Having been constructed around 1450 AD, but not rediscovered until 1911, Machu Picchu remained hidden to the invading Spaniards, preserving its authenticity for the modern world.
Still, many questions surrounding the Lost City of the Incas remain unanswered.
In Quechua, the language of the Incas, Machu Picchu means “Old Mountain“. On the contrary, Huayna Picchu (the mountain peak forming the nose of the face looking up to the sky) means “Young Mountain“.
Located at 2430m, Machu Picchu was designated world heritage site of UNESCO in 1983.
The famous way of building the Incas used in the construction of Machu Picchu is called Ashlar. The stones are cut in such a way that they fit perfectly with the other stones without having to stick them with some kind of glue.
Machu Picchu also served as an astronomical observatory. The sacred Intihuatana Stone indicates the two equinoxes and twice a year the sun is perfectly aligned with the stone without creating any shadow.
Professional cameras are not allowed in Machu Picchu. Permissions for professional cameras are sold for more than $300, so it’s best not to bring an SLR camera with a big lens. I only had a Samsung Galaxy S5 cell phone and a GoPro Hero 4.
At Machu Picchu, the rainy season lasts from November to March. For this reason, in order to avoid getting soggy while exploring the Lost City of the Incas, and the cloud cover obstructing the view of the iconic “face looking into the sky” mountain (Huayna Picchu), the best time to visit Machu Picchu is from April to October. Regardless, even if you time your trip for within those months, you could still get rained on. That’s exactly what happened to me.
I visited Machu Picchu exactly on September 24, 2018. So even though I was well within the so called “dry season“, it rained quite a bit on that day and the clouds kept getting in the way of scoring good pictures. Either way, the entire experience of getting to Machu Picchu was disappointing enough to make it clear that there is no way in hell I would be visiting the place ever again, and after shelling out the heavy 152 Soles (about $46 US) for half the day entry to the Inca citadel, that notion was further strongly enforced.
So in my case, even though the weather remained nice and sunny throughout the entire unplanned “Inca Trail” hike, when I got to visit the actual Machu Picchu, the day got cloudy and during a hefty part of it, it also rained. But what do you do if you visit Machu Picchu on a cloudy day? You make the best of it nevertheless. You can’t choose or command the weather.
Unfortunately, even though the entrance to the citadel is mighty steep, you are rather restricted in how you get to enjoy it. In my case, it was cloudy and it rained for the best part of the afternoon, but at around 4:30, or about an hour before the allocated time to see Machu Picchu for which I paid a hefty fee ran out, the rain stopped and the sky started to clear up, but when I started retracing my steps back through the citadel in order to use the remaining hour on snapping a new set of pics of this time nicely illuminated mountain peaks and ancient architecture, I got yelled at by the guards who demanded that I continue on out of the complex, barring me from utilizing the remaining hour of my visit.
Obviously, because while it rained, I wasn’t able to be very active with the camera, so I lost a lot of time for picture taking, and had to keep moving along because for one I was getting rained on, and secondly, the mass of people within the complex was being yelled at to keep moving forward through the alleys of the man made sections of Machu Picchu.
So to reiterate what I have been congruent about throughout moment I started writing about Machu Picchu – no matter how you look at it, if you take into the account the cost as well as the overall headache of visiting the citadel, and put it against what you get if you go through the cost and the headache of getting there, it’s simply not worth it.
There are places that are far more interesting, incomparably less expensive to visit, and which are not deliberately kept inaccessible in order to force the would be visitor to get absolutely screwed on the means to arrive, that would give the visitor more in terms of visual and spiritual experience.
I started questioning the worth of Machu Picchu as soon as I got dropped off at the road block, and wish the whole time I had listened to my got and turned around instead of toiling my way toward the citadel. But as I kept on going, and fooling myself that perhaps in the end it turns out being worth it, each new experience proved that I was wrong and should have absolutely listened to my gut telling me to turn around as soon as we did not arrive at Hidroelectrica with the van.
Even in Peru itself there are far more interesting places than Machu Picchu, and unlike Machu Picchu, they will not burn a hole in your wallet. There’s no other way to put it – Machu Picchu does not live up to the hype and with the involvement of the high cost to see it, I have no option but to recommend the readers to avoid it as not worth your time, effort and money.
