The writer in Machu Picchu Don't remember when exactly I first came across the names Machu Picchu and Incas but definitely I heard about these magical place and people from my Peruvian friends during my student years in the USSR ( from 1972 to 1978). Since those days I developed a hidden desire to be there someday.
But little idea did I have about how and when I can make it. In those days very few of our countrymen may have known about Inca civilisation and the most famous of their settlements. Machu Picchu came into limelight, few years ago when a worldwide online survey was going on to fix Seven Wonders of the World.
In our country we were very hopeful about our Sundarbans and Cox's Bazar beaches winning in one of the categories. Unfortunately we fell short of the final selection. Machu Pichhu made it and I renewed my old dream to visit this unique place, a jewel in the list of UNESCO World Heritage.
One fine morning last September Anjana and I stepped out of our plane in Cusco. It was long overnight flight from Mexico City via Lima and dawn was just breaking in. Cusco the capital of the Incas, is a nice city planned through centuries at a high altitude (12000 ft above MSL ) in the Andes, perched in the terraces of the mountains at different levels. Chilly wind swept across our faces and almost shivering, we sought refuge in the car sent by our hotel.
The driver switched on the heating element and we were just fine in minutes. The city is not big and at those early hours the streets were empty. So, we reached our hotel Madre Tierra (Mother Earth) run by Dutch owner Antonius who has a Peruvian wife.
They live in an apartment and have converted the wealthy in law's house into a Boutique Hotel having 8/10 rooms. I booked it through internet and got in touch with him over mails working out our trip plan. Antonius is a fine gentleman and helped me out and out to finalize the details of our sojourn. Himself being a Rotary member, promised to bring me to his Club's meeting, which he fulfilled.
No doubt the staff at the hotel were well briefed. We were brought to our well heated room directly and Anjana immediately jumped into the comfort of the thick soft blankets. I filled in the papers brought by the front desk girl sipping a mug of coffee and we relaxed for 2/3 hours until Antonius came.
At 10 AM we had our breakfast (a continental one) while Antonius explained us the program and handed over all tour vouchers promptly. Following my request he even arranged a wheel chair to take care of Anjana's knee pain (to be used where ever possible). It looked a comfortable brand new one.
I thanked him and made payments for all the arrangements. Antonius gave us one hour to get ready and promised to pick us up at 12 noon for the Rotary meeting followed by lunch and subsequent sightseeing in Cusco city. After getting back to the room Anjana declared that she had nothing to do with Rotary meetings and preferred to have a nap instead. She did not utter a single word about the sightseeing knowing fully well that some alternative will be worked out.
I took a soothing refreshing shower and was ready at the lobby in time. Antonius drove me to Cusco Club in his car for the Rotary Club of Cusco Inka meeting. Cusco Club is hosted in an old aristocratic building and is a remnant of Spanish colonial legacy. It is older than our Dhaka and Chittagong Clubs but smaller in membership with similar facilities.
In the meeting we exchanged our experiences of Rotary Service in our respective countries and I had to satisfy the audience in a Q and A session of about 20 minutes. There were four young exchange students from 4 different countries (USA, Germany, etc) who fired most of the questions. To my surprise, I found a member of the Club speaking a few Bangla words. He had spent 2 years in Bangladesh long time back serving some NGO.
When the meeting was over we were served a delicious lunch. There were many items in the menu and Antonius gave me a short lecture on famous Peruvian cuisine. Let me try to give you an idea about a few dishes. Guinea pig is perhaps the most famous (uncommon to others) delicacy offered in Peru. Have raised your eyebrows?
Yes, it is. In roasted or cooked form served with vegetables and savored by Peruvians and others who dare taste it. I preferred not. Llama / Alpaca meat also make a famous dish. This is close to mutton. They also look like sheep but with a much longer neck and more fur to make them fit for the cold climate at high altitudes. Ceviche is a fish dish somewher between cooked fish and Japanese sushi.
