Machu Picchu in the Quechua language means "Old Mountain". The Inca kings decided to build a hidden city here at the top of this mountain and in a discreet valley as an educational center for the children of the nobles of other tribes, which they conquered. There is lush greet forest which covers the mountains, the temperature is warm and humid, and clouds drift through the valley during the day, often blanketing the ruins temporarily in white. From the Urubamba River below it is impossible to see the city. Even the Spanish invaders of the 1500s, exploring the river valley below, never found it (and therefore it was not destroyed). Machu Picchu lay hidden under dense jungle growth for hundreds of years after the Spanish finally defeated the last Inca king. Because Machu Picchu was a secret to all but the king and his loyal subjects, this secret place died with him. In 1911, an American researcher named Hiram Bingham accidentally stumbled upon the place when he was looking for the fabled city of gold. After that, an archaeological team from Yale arrived to excavate the place. What exists now to see are elaborate staircases built into the existing rocks, canals and baths, vast agricultural terraces, temples, palace rooms, sun dials and rock formations representative of condors, mirror images of mountains, etc. The stone masons that constructed the place were highly sophisticated, creating huge perfectly geometric stone blocks that could be placed one on top of the other without mortar to keep them together. To this day, most of the foundations are in perfect condition, despite periodic earthquakes.

Tuesday, July 2^nd: Our Machu Picchu trek! At 6am we were on the bus to the train station with the other 9 members of our group, plus our guide Ruben and assistant guide Juan. We were all sleepy but managed to make introductions: Gabriela, Jackie, Rob and Jesse from Los Angeles (Gabriela, Jackie and Jesse are siblings), Chris and Jenny from Chicago, Carin and Vincent from Holland, and Patrick (originally from France) from New Jersey. We bought some cakes from one of the many vendors attacking tourists as they got out of vans, and quickly boarded the train just before its 6:30am departure. The train began its 4 hour journey by first zigzagging back and fourth up the side of the mountain and away from Cusco – the train goes forward for several hundred meters, stops, reverses direction, catches a spur upwards for a few more hundred meters, stops, reverses direction… After about 30 minutes of this dance, the train reached the top of the mountain and continued in a normal fashion. The rest of the way the tracks followed the Urubamba River through lush green valleys to where we finally exited at km. 104 at 10:30am. (Yes, it took 4 hours to travel 104kms!). Although there is no station here and nothing more than a marker alongside the tracks, there were women selling all manner of things from Snickers candy bars to plastic rain ponchos. We buy 2 ponchos because it looked like it might rain as we had left our rain gear behind (wishful thinking!)

After the first checkpoint (and bathroom stop) we started our trek---at the end of the day we had climbed 700 meters in altitude. The trail was good but very narrow. We had to constantly pay attention to where we were walking, as it was a steep drop down. The beginning of the walk was a fairly gentle uphill grade, which gave us a good opportunity to chat with our other group members and get to know each other. Luckily, the area/altitude around Machu Picchu is much lower than Cusco and we didn’t need oxygen masks to assist us! It was a welcome break to be at lower altitude, finding breathing much easier and the climate warm and slightly humid. The views of the valley below, the winding river, and the mist-covered mountains were spectacular. In a way we were lucky not to have sunny weather because it would have been very hot and humid otherwise.

Near the highest point of our climb that day we reached the ruins of Winay-Wayna, another significant site not only for its architecture but also its agricultural terraces. Its perched up very high on the side of a mountain and faces directly east so that the terraces always get the maximum amount of light. Winay-Wayna helped supply food to the workers who built Machu Picchu. This is where we started to feel our legs turn to jelly. We had to ascend steep sets of stone stairs, and we felt our lungs burn as well.

After a nice break at the top to enjoy the views, we pushed on a bit further up hill! Finally we reached the climax of the day, Intipunku, the Sun Gate. The sun first shines through this gate as it rises on the morning of the winter solstice each year. Here we had our first peak at the huge Inca site of Machu Picchu, settled on top of a mountain below us. However our time to enjoy this spot was short-lived as it started to rain in earnest, just when we wanted to enjoy our downhill descent! We all finally donned our lovely ponchos and carefully walked down the stony steps, slipping and sliding occasionally, until we reached the entrance to the site of Machu Picchu. We quickly met the last bus of the day (5:30pm) down to the town of Aguas Calientes (a common name for towns with thermal baths in South America) where we would spend the night.

We stayed in a nice little hostal and each got our own rooms. (The other tour groups stop at a hostal near Winay-Wayna where they get to sleep in a dorm room with 60 beds!!!) After getting settled in and having tea, we jumped into our bathing suits and headed for the thermal baths the town is famous for. The baths are situated at the top end of town, where you have to cross a wooden walking bridge over a raging river to get to the baths. When we finally reached it (having walked up several flights of stone steps----again!) we found several different pools, all different temperatures. It soothed our aching muscles and was a nice way to wind down from the day. Later we returned back to the hostal for dinner and then quickly off to bed---well for some of us anyway. Our assistant guide Juan was an expert on the local nightlife and guided Chris along with the LA and Chicago contingents out to the local pub for some drinks and billiards.

We were woken the next morning at 5:30am, breakfast at 5:45am and on the bus at 6:20am back up to Machu Picchu. It was no use hoping to see the sunrise as it was still somewhat cloudy. But, getting there early is a bonus because few people are there at that time. Ruben led us around the ruins to the significant places: the temple of the sun, the scientific rooms, the baths, the experimental terraces, etc. and explained their purposes. It is truly amazing how advanced this civilization was and how well organized. Ruben explained that Machu Picchu was not really a city, but an educational center for the children of the nobles. Only about 1,500 people occupied this vast site.

The weather had cleared nicely and around noon we took a break for a snack and some drinks. And then, just when we thought we’d done enough walking uphill, Ruben took us up Huayna Picchu (meaning "young mountain"), the big mountain behind MP, which has ruins at the top and great views. This place was supposed to be the storehouse for the excess foodstuffs for times of drought, bad harvests, or when the Inca would give food to other tribes in order to control them. It was about 35 minutes climbing straight uphill on stone steps. Probably for all of us, it was the hardest bit we had to do in the whole 2 days. We were rewarded however when we finally reached the top. The views were indeed spectacular and you felt like you were on top of the world! After about a half-hour wandering around the top and snapping off tons of photos we started down again. It started to drizzle, just as we descended the hardest part of the steps, crab walking down the very narrow/steep stones. About halfway down I finally slipped and fell on the slippery rocks. Luckily there are ropes and cables along the way and I was able to hold on rather than tumble down the mountain.