5/26/2011
We're on the train heading to Ollantaytambo, where we will de-board and take a shuttle van back to Cusco, after seeing Machu Picchu this morning. It's a fairly sunny day and we have a cool breeze coming in the window. In short, it's a much more comfortable day than yesterday. 4:40am came too soon, but I slept well. A pillow and a mattress were greatly appreciated. We were some of the first people in the archeological site after waiting in line for a bus ride up in the dark. Saulo gave us a 2 hour tour, after which we said our goodbyes and took a second pass to just take everything in. I also needed a second pass through the site because my camera batteries died 5 minutes into the tour!! I knew they were low, but didn't worry because they were just the second of 3 pairs of rechargeable AAs I brought... I thought I had only burned through 1 so far but my third pair was dead, so I had to leave and re-enter the site after buying new batteries in the gift shop. Problem solved.
Regardless of how much or how little you know about the Inkas, nothing can prepare you for seeing Machu Picchu in person. It's nearly impossible to believe what was accomplished so long ago, and that such an advanced culture fell so quickly... it makes you wonder what else they could have taught us. The forethought, wisdom, and preparation required to create Machu Picchu is simply incredible. Tony and I decided that the theory that the Inkas only lasted 100 years as a civilization was not accurate, because it would have taken over 100 years to build Machu Picchu. We also struggled to believe some of the things Saulo told us, which has prompted me to buy a book about Machu Picchu when I get home.
Tony, Shelly and I sat on a series of terraces with a vantage point looking down on the rest of the site just to absorb our surroundings. The place moves you to reverence. I tried to bring my imagination to its most vivid and actually picture what it might have looked like with the Inkas surrounding me. We sat in silence, pondering. We talked quietly about the legacy modern man will leave in comparison... destruction, holes in the earth, and piles of rubble. We, who have the tools and technology to build wonders like Machu Picchu far easier, choose instead to build dams and nuclear power plants while living in homes that fall apart after just 20 years of negligence... sad. We discussed the following hypothetical situation:
What if you could travel back in time to the same exact place 1000 years ago (pre-Inkas) with all the PHDs, anthropologists, geologists, engineers, and visitors to the current ruins that you cared to bring with you.... given the same tools (rocks, wheels, trees, rope made from organic materials, water, time, etc.) and limitations, and even when provided blueprints to the expected outcome, how long would it take to replicate the site for this theoretical group of modern-day masters and sages?
I honestly don't think it could be done... it would take generations, and even then would be extremely unlikely.
We were all very happy with our morning and eager to get back to Cuzco for the next phase of our trip when yet another bad memorable experience took place... buying bus tickets to get back to Aguas Calientes. This part of the story frustrates me so much to write... after having such a terrific morning our moods were immediately switched to the complete opposite. Perú makes me feel bi-polar. I feel like there are only high highs and low lows, but nothing in between. Anyways, here's what happened -- I don't know why, but our trekking company only supplied one-way tickets for the bus. There's no ATM at the site and they don't take credit cards at the bus stop, so if you have no cash, you walk down. ($8 for a 12 minute bus ride is a complete rip off. Whey they don't just include the round-trip bus fare in the price of the entrance fee is beyond me. There are plenty of issues with the US national parks, but I think Peru could benefit from some friendly advice in this regard. Also, for $15, you would expect the road to be nice. Not so. Anyways...) We were told there was an ATM at the site so we weren't concerned that we couldn't find one in Aguas Calientes despite looking and asking. (... which also makes no sense given that the singular purpose of that town seems to be taking heaps of cash from citizens of the developed world...) Because of all this, we needed to come up with $24 to get down to town but were low on cash. It's almost too bad I didn't think to tip Saulo with my "bad" $20 bills because all my $20s were rejected by the bus ticket vendor. I don't like being a disgruntled traveler, but I am really tired of pulling $20 bills from Peruvian ATMs only to have them rejected by Peruvians. All you get is, "I can't change this..." and the money slides back to you. I don't know who started this paranoia about counterfeit or imperfect dollars, but seriously, a note to all travelers to Peru: do not try to use USD in Perú. Avoid at all costs, even when amounts are posted in USD, pay in Soles.
Long story short, we were able to "make bail" with a mix of Soles and $1 bills (thank God we had 6 singles)... otherwise we would have been the ones begging. Afterwards we grabbed lunch at the same place we ate dinner the night before (partly because we had to pick up our train tickets from them, but also because we knew we wouldn't be pleaded to death to come in and dine there). I had the tropical fruit pizza, which had bananas, papaya, mango and pineapple on it.... excellent! The waitress literally built a pile of wood, tore a cardboard box to pieces and added them, then used a wooden match to make the fire in the oven which cooked our food. After lunch we picked up our bags from the hostel and caught the train.
...later in the day, back in Cuzco...
In
Ollantaytambo we loaded into a van and made our way past Inka ruins and the high plateau with giant glacial peaks in the distance. There's no doubt the Sacred Valley is worth exploring. On the bus were two Colombian girls sitting in front of me; one from Calí and one from Bogotá.
They were nice and even curious to know whether they spoke like Nelly.
Colombians are easy for me to pick out now; they seem to be the only ones I can follow 100% in a conversation. I can definitely follow other native Spanish speakers, but I drop words and phrases when listening to them. For this reason, not to mention several others, I think Colombia is my next new country (let's be honest, the thirst for travel is insatiable... there will be more...).
We were dropped off in a plaza a few blocks from Renacimiento, and had a short walk uphill before reaching "home sweet home" again. We collected the luggage we left behind from Maria and proceeded to create a laundry explosion... wet socks, pants, and several other kinds of clothing hung throughout our apartment after doing 3 loads of laundry in the kitchen sink. My hiking clothes are still foul, but are a marked improvement from yesterday. We can only hope they dry before we fly back to Lima... t
ime to call it a day.
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