Machu Picchu and Rich's Quarter Century!

Today was the day we finally got to go to Machu Picchu! One of the highlights of the trip for us and it was also Richard's birthday...25 years old!

The morning started early, 3:45 out of bed and out the door for quarter past to join the already existent queue of fellow sightseers. The queue was already around 4 buses long and as we thought that there was only a couple of buses, we were worried we might be waiting a while and would miss the sunrise.

The closer it got to the departure time of 5:30 the more light there was and we could start to make out the huge, sheer, densely rich green mountains that loomed all around the town. This is what we couldn't make out so well in the dark last night. A mist that hung low made it seem quite surreal before it gradually burnt away with the sun. The town itself was busy already with lots of stalls and shops open to the tourists who were up and about early. It is definitely a bit of a tourist trap here but all the same, it is quite amazing to be in a town that sits at the foot of all these mountains. Their great, sheer edges tower straight up from the outskirts of the very small and secluded town and it makes you feel a bit like you are in a jungle.

Eventually, we noticed more buses arriving and were relieved when at 5:30 we started to move. They packed the buses pretty quickly and soon enough we were on the bus, sat near the front, ready to travel up the insanely winding switch-back road to the top. 2040m to 2430m in half an hour.

The views on the bus route were incredible, the view of the lush green mountains getting larger and larger with each hairpin and it looked like a scene from Jurassic Park. There were a few clouds too that lingered higher up. They gave a lovely feel to the place but without the worry of a limited view of the ruins.

Once at the top we had to join yet another queue to get in, passports out once again! I have never known anywhere so keen on checking your identity. In the queue, we were entertained by more dogs that may or may not have owners, who knows! One definitely had pups by the look of her though and she seemed to be winning the 'who can get more food from the tourists' race.

Anyhow, it wasn't a long wait once the gates opened and we made it through them fairly quickly. There was a short but steep walk and then the option to go into the ruins themselves or up higher to get the well known view of them. We had a sneaky peek of the ruins at almost ground level, which was immediately spectacular, and then headed up yet more stairs, which my legs were just loving after yesterday. I took a fair while once again but hey, I got there and I wasn't the only one struggling.

After a fair bit of walking, we eventually walked out from the stones stairs within the jungle and into the open space ahead. The view was absolutely breathtaking, like actually, really taking your breath away. It is such an amazing place and the photos just cannot do it the justice it deserves. The sheer scale of not only the ruins, but of the mountains around them is just incredible. The clouds sat clinging to the very tops of the mountains and we just hoped they would clear a little for the view with the sun. At about 6:25 the sun began to break through the clouds above the mountain to the right and on to Machu Picchu on the left. It was just peeking through a dip in the top of one of the mountains and the rays could be seen shining straight across the lush green mountains ahead and onto the mountain by Machu Picchu. The soft light just caught the ruins, ever so slightly casting them in a lovely golden glow. It was stunning and it got even better when the clouds eventually shifted within the next few minutes and the whole of the ruins became bathed in a beautiful golden light as it slowly crept from one side of the ruins to the other. We were there for a while just soaking in the view before we decided to head further up to more ruins and terraces. Every way you looked, the view was ever so slightly different and each time amazing. We found a nice spot a little higher to sit down and we gave Richard his birthday present...Inca chess!! We started to have a game whilst enjoying the surroundings before I conceded (I definitely would have lost).

We tried to ring home whilst admiring the view, it took a while, but we all managed to get through in the end which was nice, although I feel that Rob was a little sad he didn't hear the line 'that's nice dear' (family joke).

After taking yet more steps up, we came to a small area with the ruin of a house and some more terraces. We decided to head down and into the main ruins at this point before it got too busy.

On heading down into the city of ruins, you could really get a feel for what it would have been like all them years ago. It was a beautiful city in a beautiful place, high in the mountains that the Inca's saw as Gods. It must have felt such a special place to them, and you can tell. On overhearing the guides (who annoyingly kept blowing whistles and causing traffic jams with their start stop tales) we learnt that this city was never fully finished, as they went to war with an intention to leave good people here and come back to complete it. As well as this we learnt that it was likely used by those Inca's higher up in status, possibly for holidays, with only 750 people there at a time.

