The final and fourth day of our Andian journey! We woke up at 345 to leave at 430 to travel from Machu Picchu town to Machu Picchu complex, one of the seven wonders of the world! We were so excited we could barely even feel tired. It was so close!
When we arrived, we were some of the first people in line to enter the complex. This was ideal because as the day goes on, tens of thousands of tourists would be swarming around this attraction. And ain't nobody got time for that.
Once we got in, they checked our passports and let us free to roam around this amazing ancient city. It turns out, only a fraction of this Incan complex is visible and tourable, as there are many more terraces and buildings hidden under a dense forest.
We chased after Willie as he zipped through the narrow walkways, hugging stone walls, and gracefully balancing on the edge of terraces. We understood the urgency as Willie, like us, did not want to get caught up in large tourist crowds. We passed by some llamas who are lucky enough to call Machu Picchu home and are seriously protected by the Peruvian government. We got up close and personal with a few baby llamas and tried not to get distracted.
Willie finally lead us to a corner of a terrace and there it was... the famous view of the Machu Picchu ruins sprawled out across an incredible mountainous backdrop. Wow. "We are really here!" We said out loud. The words "breathtaking", "humbling", "awe inspiring", and "disbelief" all combined together do not begin to describe our thoughts and emotions in that moment. We took a few quiet moments to soak it all in. Thrilled, we looked at each other with a common idea "Quick! Photos before the other tourists come!" And we began stripped off packs and pulling out cameras.
Unfortunately jumping photos are prohibited at Machu Picchu. But I understand. One thing most people don't tell you about this complex is how incredibly terrifying it is. If you have a fear of heights, this might not be the wonder for you. All of the narrow passageways, cliffs, and edges dropped off to staggering falls and with one misplaced step (or jump) one could very easily fall to their death. And it has happened, although it is very taboo and hush hush to discuss amongst tour guides and Peruvians. But once you get there, you can see how incredibly possible a tragic accident could be. Okay no jumping, but we'll do a pretend jump with one foot on the ground.
After photoshoot #1 we began to walk through some of the ruins of houses and temples. The Incans worshipped Mother Earth, the Sun, and the Mountains above all else and built their homes, windows, and doorways to reflect this. Most of the windows faced one of two ways- welcoming the sun in during either the summer or the winter solstice. The temples reflected similar ideals and had shelves built in to put offerings to the gods. We also saw the main water fountain that was used for cleansing before sacrifice and very impressive stone work that included ridiculously precise flat edges and tight seals between stone bricks.
One of the coolest temples, in my opinion, was one that resembled a condor, one of the three of their worshipped animal trinity (along with the puma and snake). You can see the condor head, collar, and wings. There was also a cute and fat little chinchilla protecting this shrine on this day, so he's in the photo too (far right).
After we explored the ruins and admired their advanced craftwork, we went to the "postcard rock" as Willie called it. This is the spot where the famous photos of Machu Picchu have been taken. I can't describe it other than it is exactly how it appears in those photos. The only difference is the internal realization of "Holy shit! We are actually here!"... Which is totally worth it. Commence photo shoot number two.
After we had taken more photos and selfies than we are willing to admit, we went on to hike up to the Sungate. This is a temple created on the top of the mountain in honor of the Sun God. The Inca trail passes through the Sungate and descends down into Machu Picchu. Since we were already at Machu Picchu, we had to do the more painful ascent up to see it. It was most certainly a challenging hike between the altitude and the consistent vertical nature of the path. But once we reached it, the views were spectacular. Machu Picchu looks so small from up there, but you really got a unique perspective of where you were and how incredible it was. We stopped there for a rest and a snack of passionfruit. Eating passionfruit while overlooking one of the Seven Wonders of the World is highly advisable.
The way down from the Sungate took approximately 1/4 of the time to climb up. It felt great! We followed the path around and next went to check out the Inca Bridge. The Inca Bridge was another way to arrive upon Machu Picchu for the Incans, and also for tourists up until recently. That is, when a tourist fell to her death while walking on this bridge. It is now blocked off with a door, but you can still see how intimidating this narrow passageway was. I know I keep talking about the narrow walkways and the steep drops, but this was by far the scariest. The view downward seemed endless and included a view of the largest power plant in Cusco and a major highway that connects Cusco to the Amazon. The Incans were said to walk on this path quite frequently, and you can still see the paths wrap around the mountain side, highlighted by more trees, less rock. Willie commented and I agreed "I think the Incans chewed too many coca leaves!"
Completely exhausted and impressed, our time at Machu Picchu had officially come to an end. We paused one more time to enjoy the view and heard a roar of applause. Two tourists to our left had just gotten engaged. Sitting on an Incan terrace, had a tour guide hold up a "will you marry me?" Sign in front of Machu Picchu. When she turned to admire the view, she saw the questions and they both cried as she gleefully accepted. He then brought champagne out of nowhere and they toasted. He officially wins for slickest move of the year.
As we left the Machu Picchu complex, we went back to Machu Picchu town and then took the train back to Ollantaytambo. There Jamie was waiting for us and drove us back to Cusco to our last night in our beautiful spa hotel. We would taxi to the bus stop in the morning to catch a long bus to the town of Puno, Peru. The bus ride would be 10 hours with various stops along the way visiting historical sites. Regardless, it was a 10 hour bus ride. However, riding our Machu Picchu high, none of this phased us and we slept very sweetly that night.
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