I made an attempt to find the ruins of Prasat Tonle Sngout – a temple that’s off the main road, but according to the map, just by the side road that branches off the Grand Circuit at the bend north of Angkor Thom North Gate, across the road from Krol Romeas. I took that road and followed it for a few kilometers but found nothing. Locals in the areas – there were beyond plenty of them – were not only not helpful, but showed undeniable signs of hostility as this road clearly lead to a highly populated area but no foreigners ever go that way so I was seen as an invader of space beyond my limits. I tried never the less, but gave up after a while, returning to the relative safety of the paved road on the Grand Circle. Without wasting any more time getting off the road, I headed straight down south to meet with my coconut friends again.
By that time, both weather and daylight started to change rapidly. Dark clouds rolled in out of nowhere and covered the sky, giving me just enough time to make it to the concession area in front of main temple of Angkor Wat before the first drops of rain started to fall. Since 6pm – the official closing time at Angkor Archaeological Park – was only minutes away, not only were there hardly any tourists still in the temple when I arrived, the looming rainfall also rushed the touts and concession stalls owners to quickly start packing and prepare to leave. I was pretty darn tired after a whole day of riding in the sun and wanted to take a breather before the last leg of my journey so the imminence of rain was of no concern to me. I just wanted say “Hi” to the girls and have my coconut before leaving the area entirely.
Angkor Wat at Night
Being already a loyal and regular customer, the girls still served me my coconut but said their good byes soon after. By the time I was finished with this delicious fruit, not only were they gone, but so was virtually everyone else. Only myself, who couldn’t be distraught by the rain and wanted his minute of rest while recharging with a coconut and other two people stayed to hang around. The other two – a mother and her daughter – took advantage of the fact that rain scared everyone away and dusk fell on Angkor Wat and used it to collect Lotus flowers from the pond in the temple – the one which makes for the most photogenic pictures of Angkor Wat. It is otherwise illegal to pick up the Lotus flowers from the pond, as it is an essential tourist attraction in Angkor Wat, but the APSARA people who have the authority to enforce the rule were not around and I clearly showed that I didn’t care, so the mother went into the pool (it was raining so much, she would be drenched wet anyway) to pluck up the stems of the edible plant, while her daughter crouched at the edge to take what her mother collected. APSARA rips locals off enough as it is – I found it only fair that the locals take some of what is theirs for themselves too. This family needed food to eat and this was their opportunity.
Being so close to the equator, the day changes into the night very quickly in Cambodia. In a manner of minutes, everything went from hot day and bright daylight, into overcast sky and pitch darkness. Still hot as all hell, but now also extra moist due to heavy rainfall. My camera bag is rainproof so the camera was safe. I was feeling content having had a fairly successful day so I didn’t let the rain get the best of me. On the contrary, I thought this was a great opportunity for me to experience what most people who visit Angkor don’t get to experience – see and photograph Angkor Wat at Night. Everybody was gone. The two ladies who were still there were on a mission of their own. I didn’t mess with their business, so they didn’t mess with mine. So as the rain kept pouring down and night engulfed the temple, I had an opportunity to become the king of Angkor Wat. I explored it all over again, enjoying the environment without hassle of touts and obstruction of thousands of tourists. Without planning it, or even considering it in any way, I happen upon an experience which I haven’t even thought of taking on.
There isn’t much to Angkor Wat at night, though the fact that you can stand in the middle of the causeway and take a picture with not a single person on it was remarkable. This is nigh impossible these days as thousands visit Angkor Wat every day. What I found interesting was that none of the vendors locked any of their merchandise up. It would be highly impractical to take all the merchandise with them every evening, only to haul it back every morning so they leave it all there. The stalls are sheltered by thatched roofs and before leaving, the vendors cover them up with large sheets of fabric but somehow the understanding that this stuff is not to be touched when the owner is not around remains deeply embedded in people’s minds and they don’t take it lightly. It could be because unlike with most other temples, these stalls were within the walls of Angkor Wat and Cambodians seem to become different people when they walk on a holy ground (except from the rapists, who use it to their advantage and there are more than too many of them in Cambodia). I noticed that when I first visited the Preah Prom Rath Pagoda in Siem Reap. Tuk Tuk drivers would be harassing me relentlessly no matter where in Siem Reap I was, but as soon as I walked within the pagoda, even though Tuk Tuk drivers were there, they all left me alone. Hypocrisy of the highest caliber as they’re nothing like what they are in a temple, when they are outside, but there was nothing I could do about it.
