Staying at the El Cuy Hostel in Cusco. For those of you that don´t speak Spanish, El Cuy means The Guinea Pig. Strange name for a Hostel? Yeah, I would think so too, if I weren´t aware that cuy is a delicacy here. They love it. Crispier than chicken, often served with the head and all still attached. Yum. I´m glad that when we were young and my mother wanted to dispose of our small friends, Doc and Spook, she took them up Millcreek Canyon and repeatedly ran over them with the car tire instead of putting them in the fryer. But, I guess that story is for another day.
Apology for the factual prologue, more for my own memory than reader interest. Unless you´re a history buff.
Cusco, it comes from the Quechua word qosq´o, which means navel of the Earth. As legend has it, in the 12th century, the sun god Inti, looked down on the Earth and decided it needed some improvements/change etc. So, Inti created the first Inca, Manco Capac over on the Isla Del Sol on Lake Titicaca. Manco was given a spear and told to drive it into the Earth. Wherever the spear completely fell into the Earth he would create a great city. He walked for a long time, eventually stopping in Cusco where he drove the spear into the Earth. (Very similar to This Is the Place, I know.) People have been living here ever since. The city retains much of the same architecture. The streets are cobble-stoned and only wide enough for a single car. Above the Plaza de Armas the narrow cobble stoned passages and walkways give a ¨whoa, where am I¨ feeling.
The Incan Empire slowly expanded from the 12th century until the mid 1400s when growth really took off. By the time the Spanish arrived in 1533ish the Incan Empire included all of Peru and Bolivia, most of Ecuador and parts of Chile, Argentina and Columbia. The Incas were best known for their architecture, which was most prominent in El Valle Sagrado, The Sacred Valley. This valley is formed by the Rio Urubamba which runs west to east about 20 km north of Cusco. When the Spanish arrived they first attacked the Incans in Cusco. After their defeat, the Incans retreated further into the Sacred Valley to Ollantaytambo. The Incans won a large battle here. The fortress and remaining ruins are literally right above town. By showering the Spaniards with arrows and rocks, and flooding the town with pre-prepared water channels, the Incas were able to hold off the Spaniards for a time. Eventually the Spaniards defeated the Incans and they withdrew further into the jungle. (As you travel further inland in Peru the climate changes from absolute desert to very jungly (if that´s a word)). Their last retreat was to Vilcabamba, the lost city of the Incas. It was this city Hiram Bingham was looking for in 1911 when he somewhat accidentally stumbled upon Machu Picchu. At the time Machu Picchu was almost entirely covered by jungle overgrowth and it took a couple years to clear away the growth and expose the ruins.
When the Spaniards first arrived they never mentioned the presence of Machu Picchu in any of their records. This makes it difficult for archaeologists to determine the importance of the site. Was it abandoned when the Spaniards arrived? and therefore never visited. No one really knows. It does contain many religious sites, temples and is crisscrossed by 7 major Inca trails, suggesting it was a significant Mecca for the Incas as well as a crossroads for travel throughout the region.
So, about our journeys. First we went to Pisac. It lies in the east end of the Sacred Valley, high above the Rio Urubamba. The coolest terracing that I have ever seen. I don´t think I can stress it enough, The Incas Were Builders. We´re talking massive construction. Thousands of boulders, perfectly symmetrical terraces that circle the steepest, harshest terrain. It´s like someone got to High Rustler and said, ¨Hey, let´s plant some rice up here?¨ Why go through such hassles to grow crops on the side of a cliff? It is believed that the Incan Empire numbered anywhere from 5-35 million people, (discrepancies exist not because of the lack of records left by the Incas, but how to interpret the records that the Spanish partially destroyed) and that´t a lot of people eating a lot of food. So, after all the flat land was used up, they went to the steep land. A bit of a contrast to those in America today when they run out of food. I think that instead of working tirelessly the modern day problem solving system is food stamps. A bit lame if you ask me. The four of us walked through the old citadel high on the mountaintop, through the rice terraces and spent the day wishing we could fly backwards 500 years and see the place in action.
