Machu Picchu in Peru is not a destination, it is a world famous wonder, it is a dream. I had arrived in Machu Picchu Pueblo (ex Aguas Calientes) with tickets to the citadel and tickets to the Machu Picchu mountain. I checked in my hotel and went for a stroll in this lovely little town, but I wanted to have an early night because I knew my following day would be most demanding so I went to bed but it was like one of those nights after a first kiss or before the wedding… excitement took over me and sleeping simply refused to set in!
Next morning I got up very early, had breakfast at 05.00 in the morning, grabbed my backpack and left for the bus that would take me to the highlands, but it was a mistake! The queue for the bus was already 3 blocks long and it wasn’t until 1 hour later that I found myself sitting on and ready to leave. It was 06.45 and dawn was breaking the darkness.
We put behind the little town and vegetation became really thick. As the bus was going up the winding road bordering the mountain, the surrounding became mind-bending. There were deep ravines between really high mountains cut into sharp cliffs… ones next to others, ones in front of others in a magnificent mess, a wonderful chaos of creation. Clouds crashed against those colossal walls trying to make their way to the sky and I had the feeling of leaving this world behind to enter an ancient dimension, one that would mark my spirit forever… I was entering Machu Picchu, the city among the clouds.
I guess all of us, at that moment, had the same questions echoing in our minds: How did they find this place? Why did they build a city in such location? Were they trying to hide? Or it was just the best place they found to be closer to the sky and the sun, Inti, their god.
As soon as I got off the bus I had the certainty that this place would transform me to some extent.
The first rays of the morning sun were shining through the high summits like light swords piercing the fog. Mist was coming slowly up from the Urubamba river trying to find a way among the trees, the clouds, the mountains… Machu Picchu was alive, breathing, and its breath was cold, humid and pure. In awe and wonder I took my first steps and crossed the threshold into this ghostly, magical world.
The citadel is spread all over the top of this mountain and even in ruins it triggers awe and respect… its stairways, walls, gates and alleys… the little houses and their windows, the temples, some of them built with amazing and inexplicable perfection.
The following questions surfaced the amazement: How did they do this? How could they? I climbed up, I strolled around, I touched, I admired, trying to take everything in, energy, texture, smell, temperature… As a greedy man who has found a treasure and wants to take it home till the last piece! I didn’t want to miss a thing!
My camera was my ally, memory is fragile. How could I share this wonder if I had no photographic records? Words are not enough to describe this or I’m not able to find the right ones. The citadel wrapped me around, possessed me, blew me away. I imagined the life of those Incas, 500 years ago. 2000 people living in perfect communion with nature, loving, suffering, dreaming in the Andean highlands. Machu Picchu Machupichu
I couldn’t help to wonder how they raised their children in a place where a misstep can easily mean death! The city border is a 2,400-meter cliff, the steep stairs have no safety rails. My astonishment grew… if that was even possible! But in my wish to experience it all, I had embraced the ultimate challenge. Machu Picchu citadel is located on top of a mountain which, in turn, is next to two others, the Wayna Picchu and the taller, Machu Picchu mountain. Well, I had decided to take my chances and climb up to the top of the highest one. Machu Picchu Machu Picchu machupicchu machupichu
Truth be known, I didn’t know what I was getting myself into! I only knew that when I set up to something, either I make it or I’ll die trying so I started climbing up, just as a stairway to heaven, 8000 stoned-steps built with the ancient wisdom and endless Inca’s patience. I thought it would take me 2 hours… I was wrong. Machu Picchu Machu Picchu machupicchu
The first hundreds of meters were covered by the dense vegetation. There were lookouts here and there which allowed me to catch my breath, just to have it taken away again by the beauty of the place. The citadel was way below in the distance and it looked like a little village taken out of a children’s tale. Machu Picchu machpicchu Machu Picchu Peru
The mist that came up from the river managed to cover it up completely, the wind would uncover it and thus they played hour after hour to exist and disappear. Machu Picchu Machu Picchu Machupicchu
Two hours of stairway climbing and still the top was not close… in this altitude my lungs begged for Oxygen and my legs asked for mercy but determination refused to give it. I had to make it! Surrender was not an option.
Many gave up along the way but my goal was clear and the award would be a view reserved only for a few privileged ones and therefore it wasn’t easily achieved.Machu Picchu Machu Picchu Machupicchu
The last hundred meters were excruciating, exhaustion was extreme, my strength was at its limit, danger was increasing alongside height, the stairway grew narrower and steeper like trying to protect the secret of the top.
Meeting people climbing down was a danger. One misstep and it could be your last… looking down served only to support that notion! Machu Picchu
And finally… what was starting to seem impossible… the top of the Machu Picchu mountain!! I had made it to the altar where the Incas prayed to their gods almost face to face. To stand there was an honor and a privilege to see what I was seeing. Machu Picchu Machu Picchu Machupicchu
The Urubamba river, over 3000 meters down, looked like a small creek trying to overcome the mountainous obstacles, wrapping the place up with its mist on its way. I saw the Wayna Picchu summit 400 meters below.
The world seemed to be at my feet and yet I felt like the smallest creature overwhelmed by emotion before such majestic, breathtaking place!
I’m sorry and I am glad that this conquest is not for everyone. I am sorry because it is sublime and there are no words grand enough to describe what I saw, what I felt… I am glad because, maybe, this hard and selective way is the reason why Machu Picchu has remained unperturbed by the pass of time.
I looked down to the citadel in the distance. I closed my eyes and saw the Incas working, building, farming, walking along their entangled alleys, climbing up their narrow stairways. Some women worked in the wild flowers garden while the children risked their lives on those stoned-steps of the Machu Picchu citadel, 500 hundred years ago. Machu Picchu
I am not the kind of tourist that goes twice to the same place, but Peru has become a part of me and in my dreams Machu Picchu calls me back and it will do so for the rest of my life. Machu Picchu Machupicchu Machupichu
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario