The Stellar Day at Machu Picchu

Day 7 – Jun 19, 2017

It was supposed to be cloudy with rain today, which had been the forecast since we arrive in Peru. We were up at 5:15 so we could get to the entrance gate by 5:50 and be among the first to enter the park. Of course, the walk from our hotel to the entrance was about 100 feet. To our delight, the skies were crystal clear and the temperature was very mild [thank goodness weather forecasts are often wrong!]. There was already a bit of a line there when we arrived, but it moved very quickly, and when the gates opened at 6AM sharp, we were in the park at 6:05.

Adam and Barry took the high road to get on some of the higher terraces that overlook the city itself. Joe and Steve took the low road to be among the city buildings. We wanted to capture pictures from all angles as the sun rose over the city. Now, for those astronomically challenged, sunrise is at 6:11AM refers to when the sun comes above the horizon. Keep in mind that we are deep in the very high mountains, and while the soft glow of indirect morning light bathes the city, the sun doesn’t get over the mountains for quite some time.

I can only speak for Joe and Steve as they headed to the Sun Temple (perhaps the most famous temple in the whole complex). This is the one where the sun comes directly through one window on the winter solstice (Jun 21^st – recall we are in the southern hemisphere) and another window on the summer solstice (Dec 21^st). So, we were very close to the winter solstice, and I thought it would be very cool to be there to see the light come almost directly through the window. We were the first ones to arrive at the Temple (it is a circuitous route through narrow alleys and stairs that make up the city), but alas, when we arrived, THE TEMPLE WAS CLOSED FOR SOME EXCAVATIONS. So, we were close, but no cigar.

The narrow 'streets' or passage ways of Machu Picchu.

The outer door for entry into the Sun Temple.

The Sun Temple from the outside.

We could not get inside to see the sun shine through the winter solstice window.

We then decided to get up on the highest part of the city area which is another temple area (the Main Temple and the Three Window Temple). Again, there were VERY few people in this part of the city so Joe and I were enjoying a very peaceful stroll through the ruins. On the way, Steve asked Joe to take a picture of him standing with a view of the open, grassy plaza area of the city. As Steve turned to face Joe for the picture, he saw this scene over Joe’s shoulder.

The sunrise was just clipping the snow-capped peak of Salcantay (one of the highest mountains in the Andes), and it was radiating a brilliant white crown. We marveled at it for a while, when another couple (from France) came around the bend that we had just traversed, and they stopped dead in their tracks. We exchanged favors taking pictures of each other with Salcantay in the background.

We continued our journey seeing a good part of the city, some of which we knew about through our advanced reading (e.g. the sundial stone). All of this was on the side of the city that housed the priests and royal leaders of the city. We crossed over the grassy plaza to where the average citizens lived, all the while keeping an eye on the sun coming up behind the mountains and the increasing illumination of the city. We stopped at one vantage point with a direct view of the mountain where the winter solstice sun rises. Steve managed to get a series of photos with the rays of the sun emanating from behind the mountain. The first picture shows a little notch at the top of the mountain where the winter solstice sun rises. Since it is Jun 19th, we were close enough to get the effect of the sunrise through the notch. I hope you enjoy the incredible pictures as much as we enjoyed the gradually evolving scene. This are my favorite pictures of the whole trip and the reason we came to Machu Picchu.

We returned to the Sanctuary for a delicious breakfast and to meet our guide, Ronnie. We then took a more deliberate tour of the city with excellent historical commentary from Ronnie.

It is hard to appreciate the size and steepness of the terraces and terrain at Machu Picchu.

The sundial stone.

A view from the Temple Plaza with Huayna Picchu in the background.

The steep terraces that stretch far down the mountain 

with the Urubamba River 1000's of feet below.

Some say the terraces go all the way down the mountain,

but they are covered in centuries of dirt and jungle growth.

The Three Window Temple (cleverly named by Hiram Bingham).

A view of the large, grassy plaza area with Huayna Picchu in the background.

Can you believe we climbed that?!?

We eventually made our way to the entrance for the hike to Huayna Picchu (it is the mountain you see in the iconic picture of Machu Picchu - see the tall, spiked peak in the background?). Huayna Picchu is not for the faint-hearted. It is a 900+ feet, mostly up the steepest, narrowest steps I have ever walked …not to mention the 1000-2000 foot drops off the edge of the path/stairs. Thankfully, there is pretty dense jungle-ish brush along the way to obscure such a view straight down the mountain.

The hike was strenuous, but enjoyable in its own way. There were some burning calf muscles and thigh muscles … as well as some gasping lungs … along the way. The other treachery was that there is a single path for both up and down traffic, so as we climbed up, others who had finished earlier were on their way down. Thankfully, there were some spots with a bit more width and some spots with cables/ropes to hang onto so we could pass each other safely. However, I will note, when there was any passing going on, one person/group stood still and leaned into the mountains as much as possible while the other person/group navigated its way past them. No one was foolish enough to have all parties moving on the trail simultaneously. The walk up is publicized as a 1 hour adventure, and we did it in about 50 minutes.

We were rewarded for our strenuous hike with the most amazing view of Machu Picchu from nearly 1000 feet directly above it. We not only climbed to the top of this mountain, but at the top, there is a single very large rock that comes to a point, and we climbed to the top of it for Ronnie to take a picture.

On the Huayna Picchu mountain peak ... literally.

Sitting on the edge of the small village at the top of Huayna Picchu.

Looking deep into the Andes mountains from the edge of Huayna Picchu.

The walk down was easier and faster, but it had its share of thrills since walking down the steps allows you to see exactly how far you could fall if you were to have a misstep! [When walking up, I was solely concentrating on the next two steps and rarely lifted my head for any views (except when we stopped to catch our breath)]. It took only 25 minutes to get down the hill, but muscles were still aching.

We did a little more touring with Ronnie’s expert commentary, and then headed back to the Sanctuary for lunch (it was 1:05 by then). Lunch was very good, but we had to meet Ronnie a little after 2 so we could begin our journey back to Qosqo. That adventure went like this:

Board a bus to descend the Machu Picchu mountain to the train station in Aguas Calientes (also known as Machu Picchu city), which included 22 switch-backs and a descent of who knows how many thousand feet and took 25 minutes;

Board the Vistadome train for the ride back through the Urubamba Valley along the River to Ollantaytambo, which took 90 minutes;

Pick up our luggage, which we left at the El Albergue Hotel in Ollantaytambo, meet our driver Andres and ride in the van for two hours back to Qosqo.

When we got to the Qosqo area, Andres took some short-cuts in the city (including going the wrong way down a one-way street) because there was a concert and the roads were unusually packed. He drove down some of the narrowest streets (but not nearly as narrow as the dirt road to Pumamarca) with the steepest descents and bumpiest cobblestone I have ever traveled. We arrived at our hotel around 8PM very tired and ready for a shower and relaxing evening … which is exactly what we did.

The week was a gradually increasing one-day-is-better-than-the-previous until it culminated in wandering around Machu Picchu from an amazing sunrise to a mid-day, birds-eye view of the city. We all felt very fortunate, blessed and thankful for this trip … and the spouses/families that gave us the time and opportunity to do such a trip. It is once-in-a-lifetime for me, but I suspect at least one of the sons-in-law will be back with a spouse or family in the future.

Tomorrow is our travel day home – leaving Qosqo on a 6PM flight to Lima; leaving Lima at 10:55 PM to Miami, Florida; then leaving Miami at 9:00AM to arrive in Indianapolis around 11:30. That’s a lot of flying, but it will allow us plenty of time to reminisce about this STELLAR trip.