The next day was on to Ollantaytambo. Similar to Pisac. Incredible terracing, masterful stonework, it really is incredible. The architecture is incredible. Buildings built entirely of rock, each rock about the size of a table, perfectly joined together without the use of any sort of mortar or cement. Truly a perfect jigsaw puzzle. Look at the picture to see. We have a running joke that anytime we are on a really nice trail, road or building etc, we say, the Incas must have built it cause the Peruvians couldn´t. Spent the night in Aguas Calientes, also known as Machu Picchu Pueblo.
Machu Picchu Pueblo sits at the base of and around the corner from Machu Picchu. The only way to the town is by train, or Inca Trail. The train lets you off and you´re immediately swarmed by poor-English speaking Peruvians hawking all sorts of crafts. It´s the ultimate tourist destination in South America, we know it, they know it, and they want what´s in our wallets. In comes the 2 block rule. The distance between Tourism Central and The Real Peru is always 2 blocks. Regardless of the town we´ve been in, 2 blocks always separates people selling artwork and jewelry from kids running in the streets, cheap food vendors and authenticity. I hate the facade of tourism. In all honesty it is sad to compare two vastly different cultures inhabiting the same land only 500 years apart. One worked tirelessly to construct citadels, temples and terraces for growing crops. The other sits under zinc metal and blue tarps and sells overpriced nonsense to weary travelers with nothing else to do but pick up trinkets of their travels. Hmm.
Real Peru for us was great. We found the local soccer field, fantastic location, stadium lighting and the entire town was out playing volleyball and soccer the all night. Sarah and I jumped in on a game with some kids, and we handed them a decisive victory. We had the age and ability advantage, but they had the acclimatized advantage. Running at altitude = I thought my heart would break out of my chest. Then Eli and I got in on the typical, spin a 4 year old in a circle as fast as you can and as soon as you let them go tell them to run really fast and watch them fall over. Never gets old. Standard Peruvian fare for dinner and early to bed. It was Machu Picchu Eve and we didn´t want to screw anything up.
The night before any great event, a Phish show for example, requires planning. In the rock and roll world you want to be on ¨the rail¨. (To clarify, the rail is the front row of a general admission concert, but it´s better than the front row. You can´t buy a ticket to be on the rail, you´ve got to show up early, concentrate and hope that for just a moment the starts align.) It´s where the magic happens. Yes there are the thousand hoodlums behind you, who slept in, showed up late and still got to see the show, but it´s not the same. When you´re on the rail you´re not at the show, you´re part of the show. And thus it was with us. The prospect of 2,500 other tourists swarming all over Machu Picchu. Not cool. I wanted to be on the rail. The first bus up the mountain leaves at 5:30am. We woke up at 4am to be in line at 4:30am, on the bus at 5:30am, Machu Picchu opens at 6am and we get a little bit of the majesty of Machu Picchu to ourselves. We´re walking to the bus station at 4:28am and I´m nervous. What if the line is already packed? What will we do? Then we notice people walking the other way, down along the river, across the bridge and an hour up the very steep, did I say very steep, hill to Machu Picchu. Alas. If being on ¨the rail¨ at Machu Picchu comes down to a physical bout, I´m confident I can reach the top of the mountain first. We´re allowed across the bridge at 5am and the race is on. From the beginning it´s me and a French dude out front. The climb is very steep, and dark. I don´t have a headlight but am using the Frenchman´s headlight as we climb together. My heart is pounding, legs burning. I feel like I am on my bike again. Competition. Me vs. someone else. Eight minutes into the climb Frenchy stops to adjust his clothing. Now is my opportunity. I push ahead in the dark with nothing between me and ¨the rail¨ but 40 minutes of heart pounding, Inca trail climbing darkness. I momentarily check the time on my phone. It´s 5:18, the first bus will be leaving in 12 minutes. How much farther have I to go? Will the bus beat me? Despite my lead on Napoleon (I can no longer see his headlight), I push on faster. When I notice my heart rate start to relax I pick up the pace. The thought of victory with 2,499 people behind me propels me to the top. As I climb I catch a glimpse of Wayna Picchu in the distance. Adrenaline and childhood giddyness carries me the rest of the way and I reach the ticket booth at 5:26am. I´m alone for 6 minutes (during which time I read a chapter of Matthew) until Joan of Arc (to be honest I never asked for the Frenchman´s name) arrives.
