As I write this post, I am riding with my H2P classmates on the Peru Railways train away from Machu Picchu. The Urubamba river is roaring just a few meters below us. It recently rained here, so the water is muddy, but sharp rocks are still visible jutting up from the bottom. If I had to guess I would say that this river is far to dangerous for anyone to navigate by kayak or raft.
Though I'd like to detail a few other sites in this post, I want to start with Machu Picchu, while the tour-de-force of Peru is still fresh in my mind.
We arrived to the small tourist town that sits just up river from Machu Picchu (called "Aguas Calientes") last night, and we left our hotel at 6:45 a.m. this morning to get an early start on traveling up to the ruins.
Our journey began with a bus ride up a tenuous switchback dirt (well, mud) road. It was about a 25 minute ride to the top of the mountain.
The bus took us to the front gates of the ancient Incan city - and we glimpsed the entire layout for the first time after a subsequent 10 minute hike up a set of stairs carved into the mountain. The clouds were clearing out when we arrived.
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Now for a little history. The city was established in the mid-15th century as a retreat for Pachacuti Inca, the 9th Incan king. The architecture of the city is notable for its mathematical precision, astronomical significance, and relationship to its Andean surroundings.
I really enjoyed the fact that we were able to explore the city - as we have explored every site here in Peru - with both our professors and a tour guide discussing important aspects of the architecture and cultural significance.
Our class read a couple of scholarly articles just before visiting the site, which included a critical analysis of Martin Chambi's photography and a piece written by Hiram Bingham (the contemporary American explorer who "discovered" the site in 1911).
Bingham was very interested in what we might call a romanticized version of the city. He wanted to "clean it up" - remove vegetation and overgrowth - in order to restore the site to its original glory. Chambi, on the other hand, took very austere photographs that seemed to play with gender parity and indegenista relationships to the present socio-political climate. More importantly, for Chambi, the site was somehow glorious just the way it is.
Today, Machu Picchu is a HUGE tourist attraction. But there's still something mystical about it. Maybe its the secluded location and the ominous clouds hanging just overhead. Maybe its the rugged hikes...or the sheer amount of work that went into building such an intricate and highly elevated city.
We saw the ruins from a wide variety of angles, but my favorites pictures were from the Incan sun temple (about a 40 minute rugged hike through the rain forest away). Here's one:
Now I'd like to transition here and very briefly talk about a few of the sites that we visited yesterday: Chinchero and Ollantaytambo. These two towns are located on the way to Machu Picchu.
Chinchero was an indigenous town that the Spanish conquered and ruled in a hands-off fashion. It is famous for its textile production and market, it's Incan terraces, and it's Spanish church (that features the painting Virgin of Montserrat by indigenous artist Chivantito).
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| Colonial Catholic Church in Chinchero - established in 1607 by the Spanish |
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| Textile dying demonstration in downtown Chinchero |
Ollantaytambo is a town famous for its Incan ruins and it's location in the sacred Valley. It's honestly a little bit strange that tourists don't flock to Ollantaytambo in the same way that they flock to Machu Picchu. The ruins and the scenery at Ollantaytambo are nearly as breathtaking as their counterparts at Machu Picchu - and they're a lot easier to get to from Cusco!
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| Photo of Ollantaytambo and the Sacred Valley I took standing atop of a giant Incan terrace |
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| "The Face of God" - a rock formation that juts out of the mountain opposite the large Incan terrace ruins in Ollantaytambo |
Machu Picchu, Chinchero, and Ollantaytambo were each unique in their own way. It's been another whirlwind 48 hour journey for me, but it was worth every second.
I plan to post at least one more time - possibly after I return from my trip early next week due to time constraints.
As always, thank you for reading, and buenos noches!
—Brock
12 Jan 2017
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