Trevor's South America Trip: Wonder of the World

Day 12 - 10 de Junio: Machu Picchu

It was an early start in Aguas Calientes - 4:45am. By 5:45, we had to be packed up, cleaned up, eaten breakfast and ready to depart to Machu Picchu. It was so exciting that i mostly forgot how tired I was suppose to be (might also be due to getting in a shower that was actually hot - a luxury seldom found in our hotel in Cuzco). We walked to the bus station and got in for the ride up. It was incredible how these big busses could so easily drive up these thin, gravel roads. They passed multiple other busses going the opposite direction with only inches in between them and a steep cliff to the side. It was actually a peculiar though to think you could take a bus to a place like this. When we made it up and to the entrance, it was almost like walking through customs - we not only needed our ticket, but our passport too! We walked a quick trail that really didn't look like anything special... then all of a sudden, we were at the same lookout you see on all the pictures and postcards overlooking the ruins. It was amazing to be standing in front of a place like this. It wasn't long before the whole group were taking photos like crazy. We ended up soon after walking to a slightly higher viewpoint to see the first sunbeams strike the mountaintop. Quite the sight! We were told actually that the mountain behind the Machu Picchu ruins (the one shaped like the face) isn't actually Machu Picchu. The mountain opposite to it is. This site does still follow the same rules as all the others - a mountain exactly north east south and west of the site. We even got a compass to confirm it. Once the sun had risen, we started on another of Gaby's "baby" hikes. I'd say you have to be a pretty fit baby to hike even part of these trails. We went straight up the side of a mountain to a place called the sun gate. On one of the solstices, the sun rises exactly through the sun gate on top of the mountain when it is viewed through their sun temple in the ruins. The view was incredible. After a snack, one of the Canadians on our tour pulled out a canada flag that he "found" at a bar in town. We all signed it, then left it behind the sun gate (leaving our mark). We then returned to the entrance gate to meet up with the people who didn't feel like waking up that early for sunrise. Gaby gave us a comprehensive tour of the whole city - from impressive temples to their residential district. The only details that seemed to be missing from thousands of years ago were the grass roofs and the probably hundreds of artifacts that mainly lie in Yale University. Being up on a mountain, we were surprised to find out that Machu Picchu is actually much lower elevation than Cuzco city. However, the great increase in temperature on the ruin site confirmed it - every patch of shade on the tour was a welcome friend. After the extensive tour, it was time to say goodbye to Machu Picchu and take the bus back down to Aguas Calientes. There, we had a pizza lunch right beside the train tracks. A live band played local music on the other side of the tracks which was nice, but hard to hear when I had to make a phone call. Apparently one of my flights had to be rescheduled - luckily my parents back home had it covered for me. Soon we jumped on the train back to Ollantaytambo. The train was different this time; tables instead of trays and nuts instead of dog treats for snacks, lol. We arrived in Ollantaytambo mid-afternoon but we still had to bus to Cuzco where we'd be sleeping that night. Usually our bus rides are full of interesting stops, but this time there was only one. We stopped by Gaby's mom's house for a little bit to see how the common people live. We were shown her guinea pig pen, of course after we were given freshly cooked guinea pig to try. By the sounds of it, the guineas have been a part of their culture since the incas. We only had a little bit to go before arriving in Cuzco - back to the same hotel. Gaby had booked a restaurant for us tonight so we all dropped off our stuff and walked to town. It was kind of an unfortunate way to end the night; the food took over an hour and a half to come out, meanwhile, i had picked up a bit of a cough and cold since around lunch and just wanted to eat so I could fall into bed. A lot of people ended up with cold food too, but to my knowledge, the Peruvians don't have a Gordon Ramsey to straighten them up so it's probably pretty common. Since we were all fairly annoyed though, Gaby convinced them to give us a bit of a discount. When I finally got back, I was exhausted - jumped into bed for a good sleep, hoping to feel better tomorrow. It had sure been an amazing day overall, with more fun soon to come.