Rail Line to Machu Picchu Destroyed by Floods

There aren't a lot of pictures to show of my current adventures, which include job hunting and MBA night classes, but I've still got a few little things up my sleeve.

In the mean time, I've been following the dramatic events in Peru. Haiti is obviously where the world's attention is rightly focused at the moment, but many of the areas I visited just a few months ago have been destroyed by heaving rains and mudslides. The PeruRail line I traveled on from Cusco to Aguas Calientes was damaged to the point that the nearly 1,300 tourists that had come to see Machu Picchu needed to be airlifted out.

As the train is the only way for tourists to get to Machu Picchu aside from mountain hiking, the city of Aguas Calientes is being evacuated of its residents as well. With tourism at zero for the near future, there's no money coming in and no reason to stay.

BBC News reported that "some tourists had to rely on locals for food after cash machines dried up and prices for some goods soared."

An MSNBC blurb on the evacuations.

Take Me Down to Ollantaytambo

Before I went to Peru, I knew next to nothing about Pre-Columbian civilizations. I don't think I realized how much of the ruins still stand, and I certainly didn't know that the language of the Inca, Quechua, was still spoken. Now that I have been exposed to these things a bit more, I find them extremely interesting. I'd say that is a large impediment to the speed of my posts on this blog. I start to research a place I went, get sidetracked into Google Books reading about battles between the Inca and the Spanish, then look at the clock an hour later and realize I haven't written anything! I am very grateful to live in the age of the internet. So much awesome information is available at a whim. Anyway, onward!

Speaking of information, useful or otherwise, I read in a travel guide that Huttese, spoken by the big fat Huts in the Star Wars movies, is largely based on Quechua. I'm sure the Peruvians think that's swell. It's probably best that I didn't learn that until I left the country.

After a very eventful day on the PeruRail train and then exploring the wonders of Machu Picchu, we had a much needed sleep. This next day might have been even longer than the one before it.

While on our way to check out of the hotel Angelica noticed this parrot chilling out in an open area at the center of the building. Parrots in the US are always pets or jailed in zoos, so it was cool to see such a nice bird wild.

We got to the train station a bit early, so there was a bit of time for us to explore. We played a bit more of my favorite game: White guy picka souvenir from a distance and latin girlfriend buya souvenir at much lower thana white guy price while white guy isa hiding. I'm still working on the name but you get the idea. Here are a couple of little things that I bought in Peru.

A lovely Inca Kola t-shirt. The guy at the airport metal detector referred to me as Inca Kola, so Angelica and I thought that was pretty funny. I might need a new hat. This one has been just about adventured to death.

This might turn out to be one of those things that looked super cool in Peru but back at my house it looks stupid. I'm not sure what I am going to do with this and the other one I bought. It's made from alpaca fur, though, which is kinda interesting.

Just next to the fancy tourist train station was the line for the local train.

The train ride back was much less fancy than the previous one. We got these little lunch boxes instead of the fancy breakfast with silverware from before. I opted for the coca tea this time. Everyone said it was supposed to help with altitude sickness.


At one stop of the train I saw this old woman out the window. Her motions to the passengers were hilarious.

First was "oh I'm surprised to see you" from the woman standing right next to the train tracks to the people on a train that likely comes by the same time every day.

Then it was "oh I'm too embarrassed to have pictures taken of me".

Next was "well I'd be a little less embarrassed if you all put coins into this hat I happen to have here with me".

And finally "wow, those coins really did the trick. my shyness is cured!"


The train was pretty calm until he showed up. I didn't catch his name, but he was like a dancing mix between a clown and a terrorist. Obviously I took some video of the performance.


Sorry about the letterbox thing going on here. The iPhone's video and YouTube aren't the best of friends.

In the video there's a man just to the right of me looking at his laptop and roundly ignoring the odd performance. Well, he was watching several episodes of himself on his travel show. It was none other than...

Oliver Steeds! He's best known for his work on the Travel Channel's Mark & Olly: Living with the Tribes.

Well I was worried Mr. Steeds might have not welcomed an intrusion to his intent watching of himself, but he seemed pleasantly surprised when we asked him for a picture. Honestly I wouldn't have even known who he was if he hadn't been watching his own show, so maybe we're even.

Here's Olly and his co-host being forced to adopt a baby monkey after the tribe eats its mother. I laughed and laughed. (Not really. I'm a good person).

