Peru´s Greatest Export: Machu Picchu

Maggie Mcconnell tells me that Peru´s greatest export is tourism. And that Machu Picchu is the most important attraction. Before knowing all this, I knew that I would see it, we all have. It looks just like the pictures (like most things that we see thousands of times in our lives) and like those things (i.e. the Mona Lisa, the Taj Mahal, the Guinness Brewery) it is breath taking.

To see Machu Picchu one has three options, take a bus up to the ruins, do a 1 night/2 day hike, or 3 night/4 day hike. I opted for the 3 night/ four day hike. I had to go through an agency. My group was made up of a guide, a cook, 9 porters, 2 accountants, 2 POMS, 2 Aussies, and a German who had just been in the jungle and looked like he had a terrible case of chicken pox. The guide was a local man who knew english very well and was very proud of his Inka heritage and the Inka legacy. This was nice because it was not just merely a passing of information, the man was emotionally attached which made the information much more interesting.

The hike itself was very hard, one of the hardest I´ve ever done. I don´t know if thats because I had been sitting around since just before Thanksgiving or because of the altitude 12-14,000 feet or because I had a terrible case of LS for the majority of the hike. All of this is unclear. All I know is that I thought for the first time, ¨Wow, maybe my body can´t do this.¨ It was very alarming. I want to belong to a gym when I get home. I do not want to become an NA. I really can´t believe that so many chumps walk the Inka Trail.

There were 9 porters. That is nine men who carried all of the camping gear (we all had the option to have them carry our personal gear, some did, some didn´t, I didn´t, obvi.) And the gear wasn`t like stuff you would picture if you were to go backpacking today it was like we were car camping in the 80´s. These dudes were carrying propane tanks, canvas tents to have dinner under, chairs and tables, eggs, vino, all this excessive and uncessary stuff, it was insane. And to top is all off they just put it in plastic bags or wraped it in large blankets. And the straps they used to attach it to themselves were ropes or coiled blankets. And they only wore shitty sandels or psudeo low-top converse shoes. It was crazy. And they would run up the trail, you should have seen their calves. No water only coco leaves. Totally insane. One of the most impressive things I have seen in a long time.

The Andes are beautiful. Steep, steep mountains, cacti, sort of jungle like, and in the distance snow capped peaks. Nothing around. The weather changes quickly. Sort of endless. Crazy that there are so many ruins nestled into them. It was a place where more people lived 500 years ago then they do today. The guide said that there still is so much to be found/uncovered.

The reason Machu Picchu is so breath taking is because it is set in this space, high in the Andes. It seems impossible that folks could have made this with no modern technology. It is high in the sky. You stand there and look around and just say, ¨How did they do this?¨ The guide tried to explain but the ideas of its creation and how the people lived. I wanted him to answer all my questions, but after a while, I realized that its mystery was its real beauty. And to not know just compounds it so I left it at that. I just sat there and wondered about how it was built and why the people abandoned it.