Machu Picchu (second time lucky!)

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So after the disaster that was the Inka Jungle trek, resulting in my busted leg , i returned to Machu Picchu when my leg felt up to walking again. Three other guys i 'd met in the hostel also wanted to do the same thing which was getting to Machu Picchu with as little walking as possible, so David, Marcus, Tony and I booked the 2 day 1 night trip. It started with an 8 hour coach journey through some of the windiest roads i've been on before a 2.5 hour walk to Agua Calientes, the town just below Machu Picchu. We spent the night there before getting up at 4am to climb up to Machu Picchu and get a ticket to allow us to climb Huayna Picchu. Huaynna Picchu is the big mountain you seen in the background of the classic Machu Picchu photo, but only 400 people are able to climb it a day. Around 1500 people visit each day apparently so it's a race to the ticket office which opens at 5:15am. We made it in good time, as luckily my leg isn't too bad going up, it's down where it's a pain!

After getting our tickets we rested for a bit to allow the morning fog to clear and the sun to come up. Once it cleared the view was stunning, with the ruins and vertical mountains surrounding them. Our ticket to climb Huayna Picchu was for 10am so we explored for a few hours before attempting the climb. The mountain is about 360m above the ruins so a very steep climb with narrow stairs winding up. It took me about 40 mins but was worth it for the view overlooking the ancient city. It then took me about 55 mins to get down being slightly crippled and taking it one step at a time! After our visit we returned to Agua Calientes to get a short train ride and then the bus back to Cusco. After about 2 hours sleep the previous night most of it was spent passed out on the back seat!

My next stop is Nazcca, a 14 hour bus journey away where i will have the joy of attempting to get my bike on the bus, so i will be leaving Cusco tomorrow afternoon.

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Photos

The lads waiting for the fog to clear
David, Me, Tony, Marcel and Marcus