(Aguas Calientes, Peru)

After returning from the Sun Gate (see previous post), our group reunited at the entrance to the site and met our Machu Picchu tour guide.

A lot of people have heard of Machu Picchu and a lot of people have it on their “bucket lists”.   I knew that it was hidden away on the top of a mountain but I certainly didn’t appreciate just how remote it was…or how huge it was.

It was quite an ordeal just to get to Aguas Calientes, the town from which buses full of tourists depart on a 30-minute climb to the main entrance of the site.  From Aguas Calientes, you absolutely cannot tell that there is a city above you.  You can only see these huge, jagged teeth-like mountains rising up almost vertically on every side.

My first thoughts upon walking into Machu Picchu were “this is unbelievable” and “these people must have had thighs like Olympic speed skaters”.  The entire city is terraced and you need to take very big steps in order to make any upward progress.   It is baffling to contemplate how they moved all of these rocks around without the benefit of the wheel – something that the Inca did not have.  But why did they build such a massive city here?

The exact reasons may never be known, as the Inca had no written language and the Spanish conquistadors never found Machu Picchu (fortunately for us, as their usual practice was to destroy Inca sites).  Machu Picchu was so well-built that 90% of it is still intact, even 500 years after it was built (and even though it was abandoned for 4 centuries).  One thing is clear:  despite the ridiculously remote location, the city was self-sustaining.  The location was picked because there was a source of water; a massive irrigation and watering system is evidence of this.

Even though the pictures of Machu Picchu are awe-inspiring, the true miracle may be invisible.  It is estimated that between 60-70% of the required engineering is beneath the surface.  The city receives a lot of rain, so both irrigation and drainage were necessary to prevent the city from sliding down the mountain.  The systems still work today.

The city has managed to withstand earthquakes for all these years – again, the Inca knew what types of construction could withstand such intense stress.  The site has been studied extensively by Japanese engineers in an attempt to improve that country’s ability to withstand earthquakes at the other end of the Ring of Fire.  The Inca knew what inclines and angles would be strongest and how the “energy” of an earthquake could best be diverted from the buildings.

It is startling to consider that the Inca empire only lasted about 100 years.  It collapsed due to war and disease flowing from the Spanish conquest, but the record of achievement far surpasses most other empires that lasted for centuries or even millennia.  What was so different about it?  Perhaps it was the meritocracy:  talented children were identified at an early age and these children were then groomed to be “the brains behind the operation”.  The child’s parentage was irrelevant.

I could go on and on about the sheer scale of this city and the unimaginable effort that was involved in its construction.  But I think I will take the easy way out and just say that it is the most impressive historical “ruin” (I use quotes because it really is intact, except for the thatched roofs) I have ever seen.  It truly is something to see and  I hope the pictures capture at least some of its majesty.  On top of it all, the views of the surrounding mountains are great too!

Stay tuned – there’s lots more of Peru still to come!

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