The earlybirds filter in until 6am when the gate opens and we race into Machu Picchu. A couple moments of freedom, in what just might be the coolest place I´ve ever been, was worth the planning and physical exertion of the morning. Some places, movies, people, food, things, etc don´t live up to the hype. Machu Picchu surpasses it. It´s not the buildings, or the stonework or the terracing that does it. These exist in other ruins. It´s the location. Out of this world. Most people only see Machu Picchu from the typical postcard picture location, with a very steep mountain, Wayna Picchu, directly behind it. But when you are actually there and spin around in 360 degrees it is mesmerizing. To top it off we climbed Machu Picchu Montaña, the mountain you don´t see in the postcard photo. It stands about 2,000 feet above and behind Machu Picchu. From there the views are incredible. Nothing but mountains in every directions. And tiny little Machu Picchu way down below. On the way home we compared Machu Picchu to some of the other great iconic places we´ve visited, the Grand Canyon, the Empire State Building, the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, the Taj Mahal in India, the Coliseum in Rome. But we all agreed this place tops them all.
Apology for the factual prologue, more for my own memory than reader interest. Unless you´re a history buff.
Cusco, it comes from the Quechua word qosq´o, which means navel of the Earth. As legend has it, in the 12th century, the sun god Inti, looked down on the Earth and decided it needed some improvements/change etc. So, Inti created the first Inca, Manco Capac over on the Isla Del Sol on Lake Titicaca. Manco was given a spear and told to drive it into the Earth. Wherever the spear completely fell into the Earth he would create a great city. He walked for a long time, eventually stopping in Cusco where he drove the spear into the Earth. (Very similar to This Is the Place, I know.) People have been living here ever since. The city retains much of the same architecture. The streets are cobble-stoned and only wide enough for a single car. Above the Plaza de Armas the narrow cobble stoned passages and walkways give a ¨whoa, where am I¨ feeling.
The Incan Empire slowly expanded from the 12th century until the mid 1400s when growth really took off. By the time the Spanish arrived in 1533ish the Incan Empire included all of Peru and Bolivia, most of Ecuador and parts of Chile, Argentina and Columbia. The Incas were best known for their architecture, which was most prominent in El Valle Sagrado, The Sacred Valley. This valley is formed by the Rio Urubamba which runs west to east about 20 km north of Cusco. When the Spanish arrived they first attacked the Incans in Cusco. After their defeat, the Incans retreated further into the Sacred Valley to Ollantaytambo. The Incans won a large battle here. The fortress and remaining ruins are literally right above town. By showering the Spaniards with arrows and rocks, and flooding the town with pre-prepared water channels, the Incas were able to hold off the Spaniards for a time. Eventually the Spaniards defeated the Incans and they withdrew further into the jungle. (As you travel further inland in Peru the climate changes from absolute desert to very jungly (if that´s a word)). Their last retreat was to Vilcabamba, the lost city of the Incas. It was this city Hiram Bingham was looking for in 1911 when he somewhat accidentally stumbled upon Machu Picchu. At the time Machu Picchu was almost entirely covered by jungle overgrowth and it took a couple years to clear away the growth and expose the ruins.
When the Spaniards first arrived they never mentioned the presence of Machu Picchu in any of their records. This makes it difficult for archaeologists to determine the importance of the site. Was it abandoned when the Spaniards arrived? and therefore never visited. No one really knows. It does contain many religious sites, temples and is crisscrossed by 7 major Inca trails, suggesting it was a significant Mecca for the Incas as well as a crossroads for travel throughout the region.
