Into the Incan Capital

It was a long day.  We were tired and sweaty and in a South American country.  We had already checked out of our Airbnb with no comfort of our own space, but we loved every second of it.  We had just arrived at 1a coming from the USA and were already looking to board a domestic South American flight later that night to enter the Incan capital of Cusco, going from sea level to 11,152 feet in a matter of 1.5 hours in the air.

Latam Airlines  is the largest domestic carrier in South America.  You cannot get to Cusco by any United States airline, and driving around the Andes mountains would take over 27 hours.  With a limited time in Peru, a bus wasn’t the best option.  Also, even the locals don’t recommend driving a bus through the Andes mountains, especially in February that is the “rainy season” as they consider it suicide.  There are a tremendous amounts of accidents along the roads in the Andes.  I can only imagine.

We arrived at the airport around 4p in preparation for our 6:16p flight to Cusco from Lima.  Our first stop was the Latam kiosk to check in.  I was the first to attempt to check-in, kept inserting my passport, but the system kept telling me I was not able to check-in.  The line was 5 rows deep bending back and forth and I was not checking a bag, so I was not exited about the prospect of having to get to an agent to simply checkin.  I could not get the system to check me in online either.  Both Burt and Chanel were having the same problems.  It was inevitable, we were going to have to wait in line.  Good thing we had arrived early.

We waited an approximate 45 minutes in line to find our ticket agent tell us our flight was oversold.  The good thing is that Latam Airlines flies to Cusco just about every hour.  So, they were able to get all three of us on the same flight an hour later.  We were just very lucky they had three seats left.  I’m not sure how you can build your business on constantly overselling your flights, but maybe if you are the only option.

We had some time to kill, so we ventured over to the airport restaurant, with it still being my actual 40th birthday, and we had dinner and they brought out a miniature cake and Burt and Chanel sang me happy birthday.  It was the perfect present.  Video below:

Not minutes after they sang me happy birthday, all the lights of the airport went out.  We figured, “here we go again” as we all know that travel plans never quite go according to plan and there is a ton of improv along the way.  My main concern was making sure we were able to be in Cusco by 5a to have our tour bus pick us up at our hotel.  I had to make quite a few reservations during the course of the day that were not refundable, tickets to Machu Picchu, train tickets, bus tickets to the city to get on the train and bus tickets to the top of the mountain in Aguas Calientes (meaning hot water in Spanish from the water that streamed down from the mountains).

Our gate in the airport was moved to basically the basement of the airport.  The lights were still out but there were flood lights on throughout the airport.  Most sat on the ground and my fear was that the flight was going to get delayed due to lightning and bad weather across the Andes, which frequently happens in February.  It’s not unusual for flights to get delayed and cancelled.  Luckily, we started boarding through the gate and we were directed to a bus outside that would drive us over to the plane.  It was congested, but to get to Cusco on time, I didn’t care, we were excited on the next adventure into the Andes.

We all had taken altitude sickness pills they highly recommend when you go that high in such a short amount of time.  They are pills you take 48 hours before you reach your elevation.  So, we’d all been taking them the last two days.  There are some side effects such as pins and needles and numbness in your heels and your taste buds don’t take well to soda.  Sprite tasted like a burning sensation, but figured it was a small price to pay to not be miserable for the three days we’d be in Cusco and Machu Picchu.  As it turned out later, we had zero effects of the altitude and the side effects of the pills were worse than the altitude, so I stopped taking the pills the second day in Cusco.  But, each person is different.  None of us had altitude sickness.

We started boarding our flight and I took a quick shot of Burt, he was pretty happy to finally get going.  We had been in the airport for almost four hours.

The flight was quick and dark, so we couldn’t see the mountains below.  It was a bit shaky, but we made it.  Burt told the stewardess it was my birthday, so she came back with a small cake but no water to wash it down.  I asked for a water and she mentioned she’d be right back, but she never came.  This became a running joke for the rest of the trip how I kept wanting water but everyone ignored me.  This happened about five times.

