Aguas Calientes

Aguas Calientes seemed almost like a ski resort town amongst the luscious, green vegetation of the Andes. It was full of touristy restaurants with staff out the front encouraging passers-by to eat within. Row upon row of pizza, pasta and other western food cascaded down the sloping road, the cycle only broken by a giant luxurious hotel or two. 

We only spent one night in this town and it seemed more than enough to see the sites. At 4 in the morning we awoke to begin our day's adventure, something we were becoming accustomed to. Our friendly host had knocked on the door to wake us up and when we were showered and ready to head downstairs, he had breakfast waiting for us. 

We filled up as a much as we could and set off. Just on the outskirts of town, my fellow traveller realised she had forgotten her entrance ticket to Machu Picchu. Surely we could buy one up there but no, tickets were only sold in the public office in town, confirmed the security guard watching over the city, and that opened at 5:30 – in an hour's time. We would miss the sunrise, the reason we had woken so early in the first place. 

My friend ran back up the steep streets to the hostel. No one answered. Our host had gone back to sleep. I arrived and I banged and banged on the door until our host came. Finally with tickets in tow, we began our ascent up the one-hour journey to Machu Picchu. It took us longer than this and we missed the sunrise but pushing back a little annoyance, we approached the historic site and the beauty of the landscape blew my breath away, well at least what was left of my breath from climbing. 

The sheer, penetrating mountains seemed to have shot out of the ground rather than develop over time. Mist covered their peaks and the sky glistened blue behind them. They stood regal and wise. That's not to say that stepping through the modern entrance into the Machu Picchu site was not as amazing because it was but its because of its setting, this is sacred place is so magical. 

Our guide took us around the area, creating an image for us as to what the place would have looked like centuries ago. Today 70% of the ruins lay visible, while 10% have been restored to show tourists what the original building would have looked like and 20% still remain underneath the jungle, yet to be discovered.

Machu Picchu was not a city but a sacred ground where the dead were bought to help them on their journey to the next life. Shaped as a condor, this city represented the local bird’s ability as the only animal in the area to take the soul from earth to heaven. The Inca’s beliefs came in 3s with the condor representing the future or spirit, the puma - king of the jungle representing the present or material and the snake representing the past or mental. 

They had 3 laws to abide: don't steal, don't lie and don't be lazy as well as 3 morals to live by: work, love and knowledge. The Inca believed it was important to work from your heart and if you helped your neighbour today, they would help you tomorrow. This 3-step ideology is often represented by 3 steps ascending, which had been craved into the stone all around Machu Picchu.

Underneath a stone formation shaped like a condor, the Inca priests would mummify the bodies for 3 days and the soul would be taken by the condor to heaven or reincarnated for another life. This explanation varied depending on who told it and which area they were from but the general basis is as told.