4:15-- We get in line for the buses to go up to the ruins. We have a while to wait, but multiple people have told us that you have to get there this early to get in the first bunch of buses going out.
5:30-- We make it onto the first bus heading up the mountain, still in the dark. We pass groups of people who are walking up the mountain, but that takes 2 hours and we have decided that's not worth our energy and we want to be at the top in time to see the sun rise [this turns out to be wise]. It takes about 20 minutes to get up there and then we wait to be let in...
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| not even sleepy because we're so excited! |
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| my very first view of Machu Picchu! |
We do some exploring and find a spot to camp out and eat breakfast while we wait. I make my first llama friend.
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| everybody is waiting for the light to hit the ruins |
~8-- we set off around the left side of the mountain we are on (Machu Picchu Mountain; Waynu Picchu is the opposite peak we are looking at from here) to see the Inca Bridge, a narrow path across a sheer rock face that the Incas used to take. Tourists can walk partway along it but the most dangerous part is blocked off, for good reason (apparently an Argentinian died there last year trying to cross it).
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| yeah we're happy right here, no need to go any further |
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| oh yeah, also I make another llama friend |
We relax here for a bit to take in the sun and eat another snack. The sun is out in full force, and it is occurring to us that we're seeing a lot of people wearing hats and sunscreen but we have neither. We keep our heads down and hope for the best but we can already tell we're getting burned. In our defense, we are drinking plenty of water and staying well-nourished (well, one of the other girls is not doing this as much and it's going to catch up with her later).
We head back to the ruins and spend the next couple of hours exploring everything down there, being told we are not following the directed path, and posing for goofy pictures. In order to climb either of the mountains (Machu Picchu, which we have hiked around but not up, and Waynu Picchu on the opposite side) you need special tickets which we did not buy, so those aren't options but we see just about everything else there is to see up there!
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| two more llama friends! |
12:45ish-- it's getting cloudy and we're getting tired, so we head back down the mountain after our 7ish hours up there. Our compromise for having taken the bus in the morning is that we will walk down, but even heading down takes us an hour and a half! We're exhausted and burnt but absolutely thrilled with our day.
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| Getting back to Aguas Calientes, finally |
~2:45--we have to gather our things from our old hostel and move them to a different hostel for the night (booking problems!) but we have a private room this time, with our own bathroom, so it's worth it. Showers, naps, etc. then we head for a bite to eat.
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| sunburned beauties |
We have decided in advance that this afternoon we are going to Treat Ourselves, but we are so tired that by the time it gets dark (around 6) we are actually pretty delirious and can't do much but go back to our room. We are knocked out by 8pm.
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| (I barely remember taking this picture, that's how out of it we were) |
We were obviously expecting the ruins to wow us, but they were even more amazing than we had expected. Unfortunately, there isn't really any way to describe or capture in a picture the experience of being up there. The whole day I kept thinking about how much I wished my family members could have been there to see it too, because I knew they would love it just as much as I did. And in addition to just the ruins, the setting itself was enough to take my breath away. I hadn't thought about what the surrounding forest would be like, but it's a jungle! We felt like we had stepped back in time into some sort of ancient hidden wild place (Caroline kept throwing out Jurassic Park), and the wispy clouds when we first got up there only made it more surreal. There were a lot of tourists there, especially as the day wore on, but it didn't bother me as much as I thought it would. For one thing, the area is a lot bigger than it appears, so there were still plenty of spots to hike to for secluded views and quiet thinking time. Also, there was no trash anywhere, or obnoxious signs or other modern additions (other than the occasional arrow pointing you in the right direction), which I appreciated. As exhausted as we were, we weren't sore at all the next day (aside from our sunburns, which were pretty bad). All in all, I don't think there's anything I would have changed or done differently about how we saw it, other than possibly getting the extra tickets for hiking up the mountains. We didn't have a tour guide, obviously, so we had to make our own guesses about various things, but we preferred having the freedom to wander wherever/whenever we wanted as opposed to being stuck with a large group. I do wish I had read more about the ruins and the Incas beforehand, just to appreciate the specific history of it as we were up there. But it's really impossible to make any complaints about the experience; it was fantastic! I really do hope all my family members get the chance to see it some day : )
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