 21 a much shorter one on its northern side.

The Sun Clock was undamaged for centuries until a photo shoot for a beer commercial. What the ancient Spaniards looking for Machu Picchu were unable to do, modern man did!!!!

Sacred Rock

A giant flat stone erected upon a great pedestal called the Sacred Rock is a polished monolith 3 meters in height and with a base of 7 meters, whose shape reminds one of a feline. From another angle, it takes the shape of the mountain Putucusi that looms behind it. The small square in front of it may have been where poetry and music recitals took place.

Another stop is at the Condor Temple. The shape and position of 2 large rocks here create the shape of a Condor. Each represents one of the condor’s wings spread in flight. The Condor’s head and beak are carved into the ground below the wing formations. It represented fertility, and also, with the movement of it’s’ wings, the gathering of clouds to produce rain.

Condor Temple

The tour guide told us that this was a temple but I have now read that this may just be a sanitized version for the tourists. If you look closely between the wings of the condor is a chamber with grooves cut in the stone to secure manacles and many experts including Bingham this was the walkway behind where a torturer may have walked to whip the prisoners' backs, and a scary looking pit to let the blood of prisoners drain. Clearly the condor was a symbol of cruel justice!!!

We hang around for some more time before a late lunch at the adjoining restaurant and our journey back. The return train journey was quite interesting.

I was in the last seat and was just relaxing, savoring the whole experience when suddenly a devilish creature pounced on me…some of us, including me let out a shriek before I break out into giggles…it’s just the attendant of the train all dressed up in a colorful costume and a horrendous mask. Soon we are used to him and enjoy shaking a leg with him. This is followed by a fashion show of alpaca products…the lady attendant modeling encourages us to join her in the cat walk. Lovely stuff but very expensive.

We enjoy some shopping at Ollantaytambo and then take our bus all the way back to Cusco. It had been an interesting though very tiring day. But this wasn’t the end as we went for dinner at a local restaurant in Cusco where local dancers and a musical band entertain us. It’s quite late by the time we finish and bid farewell to Romeo, the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu.

The natural surroundings and the mystical atmosphere make this place unique, enigmatic and unforgettable.

Cusco & Sacred Valley of the Incas III

Bright, bright morning…the hotel looked even nicer in the morning. The courtyard had itsown mini market with stalls selling artisan crafts. I bought really cute, hand knitted finger puppets of animals. After breakfast, visited the chapel and saw something very unique – a cross dressed up in the local handcraft textile!

We leave for the Quechua village of Chinchero. The meaning of its original name is lost, although, today tradition knows it as the "land of the rainbow" because over here the K'uychi (rainbow) is frequently seen in the rainy season and the rainbow was a special deity among Incas. Till today in many regions of the Andes people respect, fear or even revere it and it has been said that "... It is not possible to watch the rainbow, they say superstitiously, without covering the mouth because it rots the teeth. Neither it is possible to point it with the finger because it undermines the bones. Maidens run away from it because if it catches them in the countryside, it has children with them".

First stop is at a weaving seminary for a weaving and dying display. The lady there had a fantastic sense of humor…she shows us a bone and asks us what it is…we make some wild guesses but with a serious face she says – bone of a tourist who didn’t buy anything from here!!! An insightful demonstration follows – creating the wool from the raw material, followed by the dying process and then the weaving process. They use all natural ingredients to dye the textiles, wool and even make their own makeup – lipstick and rouge!!!

Chinchero features a Catholic church built atop Incan ruins. As with most of the towns or temples near Cuzco, Chinchero was wrecked when Manko Inca after his campaign in Cuzco decided to discharge his soldiers so that they could go back to their farmlands and take care of their families. He went towards Ollantaytambo passing through Chinchero and burning it so that the invaders who were persecuting him could not have either food or lodging. Subsequently in 1572, Viceroy Toledo founded the "Doctrine of Our Lady of Monserrat of Chinchero" and ordered construction of the present-day Catholic Church that was finished possibly in 1607. The whole church was built using as foundations the finely carved limestone that belonged to a great Inca palace and it in the 1960s that the Incan palace was discovered under the Catholic Church. On the western side of the church there is a wall containing big trapezoidal niches that can easily let a person stand up inside; they must have been used to keep the nobility mummies and idols that presided over ancestral ceremonies.

Mateo Pumakawa was Chinchero's Quechua chief, Official and Warrant Officer paid by the Spanish army who fought against his own people and Tupaq Amaru II helping to bring about his defeat in 1781. After the Tupaq Amaru defeat, Pumakawa had his victory painted in frescos over the church's gate: by the middle is the Monserrat Virgin, to her right is the victory celebration that coincides with the Thanksgiving procession and the presence of Saint Paul, and Saint Peter holding in his hand the heaven's keys. Toward the left side of the Virgin is the battle representing chaos and Tupaq Amaru's faction.