Picarones are fried pumpkin donuts which are very tasty. Amongst drinks I will mention two. Chica Morada is a benign drink made of sourish/sweet fruits and other ingredients and very popular. When it comes to alcoholic beverages its Pisco Sour comprising of lemon, sugar, bitters, egg white and Alcohol.
Its smooth and you don't even know when you are ready to be carried away from the bar/ restaurant. Be careful when you are in Peru. Don't worry about me. I took mostly continentals and a dish of Alpaca with just a couple of Beers in the Cusco Club. Antonius showed me the tourist spots of Cusco driving past them so I would be able to visit those with Anjana later in the afternoon and evening and dropped me at the hotel.
Anjana was fit by that time after shower and a few bites. So, we set off for the city tour in a cab which was fixed on hourly rental basis. The Andean empire of the Incas was the largest Empire in the Americas in early 16th century. Historians may say whether it was the largest in the World at that time. In 1527 it had a territory of 2 million sq.km and included parts of present day Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Columbia, Ecuador and Peru. Incas were about 1 crore in number and the Administrative, Political and Military center was in Cusco.
The last mighty Inca Emperor Atahualpa ruled from Cusco until he was killed by the invading Spaniards. Francisco Pizzaro was the conqueror. Local kings and strongholds put up resistance till 1572 when absolute subjugation of the last Inca fighters were achieved and Spanish Colonialisation of almost whole Latin America ( save Brazil and some small domain) was in place. Incas had developed a language Quechua besides others eg Aymara, Puquina, Jaqi, etc. which have survived till date.
They were rich in Architecture (excellent use of stones), Agriculture (grew hundreds of varieties of potatoes). Textiles and Road network. They developed excellent methods of accounting, record keeping, and communication using knotted strings.
In Cusco you still can see some remnants of Inca Architecture that survived after Spanish destruction. Colonial Spanish building and tainted glass work in the churches are also there to see apart from museums' displaying rich Inca heritage. Together with Anjana we covered as much of that as we could and were back in Madre Tierra by 6 PM.
Man, it was damn cold at by then. Cusco is the launching ground for all tours to the Inca land. People usually spend one night here to acclimatize with altitude and cold climate and move to various Inca places, the most frequented being Machu Picchu. Many trips are offered of different duration. We took the quickest 2 days tour which started early next morning.
Done with early breakfast and coffee next morning, our tour van picked us up for a whole day tour covering the sacred valley of the Incas, Ollayantaetambo and a ride in the State of the Art heritage train journey to Aguas Callientes. The journey through the winding ways in the Andes Mountains was one to savor. From the high altitude of Cusco city we came down to the valley through which river Urubamba flows to make it fertile.
It formed the heartland of Inca Empire. Incas treated the river as a gift from God and hence the name Sacred valley. On the way we stopped at village markets, viewpoints overlooking distant picturesque green terraces with vegetation with snow peaks peeping out of further distant mountains, on the bank of the river and several Inca ruins. Came lunch time and we were treated to a sumptuous Peruvian buffet in a prearranged restaurant.
In the afternoon we were shown around Ollayantaetambo, an Inca settlement of high repute. This was kind of a preview of what awaited us in Machu Picchu. Then we boarded the train for a good 2 hour ride which was simply a joyful journey through a terrain which was lush green in the beginning and as we ascended, gradually became rugged. The scenes on the way were always beautiful.
We reached our destination and found that it was a small settlement which is gradually growing to accommodate the large influx of tourists to Machu Picchu. Agua Cullientes means hot water. The name comes from natural hot springs which is another tourist attraction nearby. Our hotel was at walking distance form the cute station building, Anjana enjoying a wheel chair ride because of her painful knees. We had a comforting shower, early dinner and negotiated our beds for a good sleep -- a rest before the big event tomorrow.
