Peru & Bolivia

Part 2: Macchu Picchu and the Sacred Valley

<< Part 1: Lima and Cuzco

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Part 3: Lake Titicaca >>

July 28th (day 3): Ollantaytambo

The hard road to Macchu Picchu

Most tourists visit Macchu Picchu from Cuzco. Since it's a 4-hour trip to get there, they have to leave Cuzco at 6am, spend just a few hours at the ruins, and then head back to Cuzco. I wanted more time in Macchu Picchu so I decided to head to Aguas Calientes, the village near Macchu Pacchu, in the evening to sleep there. That way I could enter Macchu Picchu early the next morning and spend a full day there.

The only way to get to Aguas Calientes and Macchu Picchu is by train, and the Peruvian state charges insane prices for the tickets - the return fare from Cuzco is about 100 USD. Since I was going in the evening anyway I decided to first take a bus to Ollantaytambo, a village about halfway between Cuzco and Macchu Picchu, and take the train from there. This would cost 'only' 52 USD and this way I could visit the Inca fortress in Ollantaytambo along the way.

I was gonna describe the epic saga of how I bought train tickets in Cuzco, but to cut a long story short let me just say that the staff of the Point Hostel made me believe tickets were sold out and that I wasted an evening and a morning of my precious time and went through a lot of stress because of it. I never trust anything a local tells me, but these guys were western travelers themselves so I didn't expect them to scam me.

Cuzco to Ollantaytambo

I finally got my train tickets in Cuzco at noon, and my train would leave Ollantaytambo at 17h, so time was very short. I first took a chicken bus to Urubamba. During the two-hour ride more and more locals were squeezed into the bus but it was a great ride anyway because I enjoyed watching the gorgeous Andean landscape we were driving through as well as observing the locals who got on the bus - my first contact with indigenous Americans. I immediately loved their colourful clothes and hats.

I was glad to be away from the city and the masses of tourists and to be among local people going about their daily lives. Halfway a Flemish couple from Kortrijk was squeezed into the bus though and I got some useful info about places I was yet to visit from them. I'd meet other Belgians almost every day during this trip.

Ollantaytambo (2760m)

As I told earlier, the Inca ruler Manco Inca revolted against the Spanish in 1536 and captured the fortress Sacsayhuaman near Cuzco, but was soon defeated there. He retreated to the fortress of Ollantaytambo, and here the Inca's won their only major victory in a battle against the Spanish. Unfortunately the Spanish soon returned with a greater force and Manco Inca had to retreat into the jungle further east, never to return.

I arrived in Ollantaytambo at 14:00, leaving me a good two hours to visit the fortress, so I dropped my luggage in the first restaurant I saw and got going right away.
I had only came to Ollantaytambo to get the cheaper train to Macchu Picchu and wasn't expecting much, but it turned out to be a pleasant surprise. The fortress, which is built against a mountain and features the typical Inca terraces, was much more impressive than I expected.
I was soon done visiting the main part of the fortress, so I wandered off on the mountain. Just as I was about to turn back I spotted a French couple coming down, and they told me there were some more ruins higher up. So I went further up, found them (nothing fancy), and decided to keep climbing. It became one of those unplanned climbs that I like so much, and after a while I reached the top, which had a cross on it and a nice view.
So the fortress was nice and I got to climb a little top as a bonus. After a very stressful morning this had become a great day and I felt very happy when I finally got on my train to Macchu Picchu. The train was 3/4 empty, and only then did I fully realise that I'd been scammed by the hostel and the agency, but I was in too good a mood by now to really care.

July 29th (day 4): Macchu Picchu (2350m)

Macchu Picchu is an Inca complex on top of a mountain ridge at 2350m altitude. It was built in the 15th century but abandoned around the time of the Spanish conquest. There are various theories about what its function was: ceremonial center, military garrison or royal domain.

The Spanish never knew about Macchu Picchu's existence because the site was forgotten by all but a few local peasants until it was finally rediscovered by an American archaeologist in 1911. At first he thought he'd found the lost city of Vilcabamba, the last stronghold of the Incas to which Manco Inca retreated after his defeat at Ollantaytambo (cfr. earlier), but Vilcabamba was later discovered much deeper into the jungle.

Nowadays Macchu Picchu is the most famous archaelogical site in South America and features on any modern wonders-of-the-world list. The ruins themselves aren't that special, but their location on top of steep mountain walls is, and the scenery is just spectacular.

It would take a few hours before I got to see it though. When I woke up in Aguas Calientes my heart sunk as it was raining and completely foggy. I had little choice but to take the bus to Macchu Picchu anyway. This is about half an hour's drive from the village up a series of hairpin curves.

Once in Macchu Picchu I rushed by the whole site in 5 minutes to get to the start of the path to the top of Huayna Picchu, the steep mountain that towers over the ruins. Only 400 people are allowed to make the climb each day and I didn't want to risk not being one of them. I was number 143.
The picture above shows Huayna Picchu, but I couldn't actually see it before and during the climb because it was entirely hidden by the clouds. Notice how there are extensive constructions near the mountain top, an impressive achievement to build there.

