Vale la pena

Tuesday, May 29 

I set the alarm for 6 and was actually up at 4:45 but decided to sleep in longer.  There was no real rush to get to Machu Picchu other than less harsh light for photography. So instead I got up at 6, showered, packed and had breakfast.  I think I was on the bus at 7:15 and in Machu Picchu by 7:45.  The light was so much better, it was worth it.

Breakfast at Inkaterra wasn’t as much fun as other hotels so far.  It seemed to be breakfast light, until I was handed a menu (after I’d already gorged on granola and planned to eat the plantain bread and a muffin, oh and is that dulce de leche sauce to put on a baguette?).  So I just had scrambled eggs after all that and moved on.  I packed two energy bars and a liter of water and off I went.

I was thrilled that the sun was just about over my shoulder when head on with the ruins and directly behind me when off to the side.  I managed to use my polarizing filter, even!  I think today’s shots are far better than yesterday’s which were much later in the day.

I was walking along a path on my own and spotted two free-range llamas on the grass.  They both hopped up on the path in front of me and one of them looked at me, as if to say “follow us” so I did.  Fortunately the camera was on and lens extended and I managed to get two shots off, both of them with me following them and them looking at the ruins.  I’d like to think it was them thinking “this used to belong to the Incas, now it belongs to us.”  The pictures look good on the LCD screen, and if I managed to pull that shot off, it might be the best of my short photography career.  Seriously.  Talk about serendipity.

There are quite a few roaming llamas around Machu Picchu, and a handful of little babies that were quite cute.  I was surprised by how unbothered they seemed to be by us.

I made my way through the rest of the left-hand side of the city ruins and took on the right-hand side.  It was interesting to see but really lost something without a guide to tell me what I’m seeing.  The best I could do on my own was snap some swallows I saw nesting in a wall.  Between the hummingbird I spotted yesterday and these, I might become a birder after all.

By the time I made it back to the exit, where I jumped out to use the toilet, it was about 9:15.  I decided to execute my plan to hike up to the Sun Gate.  It was warm though.  And I might have been slightly over-dressed with the insect-proof leggings.  At least I left one layer at home this time and wore a light jacket which I quickly shed and folded away in my camera bag.  So I went for it.

The climb starts off fairly flat from just below the Guard Shack (so by that point I’d already done a good deal of stairs).  The path is made of large cobbles which were somewhat uneven and the path was a steady uphill grade, but nothing painful.  The uneven rocks and the heat were the main challenges.  Only a couple times did I think about turning back because it seemed silly to over-exert myself on vacation but I also didn’t want to regret not doing it when I had plenty of time left in the day and the energy to do it.  I was ridiculously hot on the way up, but there were shady spots where I stopped to rest which helped.  Over and over again, folks coming down from the gate would say “Vale la Pena” (worth the pain) and I had to think that hearing that so much meant that it would be.

After about 45 minutes, the flat-ish path turned back into steps (as everything Incan must, I supposed) and in 15 minutes I was at the top, at the Sun Gate, seemingly at the top of the Incan world.  And how little Machu Picchu seemed from up there, but too, I could also better appreciate the scale of it.  That it took me about 7 hours in total to comb through the site says something.  I don’t want to think of how many steps I ascended.  There are some things best left unknown.  It is a huge expanse of ruins and, as I found out, impressive no matter how you look at it.  Yes, vale la Pena! 

The descent was far easier.  Going down uses an entirely different set of muscles and momentum and gravity help.  There was one part right on leaving the Sun Gate where a set of 6 really steep steps head straight for the sheer cliff face and there’s no railing or fence.  I wouldn’t look directly down for fear my vertigo would kick in but I also knew I had to get down.  So I sat and went down on my butt until I could turn away from the sheer drop and continue down well away from the edge.  The entire descent took 40 minutes, which tells you either that descending was easier or that I was riding a confidence wave after making it up to the top.

I made it back down around 12:30 and took another walk around the Guard Shack, which is really where the postcard shots come from.  I just needed to soak it all in again before I left.  It’s sort of frustrating because as much as I want to talk or write about it, I just don’t think I can find the words to describe how it’s laid out or how extraordinary it is.  I found it so difficult before I left trying to wrap my head around how it works and what it would like to be there, and even still, now that I’ve been and gone, it’s still hard to conceive.

I stopped in the cafe at the exit to gulp down a Gatorade and have a cookie.  I used the bathroom again and headed to the very long bus line, which only took about 20 minutes to move along (again, they’ve got the efficiencies and organization down pat here!)

Once I was back in Aguas Calientes, I went back to my hotel and had lunch at the Cafe Inkaterra there.  I had a celebratory Pisco Sour and a bottle of water to try and rehydrate.  Then I had a great salad with lima beans, peppers, tomato and Peruvian cheese.  My main was a vegetable rigatoni in a cream sauce.  I have to say, the veggies here are stunning.  I love the zucchini, artichokes and peppers I’ve had so far.

I still had an hour to kill before I met my luggage back at the train station (a courtesy of my hotel) so I went back to the hotel grounds and sat in the pool area and watched and photographed hummingbirds for a while.  It was quiet and relaxing, which is just what I wanted after the day I had.

I’m on the train back to Cuzco now.  It left Aguas Calientes at 4:43 and arrives some time after 7 or 8.  I can’t tell which.  I’m tired enough that I might sleep.  At least my stop is the end of the line so I won’t wake up in Brazil.

All in all I’m thrilled with my experience at Machu Picchu.  It was worth the wait, the cost and everything it takes to get here.  I’m glad I had two days to explore it and give me the leisure to do the hike on my own today.