Eventually the train stopped and we had to say goodbye to our new famous friends. But we didn't just ride back to where we came from. That's for quitters. Our train ride ended in the Peruvian town and Inca ruin site of Ollantaytambo (yeah, it's a long name, but recall Bangkok's name in Thai?). The city is notable for being a temporary capital for the Inca resistance during Spanish conquest. Very cool. More on the city later!

A Day at Machu Picchu

When we left them, intrepid travelers John and Angelica had completed their journey on PeruRail and were weaving their way back and forth up the side of a mountain by bus.

I figured it would be wise to have a bathroom break before entering, and even that was interesting. There was an attendant accepting 1 sol per person to use the facilities. Fine, be that way. The good part was that I was given a receipt for this 30cent transaction. My toilet paperwork is dated, has a serial number, is itemized, and even has a little "thank you for choosing us" at the bottom. Golden!

Machu Picchu is the most famous remnant of the Inca Empire. Nearby Cusco was the capital of the empire, but Machu Picchu's obscure location left it undiscovered and so undisturbed by Spanish conquerors. I can't find a straight answer on the purpose of Machu Picchu, and that's because all we have are theories. There are no surviving examples of an Inca writing system.
Mysterious! oooOOhh




Some important advice I'll give to anyone out there considering a trip to Machu Picchu: buy a guidebook! The little, few page brochure provided at the ticket gate is really weak. Only after returning to civilization and reading about it online do I have any idea what I saw out there. I might suggest joining a tour, but two or three of the English-speaking guides I eavesdropped on didn't impress me. Buy a book about Machu Picchu. You will have plenty of time to read it on the way up.

Pow!

There's a cool exploratory quality about Machu Picchu that I don't think I've found anywhere else. It's a bit like walking around in a Tomb Raider video game. The whole place is a multilevel series of very narrow terraces. Often the way to the next terrace isn't apparent, especially when going downhill.

Here's a good example of that. This little rock staircase juts out from the wall just enough so that it's difficult to see until you are standing right over it.

These alpacas were tagged and probably not wild, but it was still fun seeing them walking around the ruins.


Machu Picchu had a few staff doing various things. This poor guy's job was blowing a whistle at people who weren't obeying the rules. He was far up on a perch, so I doubt if the offenders even knew they were being scolded.

Speaking of scolds, I have another little bit of advice: bring plenty of water and a snack. The literature states that only water brought in a canteen is allowed inside the park, and I believe food was outlawed outright. Before entering there are a few small opportunities to buy food and water, but they are supremely overpriced. Inside Machu Picchu there is nothing. I'm usually one for following the rules, but this rule is a bit too strict, and enforcement seems to be close to zero. I saw water bottles and sandwiches all over the place. Just be a good person and don't litter and I don't think anyone will mind.

Angelica with one of the workers.




Up this high, there wasn't much wildlife to be seen. I was surprised to see a bunch of lizards running between the rocks. There didn't seem to be many bugs around for them to eat.












The Intihuatana is some kind of clock or calendar. It is believed to tie the sun to the earth.




One section of the little city was in ruins. I wondered why this area was so bad while everywhere else looked so good. I would be interested to see how much restoration has gone into Machu Picchu over the years. Did the whole place previously look like this and has been rebuilt?


Then the stone work itself raised a question or two. Why is the quality so uneven in places? Did the good stuff stay up while the bad stuff has been reassembled by modern hands?


Another example of a wall that seems to have two different levels of workmanship.


The bus fares for the trip back to Aguas Calientes. Fair or not, fees for things in Peru were often different for nationals and non-nationals. The rates span $7 one way for adult foreigners down to $2.60 for a child national.


The police station back in town had a cool coat of arms.


These are electrical boxes for a nearby produce market. The yellow stickers are notices from the electric company about failure to pay bills.

The next day we saw more ruins, met more people, and took many more pictures.

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Secret of the Incas

Lately I've been reading a ton about Peru, Machu Picchu, and the Incan empire, and this little gem caught my eye. Charlton Heston stars in Secret of the Incas, a 1954 adventure film. It was filmed on location in Cusco and Machu Picchu. Heston's character is a proto-Indiana Jones, sporting the now iconic leather jacket and fedora. Apparently its copyright has expired, because the whole thing can be found on Youtube. If you squint while you watch, it looks just like my trip. Give it a gander.