The climb took an hour and was spectacular because the path is incredibly steep (it goes up on the left wall of the mountain as seen above) and the rock-cut stairs were very slippery from the rain. I couldn't see a thing because I was literally climbing through a cloud. It all oozed that moist jungle feeling.
Just before the top the path went through a tiny tunnel that I literally had to squeeze myself through on hands and knees, pulling my backpack behind me.
As expected, there was absolutely nothing to see on the top except whiteness all around us. I had come here for the view down on Macchu Picchu so I started waiting, along with many other people. After some time as other people gave up I conquered the spot on the very top of the top and kept waiting.
After an hour the first holes appeared in the clouds below us and we could see bits of Macchu Picchu occasionally. It was like the damn site was doing a slow strip-tease for us - a spectacular sight but not what I had come for. A bit later the clouds already swallowed the whole sight again. It started raining and most people left, but I kept waiting, cursing my bad luck.
So I endured the rain, listened to my mp3 player, talked with the people around me, and after THREE hours was fully rewarded: the clouds all disappeared, the sun broke through and I finally got the view I came for. It was well worth the wait :)
But there was plenty to see besides Macchu Picchu itself. On the left side (from my viewpoint) a series of steep overgrown rocks form a unique landscape, and the terraces and fortifications on Huayna Picchu itself are impressive as well. Those crazy Incas sure loved building in difficult places.
Throughout my travels I've often made pictures where I look down from a steep slope and include my own shoes for added effect. I can stop doing that now because it'll never get steeper than this...
It's only on the way down that I realised how spectacular the path up Huayna Picchu really is. I couldn't see the mountain before I went up and only saw whiteness all around me during the climb, but now I saw that you actually have a great view on Macchu Picchu all the way up, and that it looks like an impossibly steep climb from below. I'm just glad I waited long enough to enjoy it all on the way down.
By the time I was down again the sun was gone so I didn't get really good pics among the ruins. After all the waiting on Huayna Picchu I only had three hours left to visit Macchu Picchu itself but that was just enough. The ruins are interesting but not that special, it's the setting that makes Macchu Picchu so fantastic.
The view from the terraces on the far side of the ruins, near the so-called "Hut of the Caretaker", is the best. Here you see all of Macchu Picchu at your feet with Huayna Picchu towering over it. This is truly one of the most spectacular sights in the world. It's a pity I didn't get to take sunny pictures here, but the moist, foggy atmosphere of the following pictures is perhaps more characteristic of the place anyway.
As I was up on those terraces the sky got all grey and it started raining hard. At first I took shelter in the caretaker hut, but it didn't stop and I wanted to use every minute of my time here well, so I decided to just ignore the rain. I got completely soaked through, not having any kind of coat, but the advantage was that I had Macchu Picchu pretty much to myself now as most people left the site. The last two pics above show a deserted Macchu Picchu.

I used the last hour before closing time to walk along the cliff-hugging path to the Inca Bridge and back. This bridge was built by the Incas against a huge vertical wall. It's not spectacular by itself but the paths that it connects certainly are.
Back among the ruins I made some more rainy pictures before heading to the exit to take the last bus back to the village.
After dinner I took my train back to Ollantaytambo. Since I'd loved the ride through the countryside, while Cuzco had been a disappointing tourist trap, I decided to steer clear from cities from now on. Instead of going back to Cuzco, I stayed the night in Ollantaytambo so I could make another ride through the region next day during sunlight.

July 30th (day 5): Pisac

El Valle Sagrado (the Sacred Valley)

The valley of the Urubamba river runs north of Cuzco from Ollantaytambo to Pisac and is popularly called the sacred valley. It was part of the Inca heartland and is still the best place to see indigenous life.

I woke up in Ollantaytambo and took a bus to Pisac, so I drove all through the beautiful valley. Here are some pics taken from the bus.

Pisac village (2950m)

I'd aimed to come here on a Sunday so I could see the famous weekly market on the village square. While it has partly turned into a tourist market, it also still functions as a normal market where locals trade their with each other.
The above shows the touristy bit, here is the real market. I made all these pictures discreetly and from a distance btw.
The locals weren't the only people with cool hats btw...

Pisac fortress

When I'd checked out the market I took a taxi to the Inca fortress of Pisac, 600m above the village. This fortress guarded the Urubamba valley below, as well as a pass into the jungle to the northeast. It also featured a ceremonial center with several temples.

I was dropped off at the foot of the citadel, where I got this fantastic panorama.
Pisac is famous for its agricultural terraces, which sweep around the mountains in graceful curves. I climbed up to the level of the fortress and then walked towards it.
Rather than walking along the paths around the rock I walked over its back, staying on the highest point. It was a fantastic walk because the landscape was stunning and finding my way was fun. Several times I thought I'd have to turn back but I always found some vague semblance of a path to continue.
From here I started the long descent towards the village.
Along the way I passed some more beautiful terracing.
I arrived back in the village in the late afternoon. This had been a great day, I enjoyed it at least as much as the day before in Macchu Picchu.
I spent another hour on the market buying my first batch of souvenirs, shyly at first but soon getting into the haggling mood. Then when it got dark I wanted to take a bus back to Cuzco, which was quite an adventure. A policeman tried to line people up for the next bus, but when it arrived the local women just stormed it and squeezed their way into it. I got talking to an Australian who tried to arrange a place on top of the roof for us but in the end they didn't let us, probably for the best with those bumpy roads.

In the end he and a Dutchman fought their way onto a bus, but I didn't feel like that so I rounded up some other backpackers to share a taxi. I ended up with an Italian couple who didn't speak English, but while driving to Cuzco we talked in Spanish which I thought quite amusing (since I was just starting to learn it).

The next day I visited the fortress Sacsayhuaman near Cuzco but I already talked about that in part 1.

<< Part 1: Lima and Cuzco

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Part 3: Lake Titicaca >>