Let's Go to Machu Picchu!

Machu Picchu is the gem of Peru. Actually, it’s the gem of all South America. It stands as the #1 tourist destination for the entire continent. What makes this place so special? It’s just a bunch of ruins, right? Wrong. A former Inca city and stronghold, it sits perfectly positioned on top of Machu Picchu mountain (the real name of the city is still unknown to this day). Unable to be seen from the mountain’s base and hidden from invading Spanish forces in the 1500s, it was never plundered or destroyed as many other Inca cities were. It sat hidden from the outside world until American Hiram Bingham from Yale University discovered it in 1911. Since then, visitors from around the world have flocked to this site, over 1 million in 2013 alone. It is officially a UNESCO World Heritage site and is one of the new Seven Wonders of the World.

As my husband, Dan, and I laid the groundwork for a 16-person mission trip to Peru, we considered whether or not to take the group to Machu Picchu. We didn’t go there on our 2012 mission trip. Could we make it happen this time around?

Our first view of Machu Picchu...postcard perfect!

The only right choice in the matter seemed to be the addition of an excursion to Machu Picchu. We were already going to be in the country, and of our 16-person group, I was the only one who’d ever been to Machu Picchu. Plus, the journey to Machu Picchu starts in the city of Cusco which sits at 10,000 feet elevation. Since our team would be hiking at elevations equal to that or higher once we started the trekking portion of our ministry, we needed to give our bodies time to acclimate to the altitude. Machu Picchu sits at about 8,000 feet, so we could use the time to acclimate to altitude, plus see an amazing historical site. On paper, this all made sense, and it sounded great.

Our team on the mean streets of Aguas Calientes. There's nothing
quite like an international trip to bring people together.

Even though the journey from the United States to Peru is a long one, we knew that once in Peru, getting to Machu Picchu would still be quite an endeavor. International visitors must enter the country through the capital city of Lima. Machu Picchu isn’t close to Lima, and many mountains stand in between. Getting to Machu Picchu then includes a plane ride to Cusco, a bus ride through the Sacred Valley, and a train trip to the small town of Aguas Calientes. From Aguas Calientes intrepid tourists can hike up the side of the mountain, but most people take the bus up a narrow switchback road.

As our team embarked upon this journey to Machu Picchu, something wonderful began to happen. A tight team bond started to form. Even though we all knew each other before we left the USA, there’s something about traveling that brings people together. We started to know the “real” people, the ones that sometimes live behind facades. This process cannot be forced...it has to unfold naturally through a series of experiences.

Another unique component to this process was that even though we had tour guides and taxi drivers who could get us to all the right places, Dan and I were the true leaders of the group. We had the ultimate responsibility of making decisions that impacted everyone. We don’t speak Spanish, and we didn’t have any special insights, except for my previous trip to Machu Picchu. This “feet on the ground leadership” honed our skills and further brought the team into a tight-knit group.

The team begins to form a bond...one that would serve us well
on the entire trip.

So, our journey to Machu Picchu was more than just seeing ruins. It was about forming a team, a “family,” which would benefit us later when we trekked into the mountains to deliver Bibles to the Quechua people. 

Machu Picchu...Where Incas Once Walked

“The trail is the thing, not the end of the trail. Travel too fast and you miss all you are traveling for.” And so, as my time in Peru was coming to its end, I reminded myself of this very thing. Machu Picchu was the end of the trail for me, the final big moment of my entire adventure. But hadn’t the whole journey and everything that I’d seen and done been just as spectacular as Machu Picchu was sure to be?

I pondered these thoughts as I stood in the bus line for Machu Picchu. It was 5:00 a.m., the rain fell steadily, and I tried to reconcile my excitement for the approaching Machu Picchu experience with the rest of the trip. I also worked to temper a growing rise of despair. After a week in the rainforest where we saw virtually no rain, I now faced a rainy and cloudy day. There was no alternative to the plan. I had only one day left to see Machu Picchu, and it was today. If this weather didn’t cooperate, I would head back to Ohio without the final jewel in the crown of this trip…Machu Picchu.

The bus ride up the mountain found us on a switchback road where every turn nearly brought us into a head-on collision with another bus. The drop from the side of the road was a sheer plummet down the side of the mountain. One wrong turn would bring certain death, but I pushed that thought as far out of my mind as I could. My focus was on the ancient city of the Incas, which had been hidden in the mountains for hundreds of years. An amazing feature of Machu Picchu is that it cannot be seen from lower elevations. The Incas positioned it to be perfectly hidden. In fact, the site was unknown to the Spanish who invaded in the 1500s, even though they had taken over and plundered many other Inca cities nearby. I was filled with anticipation as we made our way up the mountainside, and I felt impatient that there wasn’t anything to be seen as we traveled.

Finally, the moment arrived. And, the moment was shrouded by rain and clouds. I was disappointed. I had hoped to enter the city and see the beautiful vista that is always shown in pictures. With the cloud cover and rain, I couldn’t see anything but the structures in close proximity to us. I felt let down, but I kept reminding myself that the day wasn’t over yet. It was still early.

