Machu Pichu

We woke up at 3:50am and excitedly met our friends to begin the ascent from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu. After passing through the park gate we joined the snake of keen head-torch wearing hikers eager to conquer the 3200 steps and beat the sunrise.

And what a reward awaited us... the Inka's hidden kingdom!!! It didn't seem real! Almost suspended between the green jagged Andean peaks it sits there as it has since the mid 15th century- mystical and majestic, truly looking like something out of a fairytale. We took advantage of being some of the first to arrive for the day and snapped up some sweet pictures in the dawn light.

Andres began the tour of the site with some history- Machu Picchu means 'old peak' in Quechuan. It was built around 1450 at the height of the Inka Emperor and was a sacred place believed to be used by priests and the most noble members of their society. The site was abandoned a century later however around the time of the Spanish Conquest. Although it is located only 80km from the Inka capital Cuzco, the site remained hidden and consequently it was not destroyed by the Spanish (in an attempt to eradicate pagan worshipping of the sun gods most Inka sites were destroyed). Over the centuries the jungle grew over the site and it wasn't known to the western world until 1911!

We learnt so much exploring but here are some of the highlights for me:

The engineering of this place is incredible! Every stone is put in a specific place for a specific reason and the city is designed to last forever! For example trapezoidal windows and doorways were built and no mortar used to ensure the buildings were earthquake proof. Sophisticated irrigation systems run from a spring in Machu Picchu mountain to supply the city with fresh drinking water and drainage in the rainy season to prevent flooding or the ground weakening from the rain. Furthermore the whole city is aligned with the sun, compass directions and constellations. Windows make perfect shadows at the solstices and equinoxes and everything is carefully designed worship of the sun god. This place really blew my mind. The Inka people were so intelligent and their city is an absolute masterpiece!

Within the city their are so many organised areas, temples with their smooth stonework for worshipping the four elements: water, fire, wind and earth; tiered fields for growing crops or stabilising the site; assembly points with perfect acoustics and      quarries where they broke stones by inserting wood into cracks and wetting the wood so it expanded and broke the stones!! Incredible!

At the end of the tour we said 'sulpulchi' to Andre, which is the Quechua alternative to goodbye meaning rather 'see you in the next life' and took a photo with him with Salkantay Mountain in the background. This reminded us how far we had come over the past five days of trekking and justified the ache in our calves.

We were now on our own and quickly got lost amongst the 200 stone buildings. Ged was highly distracted by the llamas- they are hilarious and roam the ancient city like they own it!! It was magic to just wander but we decided that we hadn't had enough exercise in the last few days and that we really should climb another mountain, this time Machu Picchu at 2430m. It was a hard slog with the sun beating down on us and somewhat hairy as the paths were narrow with steep drop offs. Henry got the nickname Smeagle as he scrambled on all fours, terrified of the cliffs. Ged was I think cursing me and my love of mountains and suggested multiple times that we turn around. An hour and a half later we made it the top, absolutely knackered (see photo of Ged for evidence). The view was unreal though, you got a great perspective of how ingeniously the site fit together geographically with snowcapped andies on the horizon and the powerful Urubamba river wrapping itself around the site like a python below. We made sandwiches and took in the overwhelming view before descending.

After chatting with some more llamas, walking more inca steps and taking in our last glimpses of this world wonder we collapsed in a heap and drank our weight in water. We descended the 3200 steps and found a spot to sip beers, share stories and eat pizza before out 4:20 train came.