Michelle Marieni, '11

¡Cusco y Machu Picchu!
domingo, el 14 de enero de 2010

Lo siguiente es un extracto de mi blog (michellemarieni.blogspot.com) sobre mis aventuras en el Perú durante mis seis meses estudiando en Lima.

     My sister, Christy, and I arrived from our flight to Cusco around 1pm on Christmas Eve. There were a lot of people in the city for Christmas, and the Plaza de Armas was filled with vendors selling last-minute gifts. Anna Maria, a Finnish girl who lived in my house in Lima, and her family arrived in Cusco the same day and we had plans to do our 3-day trek to Machu Picchu with them. We had a nice dinner of Alpaca steak and then Christy and I walked back to go to bed. Soon after, we were woken up by tons of fireworks being shot off at midnight! In Peru, we were surprised to find out that Christmas Eve is comparable to our celebration of New Years Eve. People celebrate at midnight by drinking and setting off fireworks, and they open presents and have parties with their families until dawn!
     The streets were quiet on Christmas morning but Christy and I woke up and headed to mass in the cathedral. There were so many people inside the church, and masses were being held every hour! Outside of the church groups of people were dancing in costumes. The mass was really interesting and all of the families brought the baby Jesus doll from their manger scenes in a basket to be blessed by the priest.
     The next day we began our trek, which was nothing short of an adventure! After loading mountain bikes on the top of our guide's mini-van we started the long, scenic drive through the mountains, stopping along the way to give food and old clothing to the poor children and their parents who live there. At the top of the mountain, in the freezing cold as it began to rain, is where the adventure begins.
     We all got on our bikes and rode down the entire mountain. It started to rain harder, soaking through my poncho to my jeans. Just about every time the rain slowed, we came across a small waterfall flowing down the side of the mountain that passed right over the road. The first time I spotted one I hesitated on what to do, but those in front of me yelled, "Just pedal quickly and lift up your feet as you go through it!" As you can probably imagine, my pants never dried! It was a bumpy ride but after about five hours we made it to the small town called Santa María. Here is where the real problems started.
     After departing Santa María for Santa Teresa, we reached a backup of cars and realized that the road was under construction. Since we were in the peak of the rainy season and the rain that day was clearly strong, part of the cliff of the mountain had collapsed and the road was covered in a huge pile of gravel and rocks. There was a bulldozer trying to plow through the mounds but it wasn't making any progress. After waiting for almost two hours and listening to our guide tell us the road would be cleared shortly, we retreated back to Santa María to figure out what to do next. Our guide told us that our only option to get to Santa Teresa was to take the "camino alternativo" which included a route over a different mountain. We could choose to go that night or wait for morning. After talking it over we chose to leave that night, which was the worst decision we could ever have made!
     The route wound around the mountain on a dirt pathway literally on the edge of the cliff with no fence or guard-rail. We had to repeatedly ask to slow down and had to get out of the car twice, fearing our lives as the driver was stuck in the mud and had to back up to the edge of the cliff. After the first stop we realized how completely crazy it was to be driving up this road in the middle of the night and after the second stop Anna Maria and I started to question the guide, telling her that the "camino alternativo" was never a real option and that she was crazy to take us on it! Interestingly enough, neither the guide nor the driver were very concerned and we continued on. Tied with the experience stuck in a storm on the Amazon River in Iquitos (see Peter McGovern's blog entry in this edition of fósforo), this was the closest to death and most frightened I have ever felt in my life. We finally made it up the hill to an area where the road was not wide enough for a car, since some of it had deteriorated away in the rain. All seven of us got out and crossed the little pathway on the edge of the cliff one-by-one with flashlights and belongings in hand. A car was waiting for us on the other side, and somehow my nightmare ended when we arrived safely in Santa Teresa after the whole two or three hour process.
     The events of that night put a damper on the rest of the trek and especially frustrated us with our guide, but the next day was better. After relaxing in Santa Teresa's hot springs, we proceeded on to our six-hour hike. The coolest part of the day's walk was that when we got close to Aguas Calientes our guide pointed out the back-side of the Machu Picchu and Wayna Picchu mountains. We finally made it to Aguas Calientes, the small town at the base of Machu Picchu, slightly after darkness hit. Once in Aguas Calientes, we were overjoyed that our hostel had clean bathrooms - a step up from the last one - and we ate a nice dinner together. We were finally able to shower and went to bed as soon as we could!
     The next morning we woke up bright and early at 4am to hike up Machu Picchu Mountain for sunrise. It was a grueling hike up steep stone stairs, but it was well worth the feeling upon reaching the top. The view from the gate of the surrounding mountains still covered by the hovering morning clouds was breathtaking. We were one of the first groups in line for the entrance to Machu Picchu, which opens its gates at 6am. We were among the first 400 to enter, thus receiving access to hike the Wayna Picchu Mountain. It was an unbelievable feeling to have earned the view of such amazing ruins, and it was quite a different feeling from the first time I went when we took the train. The clouds were still hovering around the ruins but eventually cleared up and we had nice weather for the day. We first had a tour of the ruins, learning that they were re-discovered by an American, Hiram Bingham, in 1911. We also learned that most of the gold and artifacts collected from the site are on display at Yale University instead of in Cusco. How unfair! The Incas abandoned the site when the Spanish started to invade Peru, and the Spanish never found the site - although they had heard of it.
     Wayna Picchu is the steep mountain on the other side of Machu Picchu and we were a little nervous for more hiking - especially when we saw an empty body bag and a stretcher waiting at the entrance! We hiked basically strait up for forty minutes and realized that the hike was worth it when we saw the view from the top. The ruins looked totally different, and you could see the many layers of agricultural rows. We spent the rest of the day sitting on the opposite side of Machu Picchu where we overlooked all the ruins from the "post-card view" side. Before you knew it, all five members of Anna Maria's family, my sister, and I were napping in the grass. It was the perfect day.
     On Wednesday morning, after some sight-seeing back in Cusco on Tuesday, we left early for our flight to Lima. I was relieved to finally be going "home" and to show my sister where I had lived for the past six months.

     Hasta pronto,
     Michelle