Near the church a group of women are enjoying a meal of eggs and potatoes. Some of us feel odd taking pictures but they don’t seem to mind us taking shots of their hairdos.
We pass through the local handicraft market and I get to see the gourd art I had been admiring since Cusco in action - a craftsman is busy engraving on a large gourd.

Far off in the mountains we notice snow…and a melted patch right in the middle in the shape of a heart!

As we pass through the village we notice these houses having a stick with polythene tied on it stuck in the ground. The guide tells us that it indicates that these houses have a bar and alcohol is available there.

Next stop is the amazing Inca agricultural terraces at Moray, believed to be an agricultural experiment station. It consists of several enormous terraced circular depressions, the largest of which is about 30 m (98 ft) deep with a very sophisticated irrigation system. Their depth and orientation with respect to wind and sun creates a temperature difference of as much as 15 °C between the top and bottom. This large temperature difference was possibly used by the Inca to study the effects of different climatic conditions on crops. It is believed that the terraces, built over containing walls filled with fertile earth and watered by complex irrigation systems, enabled the Incas to grow more than 250 plant species.

In the soil the guide shows us some shells, indicating that millions of years ago these mountains were under the sea and all the geography lessons on the tectonic movements of the earth causing massive changes become so much more believable.

We had spent quite some time in the valley and I was feeling a bit ruined-out. All the sites were kinda blurring together and I was thinking if I would be able to tell one pile of rocks from the next, and so our next stop at the Maras Salineras(salt mines) was a nice change.

These salt evaporation ponds have been in use since Inca times when salt was obtained in Maras by evaporating salty water from a local subterranean stream. The water emerges at a spring, a natural outlet of the underground stream and the flow is directed into an intricate system of tiny channels constructed so that the water runs gradually down onto the several hundred ancient polygon shaped terraced ponds. As water evaporates from the sun-warmed ponds, the water becomes supersaturated and salt precipitates as various size crystals onto the inner surfaces of a pond's earthen walls and on the pond's earthen floor. The pond's keeper then closes the water-feeder notch and allows the pond to go dry.

Within a few days the keeper carefully scrapes the dry salt from the sides and bottom, puts it into a suitable vessel, reopens the water-supply notch, and carries away the salt. Color of the salt varies from white to a light reddish or brownish tan – all these varieties were being sold there. The effect of sunlight reflecting from the maze of ponds was quite stunning and till now they really stand out in my mind.

Sunny day, sweeping the clouds away, on my way to where the air is sweet…can you tell me how to get, how to get to Tanupa restaurant….(to be sung to the tune of Sesame Street)…guess it was the rumbling tummy doing the singing.

Tanupa was another cute little restaurant with awesome food, infact one of the largest spreads I have ever seen in a restaurant. Comparable only to a Dilli ka hi fi Panjabi type wedding it included a live sea food counter, an array of veg and non-veg sushi, countless starters/appetizers and at least 15 types of dessert …woooooo!!!! As we walked down to stairs towards the entrance we were greeted by macaws that seemed to say ‘Hello’ to Meeta and Sumi!!! There was even a little chapel inside the restaurant complex! After a yummy meal, we moved to the back of the restaurant which overlooked green fields with Llamas and Alpacas grazing peacefully and leading to the Urumaba River flowing by. And of course there was a local playing the Pan Pipes! While some just sat on the steps enjoying the scenery and the music, some of us decided to walk down to the gushing river.

After a relaxing time there it was time to move to Seminario Cerámicas – the workshop /mini factory of internationally known local potter Pablo Seminario for a tour through the entire ceramics process. As we start the tour they point to a wall mounted collection of dented and smashed pots – an accident says the guide! It looked so artistic and nice. The collection was beautiful and I wanted to buy so many things…it was only the baggage allowance that stopped me.

 Totally tired by now, we return to our hotel to call it a day as we have to leave really early the next day for Machu Picchu. After 3 days in the Sacred Valley, what I loved the most was Peruvian culture - so full of liveliness and bright colors.

Cusco & Sacred Valley Of the Incas II

A visit to the Cristo Blanco statue for panoramic views of Cusco’s cityscape is a must before we leave the city for exploring the Sacred Valley of the Incas or Urubamba Valley - a valley in the Andes of Peru. The statue of Cristo Blanco (White Christ) is located on top of a hill high above Cusco and depicts Christ extending his arms to the sides, not unlike the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio.

However, the Cristo Blanco is not nearly as tall. Built by a group of Christian Palestinians that were seeking refuge in Cusco in 1945, it was a symbol of their gratitude toward the city.

As we buss around Cusco and the Sacred Valley, one of the things that we notice is little bulls sitting atop the roofs of many of the houses. There is a cross situated in between the two. There's a legend that says that Amaru, ancient god with the shape of a snake, emerged from the bottom of a lake and turned into a bull, an animal characterized by its strength and size which is always willing to help them plow the soil. This brought fertility and wealth. In order to honor Pachamama (or Mother Earth), the natives celebrate a ceremony in which they make lacerations on a bulls skin to make it bleed (without killing it), then put hot peppers (rocoto) on the bull's nose and set it free.

