The day after Machu Picchu...

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Hi all and a belated Happy St. Paddy´s day to you. I have to say I´ve had the best St. Paddy´s Day ever and not because I´ve consumed heaps of green beer, I spent the entire day on Machu Picchu. I got up at 4 am to line up and catch the 530 bus up the mountain. My primary desire to watch the sunrise on MP and watch it I did. It was so amazing, relatively few people there at that time, just an amazing experience. We were lucky, those of us who wanted to watch the sun hit the buildings. This time of year, the sun clears the mountain around 645 but typically the clouds roll in and obscure the buildings. But it was clear for that 10 or so minutes, truly something that will live with me forever.

The site of MP is huge and again, in awe of the sizes of some of the stones. So my choice was to wander around the site before the bus loads of tourists come or hike to the top of Wayna Picchu, how hard can that be? Turns out that hike just about did me in. Essentially it took an hour straight up deeply high and wet stone steps. Well, what doesn´t kill you makes you stronger, don´t know who said that but if that´s the case, I should have been able to bite through a steel pipe after that. I do have to admit, the view over MP was exquisite, but what goes up, has to come down... The interesting thing is they only let 400 people up this climb a day. Two sets of 200 people go up, one set at 7 am and the next set at 10 am, highly recommend it to anyone reading this but remember, slow and steady wins the race...

I wandered around the site of MP, then did another hike up to Intipunku, I know, I was second guessing my mind too. I think the altitude is making me funny. I wanted to keep occupied until around 2pm when the day trippers to MP leave to catch their return train. May I just say that my calves are killing me and if I sit in one spot for too long, my legs sort of cramp up. My thinking, I walk home every day, I´m reasonably fit, hmmmm.... slight flaw in that logic when it comes to hiking up mountains. Honestly, for how stiff my legs are, I´d do it all over again, maybe not tomorrow but would do it again.

Have to tell one funny story about a llama and it´s remarkable ability to spit. I know, they spit so I was uninterested in getting too close, photograph distance suited me just fine. There was an Asian gal with a tour group who was trying to get the llama to look at her for a picture. Well, senior llama was only interested in nibbling on breakfast and not posing for a picture so he turns to her and starts to charge. She turns and runs and doesn´t that llama spit and get her right in the back of the head. I´m telling you, remarkably accurate, felt bad for the girl but had a little giggle at her expense.

All in all, I spent 10 hours up on MP and it was magical. Then because I thought I had about three minutes of energy left, I decided to walk down from MP back to Aguas Calientes. It´s an eight km drive up a real winding road from AC but there´s a path for people who don´t want to pay the money for the bus. I figure down is easier and I can handle physical discomfort to save a couple of bucks. Now it´s making heaps of sense as to why I´m making noises when I stand today...

Now I´m back in Cuzco, have one more day then return to Lima Friday morning. Not sure where from there, but I´ll keep you all posted.

Thank you all for the great comments and messages, you are all awesome! And yes, the next time I come, SPF 45 or 50 definitely! Later...

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