Machu Picchu was incredible - it was perfect weather, we had the best tour guide, and all the hype didn't dampen the experience in the slightest.
After having breakfast at the hotel, we were escorted to the bus station to join the many other tourists headed to the ancient city. The bus ride itself took 25 minutes, traversing the winding road until we reached the parking lot - I caught glimpses of people opting to hike up the mountain instead of taking the bus, and the path they chose looked like an unending series of stone steps. Thank goodness for the bus.
Our guide was waiting for us at the entrance, and he kindly suggested for us to use the bathroom (2 soles, with unlimited toilet paper!) before beginning our tour. Once our tickets were checked, we headed off on circuit 2 - the most popular option because it provides a great overview of the entire city, so popular that they check tickets multiple times on the route to make sure people who are on the circuit are supposed to be there. As we walked, our guide (Joel) provided us with explanations of the architecture, history of how the Incans might have lived or why they might have made certain decisions, information about plants in the region, compared Incans with other empires/powerful rulers through the ages, and answered so many of our questions about Machu Picchu, Peru, tourism, and anything else that we were curious about.
We learned that the Incans had a massive empire, with approximately 13 million people - stretching across 6 countries that exist today: Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, Chile and Argentina. The capital was Cusco - and at the height of the empire, Cusco would have been many times more impressive than Machu Picchu because it had all the resources (which is only somewhat apparent today because the Spanish destroyed almost everything in Cusco when they took over). Our guide made the comparison that Rome to the Roman Empire is what Cusco was to the Incan Empire. Apparently, the downfall of the Incans occurred because Pachacuti (the king) died and his sons fought over the throne, leading to civil war, which the Spanish took advantage of. Luckily for us, the Spanish didn't touch Machu Picchu, which is why it is still mostly intact today - almost 70% of what we see in the ancient city is what was built by the Incans from around 1450 to 1530, the rest is repair or reconstruction.
Technically, the name "Machu Picchu" refers to the mountain, and the Incans would have referred to the city by a different name - we just don't know what that name is. No one knows exactly what happened in the unfinished city because there is no written record of anything - the ancient language of the Incans (Quechua, which is still in use today) was a spoken language. Therefore, hypotheses that we discuss today are a result of scientific research and analysis.
It was such a beautiful sight to see the city - the stone architecture built by labourers who felt it a privilege to contribute to the empire, painstakingly creating everything out of the hard white granite that is abundant on the mountain, using clay to join stones on less significant buildings, leveraging thermal shock to break the gigantic stones. They applied such care and attention to detail so that the structures would be resistant to earthquakes - using the embedded rock as a foundation, building with a wider base, choosing where to use larger pieces of stone to increase stability, and adding cutouts to absorb pressure. To provide for the residents and labourers, there was a system to bring 45 liters of water per minute to the city, many terraces to grow crops, storage areas to protect food and other necessities, housing that would retain heat, and quarries for gathering granite. They even had a watchtower on the neighbouring Wayna Picchu, which offers 360 degree views of the area.
We saw lots of different plants - one that we asked about in particular was called Angel's Trumpet (because we've seen it in multiple cities throughout Peru), and Joel informed us that it was extremely poisonous! He explained that there is at least one endangered species of plant that has been cultivated here on the protected site to help preserve the species. It was truly inspiring to hear Joel talk about such a wide variety of topics with such passion - it's obvious he loves his job, is an avid fan of history, and really enjoys sharing information with others. The time we had flew by so quickly, learning about the archaeology, taking lots of photos - it was a surprise when we reached the exit two and a half hours later.
The rest of the day was spent just relaxing around the town of Aguas Calientes, grabbing food and drinks. For future reference, there's no real need to stay overnight in the town unless you really want to, or there are no train tickets available. My recommendation would be to book your train ticket out of Aguas Calientes as early as possible (as soon as you've finalized your tickets to Machu Picchu) to allow you to choose the optimal time and price. The town is quite small, and designed to encourage tourists to spend money - since there's no way out other than by train, it is a literal tourist trap.
Tomorrow, we'll start our journey home!
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