Not one of my seven wonders

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Had just finished reading An Idiot Abroad where Karl Pilkington visits the seven wonders of the world. Machu Picchu had been the only seventh wonder of the world that he had been remotely enthusiastic about my expectation was high. Maybe my trip was tainted somewhat before it started because I was unable to do the trek I wanted due to poor health and opted instead for a two day tour. However having the company of Jane and knowing that we were arriving at Machu Picchu before sunrise still filled me with excitment.

The first day of the tour; started with seven hours sitting on the back seat of a mini bus with three others on some of the bumpest roads I have ever encountered (and that is saying something). Dust and dirt stuck to my skin as open windows were necessary - no air conditioning. The bus broke down a few times on the way followed by a very slow drive with the engine sounding like a washing machine on spin cycle.

Arriving at the beginning of a two and a half hour walk along the train track at 4pm my legs were wobbly and my body felt it had also been through that spin cycle.

It did not seem such a bad idea to head off in the middle of a bunch of other walkers alone leaving Jane to take things at her own pace in the beautiful sunshine. A tranquil solitary walk along the track was just what I needed. On occasions needing to leap over gaps in the track over water and encountering a somewhat rusty metal bridge the walk did not seem challenging.

Until the sun came down rather rapidly and in the impending gloom I could not see those in front or behind me. My irrational fear of the dark kicks in. Just keep following the track Layla can't be too far (another hour actually). My way of dealing with the dark is to sing out loud. Whilst going through a very shaky rendition of "I'm the king of the swingers" from Jungle Book a local man emerged from the bushes. Possibly due to my utterly awful singing voice he started to almost run down the middle of the track away from me.

Followed by a near miss incident with a territorial dog and several leaps of faith over water between train tracks my nerves were becoming somewhat shot. Then you turn a corner and a group of walkers are waiting for us stragglers. Five minutes of sitting and my heart beat finally went back to normal.

I won't moan on about the slight chaos that then enused when we got to Aqua Calientes with the not very good tour guide. Suffice to say at one point Jane and I had bus tickets to the site, train tickets back but no ticket into Machu Picchu ("don't worry if you don't get the tickets tonight you can pretend you have lost your ticket and reprint one in the morning!" says our guide). The tickets arrived at 11pm.

6.20am the next morning at Machu Picchu. The setting is stunning but mmm the inca site just did not do it for me. Others have had epiphanies, magical religious moments etc on seeing this site. For me the best bits were being there early enough to avoid the crowds and ambling around with Jane for 4 hours. We sat in the sun with a truly breathtaking back drop chatting about what our seven wonders of the world would be.

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Photos

001
bumpy bus ride to Aqua Calientes

016
Walk to Aqua Calientes along the train track