So, about our journeys. First we went to Pisac. It lies in the east end of the Sacred Valley, high above the Rio Urubamba. The coolest terracing that I have ever seen. I don´t think I can stress it enough, The Incas Were Builders. We´re talking massive construction. Thousands of boulders, perfectly symmetrical terraces that circle the steepest, harshest terrain. It´s like someone got to High Rustler and said, ¨Hey, let´s plant some rice up here?¨ Why go through such hassles to grow crops on the side of a cliff? It is believed that the Incan Empire numbered anywhere from 5-35 million people, (discrepancies exist not because of the lack of records left by the Incas, but how to interpret the records that the Spanish partially destroyed) and that´t a lot of people eating a lot of food. So, after all the flat land was used up, they went to the steep land. A bit of a contrast to those in America today when they run out of food. I think that instead of working tirelessly the modern day problem solving system is food stamps. A bit lame if you ask me. The four of us walked through the old citadel high on the mountaintop, through the rice terraces and spent the day wishing we could fly backwards 500 years and see the place in action.
The next day was on to Ollantaytambo. Similar to Pisac. Incredible terracing, masterful stonework, it really is incredible. The architecture is incredible. Buildings built entirely of rock, each rock about the size of a table, perfectly joined together without the use of any sort of mortar or cement. Truly a perfect jigsaw puzzle. Look at the picture to see. We have a running joke that anytime we are on a really nice trail, road or building etc, we say, the Incas must have built it cause the Peruvians couldn´t. Spent the night in Aguas Calientes, also known as Machu Picchu Pueblo.
Machu Picchu Pueblo sits at the base of and around the corner from Machu Picchu. The only way to the town is by train, or Inca Trail. The train lets you off and you´re immediately swarmed by poor-English speaking Peruvians hawking all sorts of crafts. It´s the ultimate tourist destination in South America, we know it, they know it, and they want what´s in our wallets. In comes the 2 block rule. The distance between Tourism Central and The Real Peru is always 2 blocks. Regardless of the town we´ve been in, 2 blocks always separates people selling artwork and jewelry from kids running in the streets, cheap food vendors and authenticity. I hate the facade of tourism. In all honesty it is sad to compare two vastly different cultures inhabiting the same land only 500 years apart. One worked tirelessly to construct citadels, temples and terraces for growing crops. The other sits under zinc metal and blue tarps and sells overpriced nonsense to weary travelers with nothing else to do but pick up trinkets of their travels. Hmm.
Real Peru for us was great. We found the local soccer field, fantastic location, stadium lighting and the entire town was out playing volleyball and soccer the all night. Sarah and I jumped in on a game with some kids, and we handed them a decisive victory. We had the age and ability advantage, but they had the acclimatized advantage. Running at altitude = I thought my heart would break out of my chest. Then Eli and I got in on the typical, spin a 4 year old in a circle as fast as you can and as soon as you let them go tell them to run really fast and watch them fall over. Never gets old. Standard Peruvian fare for dinner and early to bed. It was Machu Picchu Eve and we didn´t want to screw anything up.
The night before any great event, a Phish show for example, requires planning. In the rock and roll world you want to be on ¨the rail¨. (To clarify, the rail is the front row of a general admission concert, but it´s better than the front row. You can´t buy a ticket to be on the rail, you´ve got to show up early, concentrate and hope that for just a moment the starts align.) It´s where the magic happens. Yes there are the thousand hoodlums behind you, who slept in, showed up late and still got to see the show, but it´s not the same. When you´re on the rail you´re not at the show, you´re part of the show. And thus it was with us. The prospect of 2,500 other tourists swarming all over Machu Picchu. Not cool. I wanted to be on the rail. The first bus up the mountain leaves at 5:30am. We woke up at 4am to be in line at 4:30am, on the bus at 5:30am, Machu Picchu opens at 6am and we get a little bit of the majesty of Machu Picchu to ourselves. We´re walking to the bus station at 4:28am and I´m nervous. What if the line is already packed? What will we do? Then we notice people walking the other way, down along the river, across the bridge and an hour up the very steep, did I say very steep, hill to Machu Picchu. Alas. If being on ¨the rail¨ at Machu Picchu comes down to a physical bout, I´m confident I can reach the top of the mountain first. We´re allowed across the bridge at 5am and the race is on. From the beginning it´s me and a French dude out front. The climb is very steep, and dark. I don´t have a headlight but am using the Frenchman´s headlight as we climb together. My heart is pounding, legs burning. I feel like I am on my bike again. Competition. Me vs. someone else. Eight minutes into the climb Frenchy stops to adjust his clothing. Now is my opportunity. I push ahead in the dark with nothing between me and ¨the rail¨ but 40 minutes of heart pounding, Inca trail climbing darkness. I momentarily check the time on my phone. It´s 5:18, the first bus will be leaving in 12 minutes. How much farther have I to go? Will the bus beat me? Despite my lead on Napoleon (I can no longer see his headlight), I push on faster. When I notice my heart rate start to relax I pick up the pace. The thought of victory with 2,499 people behind me propels me to the top. As I climb I catch a glimpse of Wayna Picchu in the distance. Adrenaline and childhood giddyness carries me the rest of the way and I reach the ticket booth at 5:26am. I´m alone for 6 minutes (during which time I read a chapter of Matthew) until Joan of Arc (to be honest I never asked for the Frenchman´s name) arrives.
