Dear friends and family,
Finally: this week we get to tell you about Machu Picchu, one of the seven modern wonders of the world. Our favorite parts of our year of travel have been wandering through the ruins of ancient civilizations and marveling at what humans can accomplish – and how much can remain after hundreds and thousands of years.
Perhaps the number one reason why Machu Picchu has captured international attention is because no one really knows why this small city was abandoned. After visiting ourselves and eavesdropping on several guides, we can confirm: no one actually knows. There isn’t some local legend that explains it all.
Our best guess is a combination of factors – an inconvenient location, the fall of the Incan empire, and who knows what else.
But this mystery turned out to be the least interesting part of our trip to Machu Picchu. There was so much more to learn!
Pete’s Travel Diary
Enemy at the Gates: Our Hectic Arrival to Machu Picchu
The benefit of staying in the village of Ollantaytambo meant close proximity to a train station that delivered us to Aguas Calientes. Even if you’re not staying in Ollantaytambo, most tourists take a car to this train station to start their journey to Machu Picchu since the train from Cusco is quite long and windy.
The train from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes, also called Machu Picchu town, takes about 2 hours and is comfortable. We were able to enjoy the views from the ceiling windows as the landscape transitioned from a high desert to a cloud rainforest.
In Aguas Calientes, we found a slew of merchants selling souvenirs and alpaca woolen sweaters. We were smart in buying some empanadas in Ollantaytambo prior to the train ride as the lines to get food in Aguas Calientes were considerable. We found a bench to seat ourselves while eating our lunch before boarding a bus to Machu Picchu. One can hike the entire way; it is steep but most of the trail is now stone stairs, and as it is a cloud rainforest, the trek is wholly damp.
We paid extra for the bus ride up with the plan to then hike back down. This was advantageous as if we had hiked up the mountain, we would have been too exhausted to enjoy the ruins. It allowed us to stumble upon the well-labeled and descriptive museum at the base of the mountain (included in the purchase of a ticket), a good walk from Aguas Calientes.
The trek down also allowed us an opportunity to utilize an Inca-style stone stairway that has been built into the trail. An opportunity to walk like an Incan! The steps are unnerving in their simplified appearance and yet sturdy in their construction.
Already on edge from the hectic train ride, market shopping, and bus boarding in Aguas Calientes, all of which were filled with people, our bus finally arrived at the entrance to Machu Picchu. We were beset by a hoard of tour guides, people trying to sell snacks, and more. We had no sooner stepped off the bus before we were being pushed around by pure chaos. Feeling my backpack being manhandled (whether by accident or design) was the last straw for me. I bared my teeth and drug us swiftly away from the crowd and into the open, giving my best scowl to any who approached for anything at all. I was fit to be tied.
For obvious safety reasons, I do not allow people to rush us and will repel them by holding up a hand in a “back off” signal, or if need be a booming voice. Machu Picchu is the one instance where the practice finally bit us in the rear as a tour guide would have been highly useful, and it turns out that most of the crowd was, in fact, guides trying to sell their services. By the time we lined up, scanned our tickets, and entered Machu Picchu to avoid the crowd, there were no further guides to hire.
We later perused the museum down at the base of the mountain which redeemed this blunder and filled us with the knowledge we lusted after. It is a good museum and we recommend dedicating an hour to visiting it.
About Machu Picchu
The stone city of Machu Picchu was constructed around 1420-1450 CE for emperors of the Inca and was therefore brilliantly engineered in all of its facets. (For historical context, Pompeii, Italy, was demolished in 79 CE, Angkor in Cambodia was built around 1150 CE, and Christopher Colombus sailed the ocean blue in 1492 CE.) Trust me when I emphasize: no detail or feature was accidental or overlooked. Everything from the complex irrigation of the terraces to the layout of the stone buildings was by design.
If you see a rock that looks natural and unaltered, it was left that way for good reason. You will notice the rocks in Machu Picchu that were deemed sacred and altars were built in close proximity to them.
The quality of the buildings, some of which have been reconstructed and reassembled, has led to it being dubbed a UNESCO world heritage site which generally means that it is worth visiting.
Examples of Ingenuity
Agricultural Terraces
The aforementioned terraces are one of my favorite examples. Level after level of flat terraces with stone retaining walls scale the mountainside all the way to the top of Machu Picchu. The composition of soils, pebbles, etc. of each terrace varies to promote maximum yields of specific crops. The water filters through the soil at various speeds and in specific quantities ensuring that as one terrace drains into the next, only the specific and necessary amount of water reaches the next crops. Corn, pumpkins, beans, tomatoes, and more were grown in a calibrated system of soil, water delivery, and sunlight positioning.
Stone Cutting and Carving
Looking at the rock walls of the higher-ranking and spiritual buildings at the center of Machu Picchu, you’ll note an incredible amount of precision rock carving. You might wonder how they were able to accomplish such cuts with hand tools.
The Inca were knowledgeable metallurgists, to the degree that they understood how to make various alloys for different purposes. Copper arsenic alloys, still used in the US today, made for stronger stone chisels than rock-on-rock (not that the Inca didn’t also do a lot of rock-on-rock work as well).
