Machu Picchu is Closed

Two months ago, Peru sustained massive mudslides that carried entire villages and sections of roads into the Rio Urubamba. As a result, many Peruvians along the river were displaced and tourism came to a halt. On April 1, the government planned to re-open Machu Picchu, the architectural world wonder and a major source of income for the city of Cuzco. There was only one catch: Machu Picchu was not ready.

We arrived in Cuzco to book our tour to Machu Picchu. The 4 day Adventure tour including mountain biking, rafting, and trekking immediately caught our eye. We would wait two days until my mother and little brother could join planning our arrival to Machu Picchu on opening day.

Day 1: Mountain Biking. We took a small bus with a group of 20 up through the clouds to the top of Abra Malaga. At 7am we began 3100M decent to Santa Maria. The decent was fast with a touch of mist on the roads from the morning dew. During one of off road shortcuts to a switchback we had a couple of casualties. An Argentine clenching the handlebars and forgetting about his breaks hit the rocks. My mother, who was in slightly over her head bailed before an oncoming mound of dirt. Down the road, an Australian girl faced an oncoming car in her lane and crashed into the gutter. We continued through small creeks and rocky dirt roads to the lowlands. At the end of the day, we lost the Australian and Argentine to a knee injury and strained shoulder ligaments respectively.

Day 2: Trekking. One look at the river and we understood the guide’s decision to abandon river rafting. Due to extensive rainfall the river transformed from class 2-3 to class 4-5 rapids. In other words one or all of us would have perished. We hiked 13 miles through the rainforest harvesting various fruits and flora along the ancient Incan trail. The rainforest was lush with fruit including avocado, tomato, coca leaves, passion fruit, bananas, oranges, chocolate and coffee beans.


Day 3: Falling Rocks and Politics. The rain continued through the previous night into the morning. The guides warned of political turmoil between the tourism agencies and the government but we had to get to the checkpoint first. On a dangerous part of the road, we traversed one by one. Bret saw the danger first and screamed “Rock!” the guide leaped forward and a giant boulder crashed right in front of a tourist looking down worrying about how much mud she was getting on her hiking boots. They guide grabbed her and ran through the dangerous section as subsequent rocks poured down from the land above. Opting for the modestly safer and longer hike, we crossed the river in a small cable to the checkpoint. As the rain ceased, we waited for more groups to push past 5 armed police officers that were heart bent on deterring our trip. But they wouldn’t shoot a tourist right? We all made it.


Day 4: Machu Picchu. Dressed in our damp clothes, we headed holy city of Machu Picchu. The cold air and rain provided one last obstacle. The first hour of the city was blanketed by rain and clouds before the heavens opened up and granted us access the beauty Machu Picchu. The time, effort and dedication that went into the production of this city is magnificent. The Incans were a strong and proud people who cherished their relationship with the gods. We saw and felt the stone that the Incans sacrificed virgins to the heavens during the height of the empire. It was a powerful experience.


After a couple more days of exploring Cuzco, we are back in Salinas, Ecuador to The Broken Compass and Makai.