today i went to machu picchu. it’s an incredible place for a number of reasons:
1) growing up, machu picchu has always been described with awe and reverence. i feel that if i were to say or think anything negative, it would be blasphemous.
2) the site is placed on the top of a mountain ridge and is surrounded by other steep mountains (with a small river surrounding machu picchu). because the mountains are so steep, they’re also quite close, and it’s almost surreal to be enveloped by these massive walls of green.
3) although machu picchu may have looked much different in the past (gold, plaster walls, etc.), it is a really incredible piece of art now. it is grand like an ancient castle or fortress, but it’s also very organic and seems to rise from the mountain top. indeed, quite a few of the walls are actualy built around existing boulders (which were often carved in place to become part of the wall). only a few places have the incredible inca stonework that i expected the whole site to have….although even the sub-prime stonework is still impressive, especially from a distance.
4) machu picchu is quite small (as i learned this morning, you can sprint/jog from one side to the other in a few minutes), however, it’s full of awesome nooks and terraces from which you can sit and admire the stonework and surrounding mountains. indeed, even with hundreds of tourists, you can easily find a quiet little corner to relax in.

so why did i run? well, they only allow 400 people to climb huayna picchu every day (the famous mountain in the background of almost every picture of machu picchu). so, i woke up at 4am, then waited in the bus line in aguas calientes (machu picchu pueblo) for the first buses which leave @ 5:30am. at the top, we waited in line again to enter the park…then sprinted to the other side where you wait in yet another line to sign up to climb the mountain. i ended up being number 87, and got to start climbing the mountain at 7:30am…..then no more lines for the rest of the day!

a few asides:
– getting a tour guide is not necessary, since there are already so many guided groups there. if you wait next to any place for a few minutes, a spanish or english group will show up…and you can eavesdrop easily. also, that way you can see the site in any order you want.
– americans tourists are almost always paranoid about their citizenship, and pretend to be canadian or wear local clothes (i’m no exception, and have chosen to travel most of this trip with my brazilian passport). locals can obviously see through this, but the ironic thing is that most people from other countries try to look american (american brands or shirts with stuff like ‘texas longhorns’).
– my shower in aguas calientes is actually quite cold.

PICS:
– were the sizes of arrows and text on ths sign intentional?
– it’s beautiful how the randomly sized rocks are fitted together to form a uniform object. it’s even more incredible when the boulders are parts of the mountain and are then carved in place. i love it when one rock can be part of two or three walls…or even part of the floor. it’s such a different mentality than what i’m used to: uniform bricks and materials which are repeated to form simple shapes (we live in a world of legos).
– temple of the sun with huayna picchu in the background
– macchu picchu terraced hillside with huayna picchu in the background
– surrounding mountains