I Teach You Machu Picchu

machu picchu is indeed a very magical place. sitting atop a ridge surrounded by steepness, one can see imposing and beautiful mountains in every direction. it is the rainy season now, but we have been quite lucky and have only been soaked once. while at machu picchu the sky couldn´t make up its mind. we arrived at 6am with the sun rising and mist enveloping. soon after the sun began to clear the mist and the incredible vista there unfolded itself before our eyes and our smug buttocks planted comfortably on a rock. machu picchu, meaning "old mountain" in quechua, the native tongue of the Incas, is the most spectacular and famous of dozens of ruins in the Sacred Valley. they became ruins in the 1500´s as the Spaniards came and conquered with their guns and germs. the conquistadors destroyed the Inca towns, took their many tons of gold and silver, and often built churches on top of the old temples. machu picchu is, to my knowledge, the largest and most intact of all the different ruins. cusco, where we are now, was the Inca capital and therefore probably its largest city, but is now completely covered by a newer version of buildings and life. the bloodlines of the incas, the pride for their past, and the quechua language still appear quite strong, however.

the incas built things to last. they carved large stone blocks to form their walkways, fortress barriers, and house walls. basically for everything but rooves, which were of straw held up by wood. so now in the ruins, all the stones (which weren´t destroyed or moved by the spaniards) remain and all the rooves are gone. the incas would sometimes chip out their stones from quarries 5km or more from the desired destination, and they pulled the stones by placing rolling logs underneath, much like the Egyptians and Easter Islanders, among others. if you haven´t heard of easter island, you should check out the story of that dead civilization. so far the heaviest stone we´ve seen is 128 tons (280 thousand pounds!). that was at a ruins site called Sacsy Waman which we visited today. they pulled that stone and all the others for that site about two kilometers.

cusco is at 3,400 meters, about 11,000 feet in altitude. that´s high! it´s the elevation of the tops of the big ski mountains in colorado, for instance. you couldn´t tell by looking around, as the mountains near here are not so steep or high. its proximity to the equator (13 degrees south) counteracts the altitude such that there is only rarely snow here. higher up though, you can get all the snow you want all year. the andes climb to 21-22,000 feet in many places. here in cusco, in the distance you can see snow-covered mountains of towering cliffs.

in buenos aires i drank tap water. i just wasn´t thinking straight. but after drinking the tap water in Gaia Ecovillage the whole time there and never getting sick, i did it out of habit when i visited the capital. but still, i wasn´t thinking straight. a couple days later, just after arriving in peru, i started feeling quite ill. well it´s been a week now and i´m just starting to get over it. this bacteria is called e.coli, short for a much longer medical term i can´t remember. well we´ve all heard of e.coli right? remember the drinking water crisis in that town in Ontario a couple years ago? that was e.coli and some people died. let me tell you, e.coli is no fun. the bacteria hangs out in your stomach and intensines, multiplying and producing a toxin that attacks your intestinal lining. the tissue of the intestinal lining becomes inflamed and its ability to ingest nutrients is reduced. i guess i got a good dose of the bacteria, for i haven´t been able to eat anything for about six days now. i actually just ate for the first time this evening - a half of a bowl of cream of pumpkin soup. oh boy oh boy that soup tasted sooooo good. food is simply heaven when you´ve been away from it for a time. so i´ve been relying on tea, water, and gatorade this week. i had some mean stomach pains, especially a couple days ago, which i think is reinforcing the lesson for me. the moral of the story: for all you inexperienced, carefree souls out there, NEVER DRINK TAP WATER IF YOU´RE AT ALL DOUBTFUL OF ITS PURITY. this basically means all places in the world other than Canada, US, and some western European countries. for all its treachery and sickening ability, my ode to e.coli:

during the first part of my time in South America
my life was full of eco-truths.
during the last part
my life has been full of e.co-lies.

as my mom informed me the other day, e.coli is the number one cause of childhood death in the world. children get it by drinking dirty water (and in many places in the world there is of course no option for clean water) and then they diarrhea and vomit their insides out, until they die of dehydration.

for all the inconveniences e.coli caused us, i am very happy that i was still able to visit machu picchu and other ruins and take part in alot of our market strolling and dining experiences. for the dining, i mean drinking tea and watching the others eat, but it´s been quite comical at times. and on another bright side, during my sickness i came up with some new lyrics for songs, like:

we´re sgt. lepper´s phoney darts club stand
we hope that you enjoy your throw
we´re sgt. lepper´s phoney darts club stand
we started thirty years ago
sgt. lepper´s phoney, sgt. lepper´s phoney, sgt. lepper´s phoney darts club stand

this trip has truly been unforgettable. and quite lovely most of the time.