I’d intentionally broken up Peru into
sections of 10 to 12 hour maximum bus rides, so I wasn’t flying everywhere.
This plan backfired on me on the way to Cuzco. Our overnight bus was boiling
hot and I couldn’t sleep. Instead, I sat there staring at the ceiling while
everyone else slept.
We checked into our hostel very
early in the morning and were fortunate enough to be able to check right in and
get our beds. I took a nap for a few hours and I woke up with just enough time
to hop on a walking tour of the city. Cuzco itself isn’t all that spectacular
as a tourist spot, it’s mainly used as a gateway to Machu Picchu, however it’s
nestled in the hills which makes for some pretty views. The rest of the day was
spent socializing before I went to bed early.
Having plenty of rest was beneficial
for me, being that day two was Australia day. In reality it’s a celebration of the
first British fleet that arrived to form a colony in Sydney Harbor in 1788. But
like every other ignorant American, I thought it was independence or something.
Much like our Independence Day it’s an excuse for them to go crazy. And if
you’re a young backpacker from Australia, it’s the perfect excuse to go even
crazier. So like a good American, I joined and went bananas.
I’ll spare you the details, but the
involved a lot of alcohol and body paint…
Obviously you can expect I was a
little hungover the next morning. Perfect timing, given our bus for Machu Piccu
left at 930am. I made it, but slept part of the way. I wasn’t the only one in
this state, as there were five Aussies. At one point, we even had to pull over
to the side of the road for one of them to throw up.
After our two hour bus ride, we
arrived in the mountain town of Ollantaytambo, where we raced to grab a bite to
eat before our train ride to Aguas Calientes (aka. Machu Picchu base camp).
When we arrived it was pouring down rain, so we spent the rest of the day
hanging around our hotel. That night I went to bed assuming that it would be
pouring the next morning and our hike up the mountain was going to be
miserable. When I awoke at 4am, though, there was no sound of constant
waterfall. Just the sound of a few drips left over from that nights downpour. Things
were looking up…literally.
The hike to Machu Picchu begins with
a walk on a shallow decline alongside the river. After nearly twenty minutes
you reach the guard post to cross the river. By now it’s a little past 5am, and
that’s when the difficult part begins. The climb is just over 1800 steps and
it’s pretty difficult. I cleared everyone in my group and tried to power
through the climb, even passing other groups of people along that were climbing
at a modest pace. It wasn’t until around 45 minutes in that I hit a wall and
just kept pace with a group of Germans. Then, at just before 6am, when the park
opens, I made it to the top.
Most of my group were still climbing
the stairs when the park gates opened, so I went in with Josh and Tim (two
Aussies from our group). We wandered into the park and enjoyed how tranquility
the park offers in the early morning mist before the hordes of bussed in
tourists arrive around 645am. We caught up with our tour group just inside the
park. The actual tour was somewhat forgettable and I wasn’t really paying our
guide much attention. However as we began to wander around the clouds around us
began to part and the whole area lit up. For the rest of the morning, the
clouds created a hole above Machu Picchu. It was stunningly beautiful.
Having finished exploring the ruins,
it was time for me to hike Huainapicchu. This is the mountain that sits behind
the ruins in every postcard photo. I’m sure you’ve seen it. Little did I
realize that this would be a helluva trek. The trail is basically rock
formation steps that wind up a highly vertical mountain. It’s a tight squeeze
getting by people going up and down so it takes some time to get up there, but
the view from up top makes it all the worthwhile.
By now I was out of water, out of
snacks, covered in sweat and ready to go back. So I did. The rest of my day was
spent hanging out in Aguas Calientes, waiting for our train. We made it back to
Cusco just before midnight. Our long day kept going with a cross-dressing party
at the hostel. This ended with me wearing a tutu.
Andrew and I were initially planning
to leave Cusco the following night, but there were no bus tickets left for
Bolivia. Therefore we booked for the following night and extended our stay in
Cusco. By now I felt like I had done enough here and was ready to move on, so
the next two days I basically hung around the hostel and socialized.
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