The boutique hotel I reserved us at was http://tambodelarriero.com/tamboarriero/ and it was just like you’d figure a small South American boutique to be.  They had a car waiting with my name on a sign at the airport right when we landed.  I had called them and told them we were on a later flight so they were updated for pickup.  I’m sure they were used to it with the Andean weather patterns.  There are 10s of taxi drivers waiting to drive around all tourists and they try to lowball the rate if they can get a rate out of you.  Hard to beat free included with the hotel stay.

They had pressed coffee waiting for us when we arrived about 15 minutes later.  We checked into our room and we were exhausted.  We were on the second floor in the back of the hotel. The middle areas of the hotel were all open-air with birds flying around and plants over the balcony.  With a 4a wakeup call and a long day ahead, we’d have an early meal and hit the bed.

The entrance door to our hotel is below along a cobblestone street.

Below is the main cobblestone street our hotel was located on.  We were a few blocks from the main town square we’d walk to another night.

Here is the middle areas of the hotel

The wake-up call came early, as did the tour bus.  We all showered and were excited for the grandest part of the trip, the journey to the Modern Wonder of the World in the Amazon basin perched upon a moutaintop, forgotten to the world until the turn of the 19th century by Hiram Bingham.  Overgrown with trees, they spent a year uncovering what would eventually reveal a paradise on Earth.  They would use fire to burn the branches, sometimes defacing the great architecture.

Here we are at about 4:45a drinking our tremendous Peruvian coffee.  The coffee in Cusco was unlike anything I’d ever tasted, so fresh.

Something about an adventure that makes 4a not seem so early.  With the unknown ahead of you that day, you can’t wake up early enough.

The bus was exactly on time.  I recommend using Trip Adviser to book your full day trip.  They take care of every ticket you will need all in a single price per person.  There are only a couple tours from Cusco, you can’t go wrong with either.  The bus was a small van with only another couple going on with us, so plenty of room.  February, even though it’s their summer in the southern hemisphere, is their offseason.  So, not many tourists and the perfect time to go.  They call it the rainy season, but we barely saw any rain and never had a downpour.  I think one night there was rain, but it was overnight.

The van ride was just over an hour to the town of Ollantaytambo.   This town was the start of the Inca Rail that would take us to the base of Machu Picchu and through the Amazon basin.  In parts of the train we’d be inside, and there was an observation car that was open-air to feel the Amazon breeze and watch the river rapids.  There was glass throughout with 360 views, which is why I chose it.  The 360 was the newest train they had and there are three trains to choose from.

The van will take you through small towns en route to our destination, up and around hills, sometimes bumpy, but worth it.  You watch the sun rise over the mountains.

Ollantaytambo is a small town with the station.  There are vendor booths with locals selling products for tourists, from ponchos to food to Inca Kola.  This is their local pride and joy.  I couldn’t taste it well due to my altitude sickness pills.  So, I can’t tell you the exact taste, but from what I could tell, it was in between a Sprite and Coke with more tang than I cared for.

The small town had a beautiful backdrop of mountains on a cloudy day.

We waited for two other trains to leave before our 360 train arrived and was boarding.  We bought some fresh and hot breakfast at the local bakery.  We checked out local bed and breakfast hotels they offered in the town.  It was a true South American gem of a town.

While we waited for our train, and after buying some breakfast, here is the waiting area for the 360 train on the Inca Rail.

We boarded our 360 train and we were on our way.  The views were breathe-taking and beyond expectations.  There were outlets in every seat and four seats with a table in-between. Tons of room and we mingled with other tourists on the way to our grand destination.  We were anxious to enter the Amazon basin and the sights along the way.  What started as hills quickly turned to mountains all around us as we entered the Andes.  Chanel made friends with a couple girls sitting next to us that were traveling abroad, also from the USA.

The clouds seemed to follow us and yearned to join the expedition as they circled around the mountains, dipping into the plains en route to Peru’s crown jewel.