This makes the bull run freely towards the sacred mountains while spilling its blood on the soil, which was believed to make it fertile. In order to obtain fertility, some people put little ceramic bulls on their roofs when the houses are first blessed. This sculpture is known as Torito de Pucará (Pucará is a town where the bulls were originally sold). The bull represents happiness, wealth and fertility, while the cross keeps the bad spirits away. The cross is usually made of iron to stop the negative energies of lightning.

We stop at a viewpoint for our first view of the sacred Urubamba River. Locals are selling some amazingly beautiful handicrafts here – horns with intricately carved handles, handcrafted Clay Whistles/Ocarinas and board games – chess with Inca warriors, ludo with alpacas and llamas. And even seed of quinoa, kaniwa etc. I was tempted to buy some stuff, but we were told to wait as we are heading to the Pisac market where we would get more variety.

Pisac is a picturesque Andean Village and very well known for its local market. If we didn’t have the fear of excess baggage on our last leg to El-Calafate, we would all have gone berserk.
Such beautiful handicrafts – woolies, jewellery, pottery, etched gourd art, musical instruments… just loved browsing around there. Particularly intriguing were the Chas Chas - a Musical Instrument made from goat hooves, the engraved gourd Maraccas and the local dolls!

Soon found myself outside a community hall where some locals were waiting to perform a local dance. We hung around chatting with them and not to be missed was a 2 or 3 year old sharing his Inka Cola with a little girl…so cute. But their program seemed to be getting delayed and we needed to leave for lunch and Ollantaytambo.

The drive from Pisac to Ollantaytambo was really scenic …. Purple quinoa fields just stood out. We reached the restaurant in Urubamba – my favorite on this trip for many reasons. We are welcomed by the most colorful plants. It was open air – buffet with small umbrella covered tables, the weather was just perfect that day and the food absolutely yummy. They had a section on the Original Inca Food – so many varieties of potatoes!!!! And to top it all…a live band playing the local instruments and the most soulful panpipes.

Next stop is Ollantaytambo for a visit to the spectacular ruins of the Inca fortress which protected the strategic entrance to the lower Urubamba Valley. The Fortress, contrary to its name, was a religious complex that housed many temples. There is a set of steep mega sized terraces looking like staircases for gods or giants that lead up the mountainside from where one can enjoy wonderful views of the valley.
To the left of these terraces are the principal religious structures, including the famous unfinished Temple of the Sun formed from six blocks of pink granite that make a wall. Like other Incan temples, the wall runs from east to west. The steps seem a bit intimidating but I do need to see the temple. And it’s worth it – what a great display of building technology, architecture, water design and astronomy.

There were numerous rocks and stones with a variety of indentations and grooves that may have been used for astronomical observations. The most remarkable of these is a vertical rock face with protruding knobs that some say is a solar clock that marks the December solstice and the zenith of the sun.

This is also one of the starting points for the three-day, four-night hike known as the Inca Trail. As we descend back from the top, we walk a bit of the Inca Trail!
On the way to our hotel, we stop by a small quaint and traditional place. Huddled into a smoky room with some intriguing curios lying around, we are shown the process of making local chica peruvian beer - corn and  starwberry variant – colorful pink and yellow. Quite tempting to look at…but oh…so very strong! There is a smelly room at the back where they were breeding guinea pigs...it seems Fried guinea pigs is a delicacy here. And the backyard had the most amazing garden overlooking the valley. One of those places where one can sit for hours sipping coffee.

In the front yard we are introduced to the Sapo - a common bar game. You throw small weighted disks onto something that looks like a tall nightstand. There are holes in the top, and compartments in the drawer underneath are assigned point values. You get the highest scores if you can get the disks into hard to hit places on the top, such as the open mouth of a small frog statue. While all of us struggled, Mini seemed to be a born Sapo player!!!

Some Sapo playing and we are ready to leave for our hotel - Sonesta Posada del Inca Yucay, which is a refurbished 18th century colonial-style monastery. What a cute little place it was. The food was not so great here but who’s complaining. Just loved the ambience of the place- mountains are all around, and the grounds resembled a private sanctuary, its own little chapel, a courtyard like a magical little village and what lovely colorful flowers in the gardens overlooking our rooms. 2 shops – one of designer Peruvian jewellery and one for other handicrafts. The rooms still had the monastery look and feel. The door knob and the room key – huge, skeleton, olden types - are the original things that the nuns used to have. We wandered around to a portion of the hotel which still seemed to have retained the charm of the monastery– a courtyard with a huge tree in the middle, wooden staircase and a church bell. The doors of the room were really small…only 5 about ft!!!

Very surprising but really a coincidence – we found the entire Bangalore gang in the hotel lobby in the evening just lounging around….it was time for some Pisco Souring before calling it a day!