We sort of wished we had a guide as it was interesting to catch snippets of what they said, but we couldn't face being in such a large group and herded around. We had arrived early and already it was becoming a bit of a nuisance. We wandered around the entire city, each part with new ruins and different views and angles of the ruins we had already seen and their surroundings.

After this, we left the site to drop off my bag and eat some lunch (some of which went to a sad looking cocker spaniel), before ascending up to the infamous Sun Gate. It was so, so, so, so high up and I was not looking forward to the climb. My legs were hurting after just a slight incline, let alone more steps and steeper slopes! I couldn't not try though so Rob and Rich encouraged me and we climbed at Emma pace. Fortunately, by now, (around 10am) the clouds had come back out so it was a little cooler. Also fortunate is the fact that there is always a view that you want to stop and see, so always an excuse handy when I felt tired!

It took about an hour to get up the shiny stone path in the end, to the height of 2720m. Arriving at the top was pretty incredible, especially as the hike up almost broke me before I started. The view though was so worth it and the thought of that got me there. Personally, it was so spectacular that it made me cry, and almost does again writing this. A very special and incredibly beautiful place that, no matter how much I may try to convey it, cannot be described in a way that does it justice. What I am really saying is...get yourself here!

We hung out at the sun gate for a quite a while, just enjoying the view and taking pictures. The Sun Gate is the entrance to Machu Picchu that would have been used by the Inca's after a long hike up the now named 'Inca Trail'. And what an incredible first view for those that made the journey, then and now. They knew what they were doing that's for sure. It also becomes very clear from here how the Spanish missed this site, hidden so well in the mountain, and why it wasn't scientifically discovered until 1911.
Just as we decided to leave and head back, the sun broke free once again and the ruins were aglow again, in the distance this time, nestled in the mountain. Stunning.

The walk down was much nicer, except on your toes, and we enjoyed the views all the way back to the exit. We queued for the bus back down with many other people, thankful that we were not entering Machu Picchu now with the crowds and the blazing heat. Richard was also discovering the multiple sand fly bites all over his bare legs, oops! They really do hurt and they had got him bad.

The bus down seemed to bring out the exhaustion and we were all struggling to keep our eyes open, Richard in particular, his sleepy head was bobbing all over the place on the bumpy ride! The views were once again incredible and we could see a low grey cloud and rain creeping through in-between the mountains.

Back at the bottom, we wandered around Aguas Calientes, it's so different from the other cities here and has clearly been shaped by tourism. Pizza restaurants everywhere and the whole place seems to be oozing with souvenir shops. We found a place for food pretty quick and had our first only OK dish of Peru. Just pasta, but it was far more expensive than anywhere else here in Peru and no-where near as nice either. The pisco sour celebration drinks were good though.

We headed to the thermal springs after this, which took us up yet more slopes, but we didn't have time once we got there to try them out. Instead, we sat on a bench and then I fell asleep, properly zonked out asleep on a public bench in the street.

Eventually it was time to head to the train station - by the way, the trains here are more like trams in the way they just roll on up the high street, very strange! We bought some souvenir packs of cards with pictures of hilariously rude Inca potteries on them and then walked up yet more stairs to the station.

It's amazing the contrast in scenery that you see on the train. Leaving behind the lush green jungle covered mountains of Aguas Calientes, within an hour the mountains become sandy in colour, dotted with rocks and bare looking in comparison. Cactus plants grow here, alongside green and yellow grasses, with forests dotted about that are made up of tall trees with thin trunks and conifer like in shape. The difference is crazy.

Eventually, we got back to the hotel and had to walk up yet more stairs to the room. Back in the room, we all realised just how bad our feet smell, honestly, it's like vinegar, so so bad, but now we have all had a nice shower and I am wearing my nice new alpaca jumper ready to set off for some birthday pizza.Read more