So once again I seem to have taken slightly longer than expected to compile another update. Crazy things tend to happen here in Peru, as you'll read over the next few posts. But first, Macchu Picchu. (And good news about waiting is that with wifi now I can include pictures).
I was supposed to trek this wonder of the world my second weekend in Cusco, but just two days before the activities coordinator at the school asked if I could switch to a new weekend. Seeing as I didn't have too many plans made already there was no problem, and switching weekends ended up being one of the bet things that could have happened.
My group was small, just me and four others. A couple from Ireland, a girl from Australia, and a guy from Canada who also happened to be a professional photographer. That was a nice little bonus. Our guide, Silvio, had been to Macchu Picchu almost 400 times. He knew his stuff.
Most people hike the Inca Trail, but my group did the Lares Trek. With a different starting point that needed to cross a checkpoint that closed at 6am due to construction, we had a 3:45 pickup. After a groggy first couple of hours and seeing the sun rise, the adrenaline kicked in as we arrived at our starting point for our three days of hiking.
So I will admit here that our group was kinda spoiled. This trek was booked for me as part of my entire month in Peru so I didn't quite know what to expect. I for sure did not know we would have porters carrying our extra bags, tents set up for us very night, or three fully cooked meals a day. Needless to say I was pleasantly surprised. Sadly we didn't also have donkeys to carry ourselves up the large cliffs. Our highest point the entire trek was just over 15,000 ft. Easily the highest I've ever been.
Our first say started off slowly for everyone. No one in our group had been at higher than sea level for more than a week, and some of the toughest hiking was right off the bat. There were several breaks during the first couple of hours. At the same time I was worried about conserving my camera battery. I wasn't going to be able to charge it for a few days, and if it had no battery when I got to Macchu Picchu I probably would have cried. But I didn't have to worry about conserving too much battery that day because it began to rain. Hard. For two hours. And for 30mins we had hail. It's fun to walk in hail, if you enjoy pain and not looking at the beautiful scenery.
But by the end of the first day the weather had cleared and it only got better as each day went along. The second day was by far the most beautiful, with sunny weather most of the day and our highest point of the trip. At that point we saw a beautifully clear lake. No pollution up there, crystal clear. Incredible. That view was followed by walking along alpaccas and llamas and looking down into a gigantic valley. Couldn't have been a better day.....until I got the migraine from hell at camp and was completely out of it for four hours.
Third day got us into a small town called Aguas Calientes before taking a train to the town of Macchu Picchu. We actually had a night in a hostal so we could shower (mine was in the dark bc the power had gone out), and we had another early wake up call--4:30--for our big day.
Waking up the next morning I immediately felt excited and anxious. I had wanted to see Macchu Picchu for as long as I could remember, and when I planned my entire year of traveling I thought this day could be the single greatest highlight of the whole trip. We ate breakfast, got in line for the buses, and made our way up the trail to get in line. Then they started letting people in....
Those first few moments walking into the site are something I will never forget. You could catch a small glimpse of some mountains if you looked, but I kept my head down to 1) make sure I saw it all at once and 2) see where I was going so I didn't trip. Everyone was silent. No one, not at all, was talking. It felt eerie almost, as if people were anticipating what was around the corner while respecting where they were at the same time. Then you turned the corner and bam! Macchu Picchu. There it is.
The one place I had been to in my life that I knew only did itself justice in person was the Grand Canyon. No doubt, that list now includes MP. I've thought for a while to try and think of words to describe what I saw. There are three descriptions I have come up with/experienced....1) Breathtaking scenery--you're honestly in shock of he views 2) laughably incredible becase you don't believe what you see 3) Tear-inducingly beautiful because there is nothing else like it in the world. Mountains, stone structures, and luckily for us not too many tourists.
After a tour of the site from our guide Silvio, we climbed Huanupicchu. That's the big mountain you see in the background of all the main Macchu Picchu pictures. It's another 1200 ft up, and was possibly the most terrifying experience of my life. I don't have a huge fear of heights, I just fear insanely steep stairs with no railing and a 500ft or more drop to the nearest branch at any moment of our climb. There's a sign in sheet to make sure everyone returns, and I'm shocked more people don't die climbing it (apparenly it's only about one every year or so). But the views from the top are out of this world amazing and getting there is one of the things I'm most proud of in my life. If you go you must climb it, just be careful.