Photos of Angkor Wat Illuminated at Night
Even though I did stay at Angkor Wat at night, I didn’t get a chance to take any photos of the temple illuminated with external lights. I’ve seen such pictures on the internet, but I don’t understand how and when they were taken. Angkor Wat was not illuminated when I stayed there at night but most of all – I have not seen any light fixture anywhere around it and this area has (purposefully) no electricity. I simply don’t have an answer as to how these pictures could have been taken. Perhaps portable lights and power generators are used on some occasions (New Year?) to illuminate the temple, but at the time of my visit, it didn’t seem like any form of illumination existed. Besides – all visitors are expected to be the hell out of Angkor by 6pm anyway, which is when it starts getting dark – so installation of light fixture would make no sense as there would be no tourists to see the temples illuminated against the nightly skies. And since I never enquired with anyone who might know how and when the pictures of Angkor Wat illuminated at night were taken, I still don’t have an answer to that.
After getting properly drenched with rain (it actually felt better than being drenched with sweat, which was the case of most of the day prior to coming to Angkor Wat) and snapping a few pictures of Angkor Wat at Night, I walked out of the temple, mounted my bike and rode through the rain to Siem Reap. I could not wait to meet with Ha again and tell her all about some kids trying to steal my bike earlier. Needless to say, my decision to stay at Angkor Wat for the night meant that I missed the English language lecture at Preah Prom Rath temple, but that was OK for a day. And what a day it was.
My first visit to Cambodia was in September – in the middle of rainy season. I wasn’t sure what to expect and thought that when it starts raining in the beginning of June, it doesn’t stop until the end of October. Luckily, this was not the case and as it turned out, there was advantage to visiting Angkor in rainy season. I wasn’t able to make that comparison until I made my follow up visit in April and spent a couple of weeks in the country during dry season, but it was pretty obvious.
From strictly photographer’s point of view, the temples of Angkor gain rich hue during rainy season because the stones are frequently bombarded by heavy torrential downpours. This makes the temples look more saturated (richer in density – if you will) than when the stones are parched dry by the intense sun rays of dry season. To put it bluntly – thanks to super high humidity which gives ancient stones richer shades, temples of Angkor look better in rainy season than they do in dry season. Plus all of the trees that grow along the temple walls look greener and livelier too.
Besides, it doesn’t rain nowhere near as much as you would think it does in rainy season. After 3 months spent in Cambodia during rainy season, I noticed that rain patterns are not frequent enough to severely disrupt your plans. It hardly ever rained for more than one day straight. One rainy day is usually followed by four or five sunny days when sky is cloudless and roads are dry. Then you would get some rain, which would typically be restricted to an afternoon downpour, but that would again be followed by a sequence of several rainless days. Make no mistake, though – the afternoon downpours are so heavy, they can fill up all ditches and bury the streets in a foot deep pool of water within a couple of hours.
Sometime it would rain whole night and the following day would be rather gloomy and overcast, but seeing continuous rain for an extended period of time is unusual. As a matter of fact, the number of sunny days you’ll get in rainy season will be about 4 times as high as the number of rainy days. Super high humidity with insanely intense sun will make for a sweaty stay, but the pictures will look awesome. There’s no reason to feel sketchy about visiting Angkor in rainy season. It really doesn’t rain all that much but you will catch the temple at their best. And that in my eyes gives visits to Angkor in rainy season an advantage.