The earlybirds filter in until 6am when the gate opens and we race into Machu Picchu. A couple moments of freedom, in what just might be the coolest place I´ve ever been, was worth the planning and physical exertion of the morning. Some places, movies, people, food, things, etc don´t live up to the hype. Machu Picchu surpasses it. It´s not the buildings, or the stonework or the terracing that does it. These exist in other ruins. It´s the location. Out of this world. Most people only see Machu Picchu from the typical postcard picture location, with a very steep mountain, Wayna Picchu, directly behind it. But when you are actually there and spin around in 360 degrees it is mesmerizing. To top it off we climbed Machu Picchu Montaña, the mountain you don´t see in the postcard photo. It stands about 2,000 feet above and behind Machu Picchu. From there the views are incredible. Nothing but mountains in every directions. And tiny little Machu Picchu way down below. On the way home we compared Machu Picchu to some of the other great iconic places we´ve visited, the Grand Canyon, the Empire State Building, the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, the Taj Mahal in India, the Coliseum in Rome. But we all agreed this place tops them all.
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| Machu Picchu, need I say more? |
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| Machu Picchu Montaña |
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| MP. |
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| This is what ¨the rail¨ looks like at 5:26am. |
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| Pisac terracing. |
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| The Fortress at Ollantaytambo. Note the impeccable construction, rocks fit together perfectly. |
Clayton, Eli, Elizabeth and Sarah,
ReplyDeleteFINALLY made time to sit down and catch up on your adventures. AWESOME. You guys are having an incredible adventure. Grandpa Dick would LOVE to be tailing along right beside you. Maybe he even is!!! It's wonderful to see the spirit of the outdoors within our family go on from one generation to the next. We were born to travel, explore, live amongst the natives and appreciate other cultures and embrace people from all parts of the world. How fortunate we are to have these fabulous adventures. Memories that I assure you will propel you from one phase of your life to another. No telling where you will all end up--living, traveling, and eventually watching your children take off to explore other parts of the world that you always hoped to see yourselves. We are so blessed to have such rich experiences. I am thrilled for all of you.
I have loved reading about places that I too have been. Twice to Machu Pichu, once when Grandma Ann and Rebecca and I picked up Creighton from his mission, and again when I picked up Hillary from her mission to Peru. She lived in Arequipa and then in Juliaca. I know the road you traveled on to Cusco. We rented a car and drove that road. It's beautiful. Probably didn't have quite the adventure you did, but still loved the scenery and experience. I am so looking forward to seeing more pictures and talking to you when you return. Thanks for sharing your trip with all of us. You are a gifted writer Clayton. Just loved feeling your energy and enthusiasm. Take care and have a safe flight home. Love Susan
Susan,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments. It's fun to be traveling with family, and I hope this blog will serve as a reminder of our travels in the future. I'm sure Elizabeth will have plenty of pictures to show you when we return. (I'll not be in Utah immediately).