And so, exhausted and sweaty and hungry, we got back to our hostal later that day and took the train back to Cusco. I can't wait to go back someday and experience the views again. Something I'll never forget and yet something I can't wait to do again.
I was supposed to trek this wonder of the world my second weekend in Cusco, but just two days before the activities coordinator at the school asked if I could switch to a new weekend. Seeing as I didn't have too many plans made already there was no problem, and switching weekends ended up being one of the bet things that could have happened.
My group was small, just me and four others. A couple from Ireland, a girl from Australia, and a guy from Canada who also happened to be a professional photographer. That was a nice little bonus. Our guide, Silvio, had been to Macchu Picchu almost 400 times. He knew his stuff.
Most people hike the Inca Trail, but my group did the Lares Trek. With a different starting point that needed to cross a checkpoint that closed at 6am due to construction, we had a 3:45 pickup. After a groggy first couple of hours and seeing the sun rise, the adrenaline kicked in as we arrived at our starting point for our three days of hiking.
So I will admit here that our group was kinda spoiled. This trek was booked for me as part of my entire month in Peru so I didn't quite know what to expect. I for sure did not know we would have porters carrying our extra bags, tents set up for us very night, or three fully cooked meals a day. Needless to say I was pleasantly surprised. Sadly we didn't also have donkeys to carry ourselves up the large cliffs. Our highest point the entire trek was just over 15,000 ft. Easily the highest I've ever been.
Our first say started off slowly for everyone. No one in our group had been at higher than sea level for more than a week, and some of the toughest hiking was right off the bat. There were several breaks during the first couple of hours. At the same time I was worried about conserving my camera battery. I wasn't going to be able to charge it for a few days, and if it had no battery when I got to Macchu Picchu I probably would have cried. But I didn't have to worry about conserving too much battery that day because it began to rain. Hard. For two hours. And for 30mins we had hail. It's fun to walk in hail, if you enjoy pain and not looking at the beautiful scenery.
But by the end of the first day the weather had cleared and it only got better as each day went along. The second day was by far the most beautiful, with sunny weather most of the day and our highest point of the trip. At that point we saw a beautifully clear lake. No pollution up there, crystal clear. Incredible. That view was followed by walking along alpaccas and llamas and looking down into a gigantic valley. Couldn't have been a better day.....until I got the migraine from hell at camp and was completely out of it for four hours.
Third day got us into a small town called Aguas Calientes before taking a train to the town of Macchu Picchu. We actually had a night in a hostal so we could shower (mine was in the dark bc the power had gone out), and we had another early wake up call--4:30--for our big day.
Waking up the next morning I immediately felt excited and anxious. I had wanted to see Macchu Picchu for as long as I could remember, and when I planned my entire year of traveling I thought this day could be the single greatest highlight of the whole trip. We ate breakfast, got in line for the buses, and made our way up the trail to get in line. Then they started letting people in....
Those first few moments walking into the site are something I will never forget. You could catch a small glimpse of some mountains if you looked, but I kept my head down to 1) make sure I saw it all at once and 2) see where I was going so I didn't trip. Everyone was silent. No one, not at all, was talking. It felt eerie almost, as if people were anticipating what was around the corner while respecting where they were at the same time. Then you turned the corner and bam! Macchu Picchu. There it is.
The one place I had been to in my life that I knew only did itself justice in person was the Grand Canyon. No doubt, that list now includes MP. I've thought for a while to try and think of words to describe what I saw. There are three descriptions I have come up with/experienced....1) Breathtaking scenery--you're honestly in shock of he views 2) laughably incredible becase you don't believe what you see 3) Tear-inducingly beautiful because there is nothing else like it in the world. Mountains, stone structures, and luckily for us not too many tourists.
After a tour of the site from our guide Silvio, we climbed Huanupicchu. That's the big mountain you see in the background of all the main Macchu Picchu pictures. It's another 1200 ft up, and was possibly the most terrifying experience of my life. I don't have a huge fear of heights, I just fear insanely steep stairs with no railing and a 500ft or more drop to the nearest branch at any moment of our climb. There's a sign in sheet to make sure everyone returns, and I'm shocked more people don't die climbing it (apparenly it's only about one every year or so). But the views from the top are out of this world amazing and getting there is one of the things I'm most proud of in my life. If you go you must climb it, just be careful.
And so, exhausted and sweaty and hungry, we got back to our hostal later that day and took the train back to Cusco. I can't wait to go back someday and experience the views again. Something I'll never forget and yet something I can't wait to do again.