This was it. I was gonna face the streets of Siem Reap for the first time and was gonna do it on my own. I arrived late previous night, my pre-arranged Tuk Tuk waited for me to take me to Two Dragons guesthouse, I spent my first night there, even though I didn’t particularly get much sleep, I’ve applied sun screen and mosquito repellent, picked up my free copies of Angkor Siem Reap Visitors Guide and OutAbout Pocket Cambodia Guide and stepped out of the guesthouse into the Cambodia’s open to explore Siem Reap on foot. I had just stopped raining and street on which Two Dragons is located is not paved so each step I made ran mud up my feet. Cambodia is close to the equator, so temperatures are tropical year round. During rainy season, it’s not only hot, it’s also extremely humid so my sweat glands would be turned to the max anywhere outside of an air conditioned room. Undeterred by sweat that instantly covered my body temple, not heeding the muddy road before me, I proudly stepped forward in a completely random direction.
Omnipresent Tuk Tuk Drivers
There were several Tuk Tuk drivers just outside of Two Dragons. I did not see the one who drove me in last night from the airport among them. It could be because he was sleeping. He had to wait for me there till late hour and deliver me to the guesthouse and it was still very early morning. As I stepped my foot outside, I was immediately jumped by the Tuk Tuk drivers who seem always ready to get right down on someone who doesn’t look Khmer (Cambodian). Being immediately approached by every single Tuk Tuk driver in vicinity plus a few dozen who you don’t even know where they came from is a given, every Tuk Tuk driver does that, however if at the same time you are seen leaving the guesthouse, it would be almost a sin of they did not jump you right away. I have heard a lot about vicious and omnipresent Tuk Tuk drivers of Cambodia, but I did not think they were gonna get right on my neck the very second I step out of the guesthouse.
Even though I was entirely and completely clueless about where I am and where to go, I have gracefully rejected their “generous offers” to get me to the best restaurant, etc. in town and at the same time I managed to strike a conversation. Somehow in this melee I have successfully made a point that I don’t want to go anywhere and only want to take a general walk in the area on my own so they all stopped insisting on giving me a ride somewhere, yet at the same time I was able to stir a conversation and get a general sense of direction from them. I did not know which way was which after I stepped out of Two Dragons. But after brief convo with Tuk Tuk drivers I knew which way the river and the downtown area was. I still made it sound as though I was merely after brief walk in the neighbourhood, but with good sense of orientation, I set on my merry way to go towards downtown of Siem Reap on foot.
I have only gotten as far as few steps and new set of Tuk Tuk drivers started approaching me with offers to give me a ride. They have watched me reject previous batch yet they still wouldn’t leave me alone and had to ask. Like broken machines that never quit. I have simply said that I was good and further ignoring everything else they kept saying, I was pacing my way with confidence. Knowing where I was and where I was heading, I no longer looked dazed and confused which made me less vulnerable to ever preying Tuk Tuk drivers.
Navigating Through Siem Reap with Guide Map
All I had for the map of Siem Reap was that simple illustration in Angkor Siem Reap Visitors Guide which has everything you’d need form a simple map. To my pleasant surprise, Siem Reap is not a large town and can easily be done on foot. As a matter of fact, it has only taken me a few minutes to get from Two Dragons guesthouse which is rather remote to the downtown area where Old Market and Pub Street are. Entire Siem Reap can be covered on foot easily.
Exploring on Foot vs Exploring from Tuk Tuk
The only challenge is extreme heat tripled with even more extreme humidity a guy like me who just came to Cambodia from Canada is not used to. I was leaving a sweat mark behind me everywhere I went like a snail. You can’t keep up with wiping the sweat off your face with your short sleeves as they instantly get drenched in sweat after first few wiped. Taking that into account, a ride in a Tuk Tuk would make it easier on a person as you wouldn’t put your body through physical activity (walking) and you’d get your sweat washed off by the flow of the air you’d be run against in an open Tuk Tuk.
If you like walking and don’t mind a little bit of sweating, then don’t bother with a Tuk Tuk. It’s fast and easy to get from anywhere in Siem Reap to anywhere in Siem Reap on foot. Plus walking won’t drain your wallet as fast, even though Tuk Tuk rides within Siem Reap should not cost more than one dollar (if you are asked for more, take another Tuk Tuk). You can’t go anywhere in Siem Reap without running over 10 of them.
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