Machu Picchu and Surrounds

Cleansed in body and mind after our jungle shenanigans, we decide that we aren't relentless enough for a five day boat ride to the nearest bit of useful road and instead fly to the city of Cusco. In the airport, a stall hands out free bottles of oxygen. Almost immediately, I start developing the crusty nose and intestinal gas that are the scientifically proven indicators of our 3,600m altitude.


- Cusco architecture. Mostly it looks just like this


The accepted route to Machu Picchu is somewhat circuitous, involving buses and a train ride. It takes the rest of the day to arrive in the little pueblo of Aguas Calientes, chock full of American, and other, tourists.


- The market in little Ollantaytambo, halfway to Machu Picchu


- Ollantaytambo street


- Local colour. And a sheep


There are a number of ways to arrive at Machu Picchu itself, including a slightly discredited three-day trek, a two-hour walk up thousands of stairs, or a thirty-minute bus journey. We opt for the last, as our aim is to arrive for the sunrise. We get up very early and make the gates at 6am. A swift climb through the terraces and the other earlybirds wins us a high terrace with a smashing view of the complex.

It's absolutely stunning! Amazingly, and rarely for such an iconic site, it is as beautiful as the postcard pictures. And better! The scenery is mesmeric: the cradle of Machu Picchu is dwarfed by vertiginous green valley walls on all sides. We have to wait for the sun to rise, and when it does, it looks like this:


- It is Machu Picchu and it is stunning. The big lumpy hill just behind is Huayna Picchu


The ruins themselves are really well preserved, with no rubbish or grafitti visible. Some of the buildings have been restored with straw roofs which look great. A bevvy of tame llamas keep the grass nice and short. Enthusiastic wardens blow whistles at errant ramblers, and berate those carrying water bottles by hand (the implication, presumably, is that it will be dropped once empty).


- Some funny bit of ruins


- A view into the sacred valley from M.P.


- I'm not going through there.


- Another spectacular angle on the ruins. Amazingly, there is no sign of that woman in the orange jump-suit we spotted earlier...


One of the reasons we caught the bus was to reserve some energy for the hike up the lumpy rock behind Machu Picchu: Huayna Picchu. Only 400 are permitted up here each day. It's a steep hike up a scary-looking slope. But we've been to 6000m, and we know that slow and steady = not a problem. The view from here is completely different:


- Apparently it looks like a condor (Machu Picchu, not Lucy) from this angle, up Huayna Picchu


Around the back of the mountain, another temple lurks, but it's a stiff up and down hike of two hours to get there. The Temple of the Moon is carved into a rock and is a very calm spot. Finely-built stone niches are occupied with meditating hippies. Pieces of meteorite are stored in yet another little chapelly thing. No one really knows what it was built for.


- Deep forest around the back of Huayna Picchu


- In the Temple of the Moon


- A niche, minus mediatating crusty Europeans

So Machu Picchu lives up to expectations. Next stop Ecuador...