Visiting Machu Picchu
We were undecided about whether we'd go to Machu Picchu. It's a bit pricey and being the rainy season you're not guaranteed to get good views. In the end we bit the bullet and decided to stitch together an overnight trip. We took a small tour bus through the sacred valley and visited Pisaq and Ollaytantambo (covered in a previous post, here). In Ollaytantambo we left the tour and boarded an evening Perurail train for the two hour ride to Aguas Calientes.
In our experience, guides occasionally make some dubious claims to try to impress. I've seen guides tell their charges that "this sacred rock is a source of energy, put your hands on it to feel the warmth it's emit ting!" (Umm, it's 2 in the afternoon. The rock has been sitting in the sun for 6 hours. We're at the Equator.) And much of what guides claim is speculative - "we think that the Incas built this citadel to look like a llama when viewed from the sky!" But Julio Cesar did show us one thing that was compelling to me. There was a stone that had clearly been worked. If you're familiar with the constellation of the Southern Cross, you will instantly recognize it. Julio pulled out a compass ant set it on the stone and the compass pointed directly with the Southern Pole Star as represented by the stone. Not particularly complicated but effective when the constellation is not visible due to daylight or inclement weather.
We arrived in Aguas Calientes at 9pm and walked the short distance to our hotel. At precisely 6:30 the next morning our terrific guide, Julio Cesar (our first emperor!) arrived at the hotel, introduced us to the third member of our party, Marie and we all boarded a bus to take us on the 20 minute ride to the entrance of Machu Picchu. The ride consists of a series of switchbacks and we had to wend our way around a rockslide that had closed the road for a time.
Rockslide
Our first stop when we entered the site were two plaques. The first commemorated the "discovery" of Machu Picchu by Hiram Bingham on July 24 1911. The second plaque recognized the three Peruvian families that were already living nearby and were cultivating some of the Incan terraces when he arrived. In fact, Bingham and his Peruvian escort, Sargeant Carrasco had been guided to the site by Pablito, the 8 year old son of one of the resident families.
Julio Cesar reading a proclamation -I mean plaque
Pablito and Sargeant Carrasco
The weather was quite overcast and cloudy when we arrived, so we weren't greeted by the iconic, verdant sweeping view of the site. Initially we could only make out the gray shapes of buildings and landscape. We contented ourselves instead with looking in the near distance. What was of particular interest to us was the manner in which the builders integrated the natural landscape and existing rock formations with their meticulous stonecutting. Time and again, we would see the organic and chaotic jumble of rock flow into beautifully ordered and executed construction. There was not a sense of the builders trying to overpower the site, rather it seemed a kind of landscape/building Jiu Jitsu. An example is the Temple of the Sun or "Torreon" below.
The Temple of the Sun
Altar below the Temple of the Sun
The Incas built extensive terraces throughout the entire Sacred Valley. Some for erosion control, but the vast majority for farming and agriculture. You can't swing a cat in the area without hitting a terrace. There's a fair amount of engineering and careful construction in the terraces beyond merely fashioning stone retaining walls. The walls were backfilled with a careful progression (starting from the bottom) of largish stones, then smaller stones, gravel and finally topsoil (the last transported by llama - the Incas only beast of burden - from a great distance away). This layering technique assured ready drainage for the heavy rains that fall in the area. Were it not for this construction, the terraces would become sodden with water and would quickly burst, tumbling down the mountainside taking everything else with it. If you look carefully below you can see a cross-section of this method.
Example of the "layering" involved in a terrace
One of the amazing things about Machu Picchu is that is was occupied for only a very short period of time. In fact, it was never completed. Construction started in 1450 by the Sapa Inca, Patchacuti. Worked ceased in 1536 when the site was abandoned by the Incas in advance of the approaching Spanish. Ironically, MP was never actually discovered by the Spanish and this kept it from being destroyed or defiled. (well almost - see end of blog)
The day started to lighten and we began to get brief glimpses of the site and the setting. The location and the surroundings of Machu Picchu are truly beautiful. There are multiple surrounding peaks or spires. There are a couple of rivers that wrap themselves around the base of mountain. Clouds and mist often swirl through the valleys, lending a bit of an enchanted feeling.
Melanie and I had a lot of fun trying to "reverse engineer" how some of the work was done. There are techniques that I am familiar with as a former woodworker (granted on a much more modest scale), that I could see would apply to the massive stone work. For example, scribing joints to fit two blocks together, "backing -out" a joint to achieve a tight fit and the "subtractive" method of dressing a stone (or chair part in a furniture making case) after the joint is fitted to achieve a fine finish are all things I can relate to!
A "backed - out" joint seen from above with the top stones removed
A stone clearly waiting to be dressed after fitting of the joints
In our experience, guides occasionally make some dubious claims to try to impress. I've seen guides tell their charges that "this sacred rock is a source of energy, put your hands on it to feel the warmth it's emit ting!" (Umm, it's 2 in the afternoon. The rock has been sitting in the sun for 6 hours. We're at the Equator.) And much of what guides claim is speculative - "we think that the Incas built this citadel to look like a llama when viewed from the sky!" But Julio Cesar did show us one thing that was compelling to me. There was a stone that had clearly been worked. If you're familiar with the constellation of the Southern Cross, you will instantly recognize it. Julio pulled out a compass ant set it on the stone and the compass pointed directly with the Southern Pole Star as represented by the stone. Not particularly complicated but effective when the constellation is not visible due to daylight or inclement weather.
Cool!
Enough talk, here's what you really want to see......
Look closely, the retractable Inca Bridge!
Standing in front of the main plaza
Oh, right, in case you were wondering about my cryptic reference to the Spanish never defiling the site, a quick story:
And finally - one more addition to the ever popular "Justin towering over our guide series....."
Glad you were able to go even during the rainy season. The whole experience is unbelievable and worth the effort! I believe they constructed MP without any metal tools.Imagine that.
ReplyDeleteWe loved it.
Luis & Mary