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Home > Your Stories > A Diary of a Single Girl Part 2 |
Everything in This Country is
Uphill
...even when you think you're going downhill. Not that I'm
complaining – my heart, butt and calves will never be better!
I've just returned from Machu Picchu, which those of you who
watch the Today Show know featured the site (I missed Matt
Lauer by a day). Anyway, Machu Picchu was on my list of things to
see in my lifetime, so I had purposefully made it my first stop.
Like the Grand Canyon, pictures just don't do it justice. Here
was a colony of about 1,000 people who built a civilization 10,000
feet up, literally on the side of a mountain at the base of the
jungle. The first thing that boggles the mind is, how did they ever
get through the jungle to this spot, (perhaps by the swiftly running
whitewater river that runs through the area)? Then, whatever
possessed them to climb an hour and a half up a mountain (that's not
on an established path) to build their home? Then, these people, who
on average were shorter than my 5'1" (1.5 m, for the metrically
inclined), but they quarried stone from this mountain and built an
amazingly sophisticated and complex village... They even shaped some
of the village to resemble the forms of an alligator and a condor,
when seen from higher up.
I'm just not talented enough a writer to describe how
awe-inspiring this scene is when you walk onto the complex. It just
emerges from around a corner, this fairly well-preserved village
perched on the edge of a mountain surrounded by even higher mountain
peaks. And when the afternoon mist rolls in, the scene is something
out of Jurassic Park. Mountain peaks poke through the clouds
in parts; other mountain tops are completely enshrined in the mist.
The entire area takes on an prehistoric feel, and you can imagine
why these people worshipped the sun that only graces the area a few
hours each day.
After spending the entire day there, I returned to Aguas
Calientes (means "hot water" due to the natural mineral springs
north of town), the town at the base of the mountain. That night,
the entire town turned out to watch The Jungle Book,
translated in the Spanish on a large screen set up in the village
square. For 2 hours, most of the town stood watching the movie. I
stood with them, mostly to see if I could understand anything. At
one point I looked up, and the ever-present evening cloud cover had
parted just where the full moon shone. It literally sent chills down
my spine. I didn't have a camera handy, but the image is burned in
my memory. The mountain tops were pitch-black silhouettes against a
black-blue sky, the clouds had a silver-grey tinge, and the bright
yellow full moon shown through and down on this tiny tourist town
nestled among these 12,000-foot (3,657-meter) peaks. The sound of
the nearby rushing river filled my ears, and for a moment I was
alone in the universe, and so amazed to be here.
For all the Third-World poverty, the people I've met seem generally happy and very friendly. I met a woman from Florida yesterday who speaks some Spanish and had been cooking in the kitchen of the restaurant I was eating in. They let us stay way past closing as we sipped cerveza and talked. Another example: no one at the hostel I'm at speaks English, and when I couldn't understand directions, the young boy in the front office walked me to the location I was seeking.
The other thing I've noticed about Peru is the striking contrasts:
I'm told Peru is on the verge of breaking through Third World status. While I hope it's true because these people do have a hard life, I hope they don't entirely lose the charm and authenticity they have today....
What I lost this week: my Peru exit papers – I almost missed the plane to Quito, but more on that later!
Maria Argyropoulos, USA
Copyright Maria Argyropoulos. All rights reserved. Story reproduced with kind permission.
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