Our tour guide led us around to the major sights. He spoke English, but his accent was quite thick, so I found it difficult to understand what he said. I sympathized with some of the other people in our group for whom English was their second language. I wondered how much of the information they were getting. I tried to absorb as much as I could about the Incas and this city they had built. It has stood the test of time, but much of its purpose can still only be speculated.

As the tour wound down, I felt encouraged as I realized that the cloud cover was lifting and the rain had stopped. I now realized that I might actually get to see the city as a whole. While waiting, I explored more of the city and watched as the skies started to show more and more blue sky.

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Finally, I got to see this breathtaking view of Machu Picchu!

Finally, the clouds were practically gone, the sun was out, and the sky was blue. There it was…this majestic city of the Incas laid out in front of us, and what a magnificent site it was to behold. I kept climbing up higher and higher until I stood at one of the highest peaks of the mountain. I looked down across the city, the surrounding valleys, and all the mountains adjacent to this one. A bird soared high above the summits, and I could clearly see why the Incas chose this site of splendor for their city. It truly was as if we were closer to God in this place, a place that brushed the heavens.

With the sun on my skin and the wind in my hair, I felt like I never wanted to leave. I sat down on the ground and just tried to absorb the beauty and the power that this place held. Like a scene from another world, it seemed to have a life all its own. This, my end of the trail, could not have been better. The journey, with all its trials and difficulties, was worth it. It was worth every step, every drop of sweat, and every tear. It was a journey that changed me irrevocably, and because of that, I knew I had seen everything for which I had traveled.

The Road to Machu Picchu is Long

After a week in the rain forest, the official college class portion of my Peruvian trip had ended. I could have gone home, but that would have been way too boring and not nearly complicated enough. I decided to stay and take an extra trip to Machu Picchu, the site of an ancient Inca city and the number one tourist destination in South America. I felt that it would be pointless to go all the way to Peru and not visit Machu Picchu. Several of my classmates had the same idea, so a group of us headed off to Cusco, the main city used for a sojourn to Machu Picchu.

Getting to Cusco from Puerto Maldonado was no problem. It's a simple plane ride between cities. Surprise! It was only 60 degrees in Cusco which sits at an elevation of 10,000 feet. What a shock to the system after spending a week in the humid rain forest. Thankfully, I had a sweatshirt with me. I wore it the entire time I was in Cusco and Machu Picchu. I also bought a hat and gloves made from Alpaca fur to keep me warm because it was so cold.

Touring the Sacred Valley on the way to Machu Picchu

The next day we headed out for the trek to Machu Picchu. It started with a tour of the Sacred Valley, a collection of ancient Inca sights full of history. This part of Peru is mountainous, so these ancient cities are built into the sides of cliffs, hills, and mountains which meant there was plenty of walking and climbing. But, what a variety of breathtaking splendor awaited those who ventured out. I was amazed by the structures the Incas built with their own bare hands. Our tour guide provided us with a wealth of information, and by mid-afternoon when we hit the town of Ollantaytambo, my head swam with facts and new knowledge.  

My head was also swimming in Ollantaytambo because we found ourselves waiting to catch a bus which would take us to catch a train to Aguas Calientes, the small town at the base of Machu Picchu. Normally, travelers could take a train all the way from Cusco to Aguas Calientes, but a landside just four months earlier left the train system partially inaccessible. We felt confused during this wait because we didn't speak Spanish, and we were at the mercy of anyone who could translate for us and explain the situation. We weren’t with the tour group anymore, so this part of the adventure left us to find our own way.

After what seemed like an eternity, we boarded buses and took off for the train station. The bus ride had us on a one-way road where we sat in a traffic jam for part of the trip. Once we got moving, we flew! High speeds, hair-pin turns, and narrow roads left me white-knuckled and gripping my seat. The river was on the left side of the road, and it was a decent drop-off from the road down to the river. One wrong move, and we would've been dead! This journey was not for the faint of heart, for sure.

When we finally got to the train station, we had to wait some more. It was fun, but in an awkward kind of way. Again, we had the confusion of not understanding the situation. The representatives from Peru Rail were bilingual, and so we kept asking for assistance. A few times we just followed the crowd and hoped we were headed in the right direction. This was how we got down to the train platform. Then, we stood there and watched as they put the train together right there on the tracks at the station. No one seemed to be in a hurry, so we just watched and waited because there wasn’t anything else we could do.

After all this waiting, we finally got on the train bound for Aguas Calientes. This was the "Backpacker Express" train, and it was filled with young people and families. We sat across from a young Spanish man and an American missionary. This was a slow train, so we had plenty of time to talk, sleep, read, and take in the general atmosphere. Unfortunately, it was dark outside, so we didn't get to see any scenery. I was disappointed in that because I wanted to see the mountains.

When we arrived in Aguas Calientes, it was midnight. We hadn't had dinner, and we were starved. We stayed at a hostel, and they had food ready for us when we got there. It was delicious and exactly what we needed. The rooms at the hostel were basic, but clean. We hit the showers and then the beds to catch some shut eye for our exciting day at Machu Picchu. The wake up call would be coming at 4:00 a.m. Ay, yi, yi!