The words Macchu Picchu conjure up images of lonely green peaks, haunting
panpipe
music and inaccessible mysterious ruins and as we
walked those 10km along the train tracks and the banks of the Apurimac
we experienced a tiny bit of what Hiram Bingham wrote of. Lush forest
with orchids and hummingbirds, steep slopes and the odd exciting
glimpse of the ruins perched on the ridge high above us. Of course we
didn't have to slash our way through with machetes for days on end with
heavily loaded donkeys and unhappy locals trailing behind. Then that
bubble was burst anyway as we - the intrepid adventurers - were
eventually confronted with the bizarre metropolis of Aguas
Calientes.
The official Macchu Picchu train station packed with hotels,
restaurants, souvenir shops and of course…gringos. It was 6 in the morning and we had walked up to the highest point of the ruins, the Watchman's hut, to take in the panorama. We were surrounded by jungle clad granite domes, mist still lingered in the labyrinth of deep
valleys around us
and the sun had just pierced a cloud to spread
out a fan of rays onto the opposite peak. The ruins spread out in neat
curves of stone terraces and then clustered as temples and elegant
houses on either side of the grassy central plaza. The peaceful
grandeur induced amnesia for horrid Aguas Calientes, the ticket prices,
the early morning hustle for the bus and the dusty switchbacks up to
the ruins. We were up here marvelling at the mystery and sheer amazing
feat of this place.We wandered around the ruins for hours stopping to admire various details:
the huge blocks of
the Temple of
the Sun, the intricate ceremonial water channels, the Royal living
quarters, the dizzyingly steep terraces and Aishwarya Rai....Wow! For
those not in the know Aishwarya is a hugely famous Bollywood
star (and
former Miss World) and here we were getting a few peeks of her as they
filmed dance sequences for a big budget film in the ultimate setting of
Macchu Picchu, Peru.