Machu Picchu Part 2

Although the smell of insect repellent permeated our room, the roar of the river below our window lulled me to sleep. Before we turned the lights out for the night, I watched in horror as huge mosquito-like insects continuously bumped into the lamps which dimly lit our room. Fortunately we had read several horror stories about Machu Picchu visitors who woke up with huge, itchy red splotches all over their bodies. Mitch and I were prepared, we had brought insect repellent with us. It wasn't the best smelling, but it kept us protected from bug bites.

The alarm went off at 6:30 and poor Mitch had the chore of patiently encouraging me to get out of bed and into the shower. I was absolutely against waking up, but after some prodding, Mitch was finally able to convince me that we should visit Machu Picchu; we had, after all, made an extraordinary effort to travel deep into the mountains of Peru.

There are two different options to get to Machu Picchu from Aguas Calientes, you can either hike up, which takes about two hours, or you can take a bus ($14 round trip) which takes about fifteen minutes. The bus ride is on a tiny, winding road with sixteen switch backs and lots of long drops down. Mitch, who is a pilot, has a terrible fear of heights, so while I spent my time looking out the window admiring the view and taking pictures, he spent his time bravely looking forward. We held hands, it was sweet.

We made it to Machu Picchu without incident. We climbed off the bus, walked past locals residents who offer tours, handed over our tickets (and showed them our passports) and entered Machu Picchu. We climbed up a small hill and looked to our right. The view took my breath away. It had been such a long journey; we'd finally arrived.

Then the clouds rolled in, and we spent much of our day in Machu Picchu in a hazy, creepy, daze, often unable to see the gigantic mountains that surrounded us.

From a distance, Machu Picchu is an impressive, overwhelming ruin. Perched on top of a mountain, the view took my breath away. Initially I genuinely believed the Inka's were architectural geniuses. As Mitch and I wandered around the city, we were both amazed by the structure itself until, I asked Mitch the all important questions which altered our feelings about our entire trip:

“Hey Mitch, what year was Machu Picchu built?”

“1450.”

“B.C.?”

“No, A.D.”

“You mean like 500 years ago? Not 3500 years ago?”

“Yeah, 1450 AD.”

“As in 1500 years after the Colosseum?”

“Yeah,”

“As in 200 years before Versailles?”

“Yeah.”

“So this place is about as old as The Mona Lisa?”

“Sure.”

“So it was built when Henry the 8th was the King of England?”

“Um, I guess . . .”

“It's as old as the Louvre?”

“Yeah,”

“You know the Vatican was constructed in the early 1500's, right?”

“No, I didn't know that . . .”

“The Notre Dame in Paris was constructed in 1100 A.D.”

“Okay . . .”

“Christopher Columbus landed in America in 1492, that's when he sailed the ocean blue . . .”

“Kylie . . . “

“Mitch, the Inka's were way, way, way behind in their technology. This place is cool to look at, but you have to admit it's kind of archaic for something built as recently as 500 years ago. I know that the Inka's are considered excellent stone masons, but I'm having a hard time being amazed by this. I'm sorry.”

Silence ensured for a few, long tense moments as Mitch considered my comments.

“The Inka's, they were kind of isolated people . . .” Mitch said in their defense.

“It's still cool because it's on the top of a mountain,” I agreed. “I'm just not sure it deserves to be on the same list as the Colosseum, the Great Wall of China or the Pyramid of Giza. And I'm also not sure it was worth six days of travel to spend one day here."

As we thought about Machu Picchu's place in world history, we both felt let down. We had journeyed three days to spend a few hours at one of the new Seven Wonders of the World, and we still had a three day trip to get back home. Neither of us felt quite sure Machu Picchu was historically ready to be given the all important "Seven Wonders of the World" title.


We wandered around the rest of the day, intrigued by the the craftsmanship and marveled at the beauty of the cloudy mountains around us. If someone were determined to build a city in the sky, Machu Picchu was a beautiful place to do it.


At the end of the day, Mitch kissed my forehead. “It was nice spending the week with you, but I'm not sure it was worth it either. Damn volcano ruining our London trip.”

“I'm just sorry I slipped on that rock and hurt my back,” I said wincing. “Can you help me off this ledge?”

The next day we spent nine hours in the pouring rain waiting for a train which would take us to a bus that would take us back to Cusco.