From Agua Callientes you can either trek along the mountainous trail or there is a bus flying at regular interval run by Peruvian authorities that brings you to the Entrance which is open at 6 AM. We were scheduled on the first bus and our guide picked us up just in time after we had early breakfast, coffee and Coca tea. Here some information about this specialty will not be out of place.
To fight the shortage of oxygen at Andean high altitude settlements, the Incas used to chew Coca leaves which really helped. Some of you may have guessed correctly that these Coca leaves account for cocaine. But 600 Kg of leaves make 1 Kg of the illegal substance. Even now everywhere (including 5 star hotels and households) dried coca leaves are kept at the lobby and common places and hot water is also mode available for you to make Coca Tea which really helps. We also had this tea in generous proportions during our stay in that area.
We came to the entry point and the gate officials were kind enough to direct us in through a special gate, bypassing the long queue of waiting tourists because Anjana was on her wheelchair. Since Machu Picchu is a settlement established and carved out in a terraced fashion at different levels of a mountain, there were ups and downs on the trail through which tourists are guided.
Everywhere, the staff and our guide helped me push/ pull the wheelchair. Peru tourism Authorities arrangements are praiseworthy. They have kept the premise very well organized, impart training to the guides, keep helpful and welcoming staff all over the facility and ensure safety.
Our guide explained in details about Inca history and Machu Picchu and showed us whatever he could in 2 hours and gave us some free time to explore this UNESCO heritage site by ourselves. Of course, some of the places were not accessible by wheel chair because of the steepness and mountainous nature of the trails and steps. So, Anjana had to stay back at places designated for rest / waiting.
Like other Inca strongholds, Machu Picchu was a fort cum city cum capital during the Inca golden period. Inside the huge expanse the rulers, priests, technicians, peasants and commoners used to live. Houses, temples, stairs, walkways, pavements were all made of stones (huge, big and small) brought from nearby mountains. It is assumed that for transportation they employed the same technology as practiced by ancient Egyptians for building Pyramids. The building for royals and priests were made of polished stones whereas for others the stones were of rough surface.
For joining stones they used LEGO technique and also used a mortar made of sticky mud, limestone and juices from certain trees. Main temples were dedicated to Sun and Mother Earth and the priests were held in high esteem. The priests also studied astronomy and some of the exponents of their astronomical studies (like Jantar Manar in India) still exist. The planned architecture is mesmerizing.
The rulers commanded a territory stretching much beyond the citadel and the Incas living outside Machu Picchu in different locations were mainly peasants. They depended on rainwater for growing crops. But during droughts had to bring water from the snow capped mountains around. Agricultural yields were mainly different types of potatoes, maize, beans, coca, nuts, vegetables, avocadoes, etc.
As far as the craftsmanship is concerned, their stone work was of super quality. They did not know the use of Iron (perhaps due to unavailability) but used metals like copper. Their technical knowhow was so developed that they could preserve food for months and even years in high altitude storage using directed cool breeze from snowcapped of mountains.
Inca warriors were of high repute and the Empire grew huge by conquests and peaceful assimilation too. After Spaniards could annihilate Atahualpa and his army, slowly the strongholds of local Inca rulers were captured and by 572 colonials conquered all parts of the grand empire, destroyed most of their splendor and spread Christianity and modern Spanish culture, education and life style.
Machu Picchu was abandoned by the Incas during this period. Due to communication difficulties no Spaniards or their associates settled there and the Incas who fled to the jungles and far flung places also did not dare to come back. Centuries passed by and the magnificent city was lost.
Thick overgrowth and jungles engulfed the constructions and the World knew nothing about it. In early twentieth century a German professor discovered it and it took many years to reclaim this magical wonder from nature and bring it to the notice of mankind. Peruvian people and its Government did their best to restore it with the help of UNESCO and thus we have the good fortune of peeping in to the past.
With a deep satisfaction we boarded our bus back to civilized world from this unique wild place guarded by two huge mountains Machu Picchu and Huana Picchu.
The writer is a freelance ---------------Pradip Kumar Dutta
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