Machu Picchu magic

Easter magic. There's nothing better to describe my visit to Machu Picchu.

(the pictures that go along with this post are in the gallery on your right hand side)

4am. I walk up to the sanctuary's entrance - this way I would have my fair share of an Inca trail. It promised to be a hell of hike, constantly climbing steep staircases in the lush bushes of the mountain. A day earlier people had witnessed the sunrise at Machu Picchu, so expectations were high. The higher I got, the less optimistic I became (and not only because of a sudden lack of air in my lungs) - drizzling clouds were surrounding us, and they didn't look like giving up soon.

5.30am. At the top I discover that apparently I wasn't the only one that nuts to wake up so early and hike all the way up. "Line up please, three lines," the security guards told us. A bit later a park guard came to ask whether we wanted to get on the 7am or the 10am hike up Huayna Picchu, the bigger one of the two mountains behind the sanctuary. Still looking for my breath, it was an easy choice.

6am. Finally they let us in! Off I go, into the mist. Once I got at the famous lookout point, there was literally nothing I could see. Not a single ruin. What a disaster, I thought! All this effort for nothing.

It was perfect to regain some strength, though, and to let my shirt dry. Little by little, the misty clouds started clearing up. Yes, I could even see the two tops of the mountains behind the sanctuary! That's when the magic started. Flares of the mist disappeared and revealed parts of the ruins, to close them in minutes later. Hordes of tourists were exploring the sanctuary nonetheless, but I was good, sitting at the guardian's shelter.

7.30am. Amazing! Mist is clearing up, rising from below upwards. Part of the Machu Picchu magic is revealing itself: the 2000 ft cliffs on both sides of the sanctuary, which you never see on the pictures. Believe me, it's all the way down, not a terrace on your way. This makes the place even more mystical and surreal than it already was!

8.30am. The whole site's clear! Huayna Picchu was still covered in some clouds (I knew I was right in not picking the 7am shift!), but at least I was dry and could oversee the whole site. Indescribable. It's just amazing. For some reason, pictures just cannot reveal how it is to be there and see it, for real, in real life.

11am. I'm on top of Huayna Picchu! What a view... It's just you and the sky - and a whole army of mosquitos and other bugs. Fortunately there was a quieter place a bit more down, just atop another sanctuary, looking down on Machu Picchu. It still doesn't get to me why they would build such a place in the middle of this stunning nature, with no other signs of human presence in miles.

3pm. I finally get back at the sanctuary after a 'small' detour on my way back - I am completely exhausted, thirsty as hell and lacking one shoe sole. Where do I get my heavily overpriced bottle of water? At the entrance... Just about a hundred more stairs up and down!

4pm. I'm closing my day with a few more moments at the guardian's hut. Still can't believe it. Still heavily impressed. Utterly happy to have made it. Life is beautiful!

I leave you with this intriguing shot of Peruvian men about to embark on the Inca trail, taken in a collectivo bus on the way to the train station in Piscacucho...

Inca hopes, expectations and wanderings (c) Tom Van den Steen

Ayacucho

I haven't been too active lately on this blog, but for the best possible reason: traveling! First weekend trip was to the Sendero Luminoso struck city of Ayacucho. The place is renowned for its Semana Santa processions, the week before Easter, culminating with a huge spectacle on Easter itself. I was already booked for Easter weekend, so I had to content myself with the weekend before that.

The processions were quite interesting and spectacular. Have a look at some of the pics in the gallery on your right hand side! Although we had to wait for more than an hour, it was well worth the wait. Out of nowhere this huge shining construction appeared out of the church, carried by a few dozen men, accompanied by fireworks and a zillion camera flashes... Perhaps just as impressive was the Palm Sunday procession, with hundreds and hundreds of people carrying palm leaves while accompanying a statue of Jesus on a monkey and praying.

On another note, I thoroughly enjoyed the Sierra, as the Andes part of Peru is called. Amazing views, lush green mountains and a blue sky with sheep clouds - life can be great! Especially when riding on horseback on the pampa where a united army of South Americans kicked the espagnoles' asses big time, leading to an independent South America.

It's pretty amazing what people do here in Peru to make some money. Apparently, you can get by offering your scale for people to weigh themselves! Or were these ladies just giving people the opportunity to weigh themselves, with the end of lent approaching...

Ayacucho (c) Tom Van den Steen

On making and giving away money

I have been quite struck by the commentaries of many Peruvian people on the way in which companies operate in this country. It seems like Peru is one of those places that simply hands out its money to foreign companies instead of investing in its own people so that, in the long run, Peruvian companies can take the place of foreign ones.

Last week I had the pleasure traveling to Machu Picchu. As most of you will know, the common way of getting there is by train. There is basically just one company offering you its services to get there: PeruRail. For a 'modest' price - that equals a plane ticket Lima-Cusco, by the way - they give you delight of delaying your train by a few hours, on top of the two hours it takes to travel some 20km from Piscacucho to Aguas Calientes. FYI, they are charging the same for this ridiculously short ride as they used to do (before the terrible mud slides struck the Sacred Valley) from Cusco to Aguas Calientes, which is about 112km! Despite its name, PeruRail isn't in Peruvian hands - Chilean businessmen are reaping the benefits of overcharging tourists...

Similar examples are legion. Take the airports. Unlike most countries, where you have already paid your airport tax when buying your plane ticket, you have to pay a separate fee to use Peruvian airports (in Lima, for example it's about 7 USD for domestic flights and 35 USD for foreign flights). A wonderful system to get your money without delay, so did the Germans think!

Apparently Peru is exporting quite a bit of its fruits to Chile. Guess who's making huge profits by exporting fruits to "the West"?

Politicians seem not to care about money slipping through Peruvians' hands and ending up in foreigners'; they care about votes. In many countries alike, votes are often bought with construction works. Start building something, and people are happy that they have work. Never mind that you're rebuilding the same road every four to five years, because you wouldn't invest in decent material or people skilled enough to build solid roads or houses or ...

Never mind that mining companies don't have to cough up more taxes (which could then be invested in the communities that suffer from the negative environmental and health consequences, or in education, to skill people for the post-extraction era when the mine closes shop) because you signed a deal safeguarding them from any future increase in taxation or from sharing increases in their own profit margins due to rises in commodity prices.

What did you say - el perro del hortelano?

a wall in Pitón (near Cusco) promising more contruction works (c) Tom Van den Steen