MaWoke up at 3.30am after all the travelling we been doing was really not an easy task, but we did, took showers, got ready, check out of the hotel and left our luggage in their storage, they gave us 2 ‘breakfast boxes’ and then walk for like 10 minutes to the bus stop, we got there at 4.25am and there were already enough people to almost fill up 3 buses. The wait wasn’t that bad, for us is really fun to see what other travelers do and how they approach similar situations, for example, there were a lot of people that decided to walk from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu (8kms and like ½ mile in elevation), as we were driving in the bus I realized how crazy that is (walked to Machu Picchu) the sinuous up-mountain very steep skinny drive was like going to Taxco all over again but with ‘steroids’ the vertical cliffs are all along the drive and if the drivers makes just one mistake it could pretty much cost everybody’s life, just the drive was an adventure! But the walk was even more impressive, they have carved in the mountain steps that crossed the sinuous drive and there must be 1000’s of them. By the time those people got to Machu Picchu I’m sure was almost noon and they were exhausted. With all the danger of the drive we were honestly happy we took the bus, especially because when we realized the mass of Machu Picchu and all the walk we did, it would had been a huge mistake wasting all that energy just to get there when we needed it to just walk the very impressive archaeological site.
So, got to the gates of Machu Picchu, show our tickets, walked a little narrow cobble stone walk to a look-out and we were just in awe! The place is impossible to describe, in the back of the citadel is the Machu Picchu mountain and the Huayna Picchu mountain that one day of the year with the shadows casted by the mountains they clearly depict the face of a native. The place is impossible to grasp with the eyes and your mind, the ingenuity, the engineering and the mathematics involved in the construction of this place are ‘off-the-hook’ if Pisac seem built by aliens, this place for sure was built by them, the simplicity of the architecture, the stone work, the perfect orientations, the strategic location, the face of the native in the background, the place is a master piece from every angle, nothing is out of place here, everything seems there for a reason, with a purpose, nothing compares to it, it doesn’t seem from this world, they say ‘you cannot take a bad picture in Machu Picchu’ and trust us that is absolutely right; another interesting factor is that the site is surrounded by jungle, because the mountains and the river generated a micro climate that at this elevation seams strange and out of place, since we were in the door at 6am the clouds where risen from the valleys below and the site looked breathtakingly mystical. It took us 6 hours to walk it with a climb to the Huayna Picchu somewhere in the middle, which by itself was an adventure, our tickets included the climb of this mountain, and from the entry of the path to the top you honestly feel like Indiana Jones, one thing we would like to point out is this: not in many travel guides tell you how difficult and dangerous this climb is, when they sell you the tickets they never mention the fact that you have to go UP like another 1000 ft (up) in almost all vertical climb, the path is just steps, with some cables and some wood railings here and there, but if you made a mistake, you pretty much go down hundreds of feet to what for sure is a nasty death, so consider that if you are attempting to do it, you have to have the right clothing and the absolute right shoes, leave you bags in the storage at the door and have your 2 hands free so you can be as safe as possible. Even the most experienced climber could have a nasty accident here. Because of this however, climbing this mountain seems like the epitome of an accomplishment for everyone, when we were at the top we felt like a million dollars because we actually did it (I did w/ 2 -or so I though!- broken ribs and a damage knee none the less and Bryan w/ multiple bruises and back problems, so is not impossible, but very…very dangerous), then come the ‘going-down’ talked about adrenaline… this for sure will spike anybody adrenaline from the beginning.
After what was the most incredible and adventurous of the days we finally left Machu Picchu in the bus, and just like in the morning the drive was an adventure but with a twist… in the morning and because we were driving in the 3rd buss, all the buses were going up, but in the afternoon the buses go UP & DOWN at the same time, the narrow drive is scary with only one bus at the time, imagine when they are passing each other, it was absolutely crazy, not boring or lame at all, it was worth every penny we spend getting here. Any way, we got back to Aguas Calientes and to our hotel where with 10 extra soles each we were able to take a shower before our train ride back to Cusco. The ride back was in complete darkness since we took the train at 7pm, but it was nice since we use the time to write and talk. The ticket back to Cusco included a Bus ride as well so we did not need to figure much out on how to get from Ollyantantambo to Cusco. Once in Cusco we took a taxi to the hotel and went right to bed, we were so exhausted from this so physical and emotional incredible day!.