About an hour into the journey, I kept seeing passengers head back to the observation car, which I had no clue was open-air.  I headed back a couple cars and understood what all the hype was about.  There is not a feeling quite like a train going full speed in the open air at the entrance to the Amazon basin with a raging river next to the tracks.  We had made it, this was the Peru and the expedition I envisioned.  I was transported back to July 24, 1911 when Hiram Bingham was guided by local farmers to the overgrown paradise we know today as Machu Picchu.  We were slowly getting sucked into the depths of the jungle, enveloped whole with concrete landscapes of Lima and Cusco, traded for lush, greenery in every direction.  I strained for any sort of activity, for any wild animals and ancient ruins.  I found both.

The Inca people worshiped the mountains and the landscape.  They felt the weather was dictated by the mountains and the rivers and they gave them personification, with personalities that were deemed gods.  If there were not enough rains for crops, or too much, they felt they themselves were to blame for something they did wrong, they sacrificed to the mountains for redemption as the mountains were considered the most sacred of all.  The entirety of Machu Picchu is based on precise location in between mountains in every direction, a retreat for their king, just far enough away from the Incan capital of Cusco.  The city of Cusco itself is shaped like a puma, another sacred animal, as you can see below.  Their attention to detail of architecture and detail was unequaled.  Even the stones used to construct Machu Picchu were cut and inserted so tight, you cannot stick a piece of paper in between them.  To have done this in the 15th century without today’s technology or tools, is astounding.  Machu Picchu was supposedly built around 1450 A.D.

If the train ride was anything of a precursor to grander sights, the bar could not be set high enough.  Machu Picchu is one of those places that no matter how many pictures you see or reviews you might read or stories you might hear, it will ALWAYS surpass your expectations.  There aren’t many places in the world that can live up to that.

Slowly, the train etched into Aguas Calientes, the small town at the base of Machu Picchu.  Machu Picchu is situated a hair under 8,000 feet, a good 3,000 feet LOWER than Cusco, if you can believe it.  We disembarked the train and immediately met up with our tour guide waiting for us just outside the train station entrance.  The guide had our tickets to ride the bus to the top of the mountain and he was easy to find with a yellow sign he was holding up.  There were two other people on our tour, so was a very intimate group, advantages of going in the off season.

The small town was built across a river with plenty of local vendors offering handmade goods that you could find in any Mexican or Latin American city.  Naturally, I had to take a picture of Toto’s house since it is my favorite band with my favorite song “Africa” and because I’m from Kansas.  I knew this was a sign I came to the right place, no better choice for my 40th birthday.

The former name of the town was Aguas Calientes but it is now officially Machupicchu Pueblo.  So, if you see both names for the main town at the base of Machu Picchu, you know why.  You see the new name sign below across the entrance to the town.

Our guide is featured below walking us through the city en route to the bus pick-up spot.  We are crossing the raging river that spits the city in two.  Our guide was super informative and was incredibly proud of his culture and heritage.  A husband and father of two, he spared no detail in pointing out the wonders that is Machu Picchu.  He answered every question as I had researched extensively prior to the trip about Hiram Bingham, the landscape and the construct itself.  A leader among guides.

The bus ride to the top of Machu Picchu takes about 25 minutes.  It’s a standard greyhound-esque bus with continuous turns all the way to the top.  If you’ve driven the summit of Haleakala in Maui or any other mountaintop for that matter, you know the drill.  They are dirt roads with buses coming and going every 10-15 minutes.  The roads are narrow, so a little gut-wrenching going up and down as you peer over the rail-less edge to the ravine below.  I couldn’t imagine going up in the rain when the roads were muddy and slick.

Burt was navigator in the bus passenger seat and took video the whole ride up and talked with the driver, hopefully not too much to distract him from the steady turns, as you can see below.  🙂

Once we reached the summit, we disembarked the bus and walked to the entrance of Machu Picchu, that is much like any theme park or major attraction.  There was a fairly long line of ticketed individuals swirling along roped-off entryways.  We waited a few people deep and went through the line.  Our tour was about to begin.

