The Long Awaited Machu Picchu

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Since there were very few trains available I had to take a 5:30 am ride to Aguas Calientes, which is the town just below Machu Picchu. I spent the day there relaxing and reading about Machu Picchu. The town was surrounded by high peaks and filled with restaurants, hotels and gift shops. The next morning I woke up at 4:00 to start hiking up to Machu Picchu. It was extremely dark which was unfortunate since I didnt have a flashlight. Luckily I ran into a few people with a light. The walk was a climb up steep stairs for about one hour which wasn't pleasant at 4am, but it was rewarding once we reached the top. We entered the site at 6am and it was covered in a fog that gave the place an eerie feel. We walked around admiring the massive stones that looked impossible to move, never mind carry up a mountain and stack on top of one another.

The Inca site had stones that were positioned to signal the equinoxes and others pointing to the four cardinal directions. There seems to be little hard evidence about how Machu Picchu was built but it is clear that the people responsible were very intelligent and hard workers. It took 30 years to build Machu Picchu and it was inhabited for only 100 years before the invasion of the Spanish. It was home to priests, the Inca government and also for those receiving an education to become future leaders.

After walking around for a few hours the fog cleared and we could finally see that famous site of Waynapicchu standing tall over the city. It was strange to finally see it in person after seeing Machu Picchu in so many pictures. The large amount of tourists did make for a less genuine experience but it was still a breath taking site. They couldn't have picked a more beautiful place to start a city, sitting on the very top of a mountain with 360 degrees of amazing views.

After leaving the site that I had been looking forward to seeing for so long, I felt content with all that I had seen on this trip and felt ready to return home. It had just been about a year since I left home and I began to feel anxious about getting back.

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