Machu Picchu: June 21st, 2005

We woke up groggily at 4:30am and, yet again, we could hear the "#$!ing roosters. We got up so early because we wanted to make sure that we beat the hordes who were flocking to Machu Picchu (which in the native language of quecha means "old mountain") for the sunrise on the solstice, which is the time to be there. I got really frustrated because Jose Luis hadn't bought the bus tickets up to Machu Picchu the night before like he said he would. There we were standing around waiting for him to get through the ticket line as bus after bus filled with tourists and left; it was already growing light.

Fortunately, we got the Evel Knievel of tourist bus drivers and he raced up the mountain. Ordinarily I would have been terrified by his passing another bus on a small straightaway on a tiny dirt road, but I wanted to make sure we didn't miss that sunrise. We got up there in plenty of time, but all the tourists that had gotten there had already staked out the best spots to witness the "phenomenon", as Jose Luis put it. In Machu Picchu the solstice is special because, the sun temple there was built so that on the 21st, the light breaks over the mountain and goes perfectly through the one window facing that side (it also has a special window for the december solstice, but that one isn't as important) onto the altar. June 21st was the Inca New Year and the largest celebration of the year since the sun was their main god. In fact, the big festival, Inti Raymi, that we're going to in Cusco on the 24th was originally on the 21st, but the Roman Catholics made the natives switch the date (on a side note, they still sacrifice a llama at the festival and the Incan flag flies above the churches).

Fortunately, while we didn't have the best positions, we were taller than most of the tourists and so we got to see the "phenomenon". Actually, it wasn't life changing (no map showing where the treasure was hidden like Raiders of the Lost Ark)

Jose Luis took us around and showed us the various temples (to Water, the Earth, the Condor, and the mountains) and the various neat aspects of the town. We were fortunate in that the train from Cusco hadn't arrived yet, so there weren't the scads of tourists that there ordinarily are. After we wandered on our own a bit we bid farewell to Machu Picchu and made our way back to Cusco, where the preparations for Inti Raymi were well underway.

During the course of the trip, Andrew has been taking pictures of all of our various activities, and when he has the opportunity, he\'ll upload them on the web. I really can't do Machu Picchu justice with words.