We walked a few minutes through the entrance and our guide took us directly to the most popular tourist spot for photos first.  The main entrance gate overlooking Machu Picchu from above.  This was the house of the Guardians.  This was the dwelling of those that took care of Machu Picchu.  If you were to take the 4-day hike from Cusco to Machu Picchu, you would see this view as you came down the trail.

I was under the impression I could easily walk over to the Sun Gate (entrance gate) to Machu Picchu on the Inca Trail, but I was wrong.  It would take half a day to reach the actual entrance gate on the trail.  It was high up on the mountain.  This entrance gate was specifically placed so that on the summer solstice, the sun’s rays would pass through the Sun Gate all the way to Machu Picchu and in through the window of the Temple of the Sun.  The attention to architecture and detail of the Inca was incredible.  If you are thinking this is very Indiana Jones-ish, there is a reason why.  George Lucas used this construct as inspiration when he created the scene of Indiana Jones in the map room of Raiders of the Lost Ark when the sun beams down and points the direction of the lost ark.  Indiana Jones was also inspired by Hiram Bingham, the professor at Yale and archaeologist/adventurer.

As you can see below, the Sun Gate is a tremendous distance from the Temple of the Sun located in the heart of Machu Picchu.  You can barely even make out the Temple of the Sun unless it was pointed out to you by a guide.  Staggering.

Another Sun Gate photo from the front.  All taken from online sources since I couldn’t make the hike there on our tour.

Even though I couldn’t make the hike to the Sun Gate, the views overlooking Machu Picchu were more than any picture could give justice, as I mentioned before.  I can’t stress the enough.  The weather was a perfect 80 degrees and no rain whatsoever, in the middle of rainy season.  The Inca Trail was closed during the month of February for repairs, our guide told us mostly for bathroom maintenance, but they say due to rainy season.  He said due to climate change, it doesn’t rain in the Andes as much as it used to.

We couldn’t take enough photos overlooking Machu Picchu.  I had brought my Chiefs Kingdom flag in my backpack and pulled it out for a photo.  An adjacent guide yelled something my direction and then my own guide quickly told me to put it away.  Machu Picchu is such a sacred spot that taking a picture of any sort of sports team or anything other than a country’s flag is considered rude and disrespect.  I wouldn’t be able to take a picture with the flag overlooking Machu Picchu promoted Chiefs Kingdom. 😦

The mountain you see in the distance below has a trail up to the top as well, but they only allow 500 people per day and you have to book months in advance.  It’s called Huayna Picchu.  If we had a couple days, or more advance planning, I would have secured our spots on this trail overlooking Machu Picchu from the other direction.  I hear the climb is steep, but well worth it.

We, again, had made it.  This was it, a right of passage.  A Modern Wonder of the World.  A checkmark off the Bucket List and another expedition achieved.  No greater feeling than the feeling of adventure.

I’ll let the photos speak for themselves.

You see Alpaca’s everywhere.  They are considered a good omen for the local Peruvian people and culture.  I did eat one while in Aguas Calientes for lunch and later had an upset stomach and I’m sure the local gods were looking poorly down upon me.  Learned my lesson.  They have this animal on magnets, keychains and every tourist product you can imagine.  They are very friendly animals and super approachable.  I thought it a great thing they let them roam free across the ruins just as in the ancient days.

The multitude of tiers below were for crops.  Each tier was a different crop the Inca would grow.

After taking photos overlooking Machu Picchu, we started the trail down to the main gate of the ancient city.  I’ll describe in detail more of the depths of Machu Picchu in my next blog.  I’d be able to write for days on the details and staggering detail of the city, but I’ll try and condense as much as I can.  Until then, I’ll show a pic at the gate and hope you join me on the inside next time.

Stay hungry, stay curious.