The Inca were very strict with the use and distribution of metal as it was hard-earned. Arsenic for their copper-arsenic alloy was harder to come by, and so a copper-tin alloy was employed for metal objects as well. (A source of arsenic may have been Malachite rock which was also used in jewelry.) Silver was considered the tears of the moon god and was thus sacred. Gold was also highly valued for decoration. There has been some evidence of work-hardened bronze being the cream of the crop of stone masonry which would have been effective for carving with such precision and care.
The other factor many forget when constructing such impressive stone monoliths is plain ol’ elbow grease. You can get a lot done by throwing hard effort at it, even if it takes years.
Astronomy Meets Architecture
The Inca were keen observers of the cosmos. They learned, presumably the hard way, that one cannot simply stare at the sun unaided. Instead, curious stone basins that hold water are found throughout Machu Picchu. Some are carved into the rock floors of buildings themselves, while others were made portable. The purpose of these basins is to act as a mirror of the sky above.
They could look at the sun, the stars, and the moon without craning their necks and with some protection for those staring at the sun. The architecture of Machu Picchu is also heavily constructed with respect to the sun and moon. It is suspected that the use of tracking stars and the position of the sun in windows and water basins gave instructions about when to plant certain crops, when to harvest, and when to make specific sacrifices to the Gods.
Itinerary
Hotel
Ayllu B&B Ollantaytambo ($40/night, breakfast included) – We wrote a whole review about why we loved Ayllu B&B in last week’s newsletter. Highly recommend!
Food
Check out last week’s newsletter for an extensive list of what to eat in Peru and where to eat in Ollantaytambo. I’m drooling.
In Aguas Calientes, we ate the menu turistico (S./15) at one of the small restaurants along the main street, Avenida Hermanos Aya, as we reentered the town. They don’t appear to have a web listing. Note that food gets more expensive as you get closer to the train station and the center of the town.
Transportation & Machu Picchu Tickets
What we did: train, bus, and trekking
To get to Machu Picchu, you’ll need to take a train from either Cusco or Ollantaytambo (our recommendation) to Aguas Calientes. Then you either take a bus or hike to the Machu Picchu entrance. You can book your train ticket through PeruRail here and your bus tickets here. You also need to book a Machu Picchu ticket with timed entry, available here. Book everything as far in advance as you can; certain times and routes do sell out, especially in the high season.
If you’re in good condition for a hike, we recommend taking the bus up and the hike back down as we did. If you’re not in good condition for a hike, take the bus both ways.
About the hiking trail from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu
The downhill hike took us 50 minutes between the trailheads, plus an additional 20 minutes from the trailhead to Aguas Calientes’ town center. Plan at least two hours for the uphill hike from the Aguas Calientes train station. The hiking trail is a stone stairway that gets damp from the rain and fog.
A final option: the Inca Trail
For the truly adventurous, you can also reach Machu Picchu via a multi-day Inca trail backpacking trip from Ollantaytambo. Practical Wanderlust, a popular travel blog, recommends booking through Alpaca Expeditions.
Currency
Peru uses the Peruvian Sol, designated by S./. Most businesses accept and prefer cash payments, especially for small transactions. We paid cash for our hotel, drivers, restaurants, and alpaca wool treasures. Credit cards are accepted at some businesses, especially for larger transactions.
ATMs are available in Cusco, including the airport, and Ollantaytambo. We used BCP ATMs.
Disclaimer: Peru’s Political Situation
Peru’s political situation is ongoing and may change at any time. Do your own research before traveling. We recommend contacting your local hotel and monitoring local news for the best information.
The Sacred Valley’s primary industry is tourism. Everyone we met was kind, helpful, and protective of tourists. They didn’t want us to be caught up in their strife and went to great lengths to ensure our safety without us even asking. This may not be the case in other regions of Peru.
The only way in and out of Aguas Calientes is by train or by a multi-day hiking trail. We recommend doing a day trip to Machu Picchu and Aguas Calientes from Ollantaytambo, which has more transportation options. If you do choose to stay overnight in Aguas Calientes, make sure to pack at least one week’s supply of any medications or other critical items you may need. Do not pack just enough for the night.
Travel Tip of the Week
Have we mentioned the importance of a VPN?
The morning that we set out for Machu Picchu, we walked through our quaint Incan village to the train station, boarded the beautiful PeruRail train, watched the craggy rocks and ruins fly by… and received a text message from our renter saying that their refrigerator had finally bit the dust. Ah, the joys of real estate.
I fired up my iPhone, went to HomeDepot.com, and found that it would not load.
Convenient, no?
Here’s the deal: when you’re outside of the USA, several websites – including Home Depot, utility companies, and most banks – will not work. You need to make it look like you’re stateside.
Enter: a VPN, or virtual private network.
VPNs do a few things, but the most important is that they protect and encrypt your internet traffic, making it harder for attackers to steal your information. They can also disguise your true location, making it look like you’re surfing the web from the USA when you’re definitely not.
I use the VPN that is included with my Google Fi cell phone plan and associated Google One account. There are several other VPN software providers that offer affordable services if you aren’t a Fi customer.
I turned my VPN on and purchased a refrigerator (with delivery and installation, no less!) from the Aguas Calientes train station. This has to be the most interesting location to purchase an appliance ever.
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Happy travels,
Pete and Perry