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Published: August 6th 2007
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So, we were woken up at 3:45 am with a full-on cake for breakfast (for those who weren’t sick)--and at the last checkpoint waiting (second in line) by 4:45. When they opened the gate we rushed to the sun gate. Us slow pokes made it in about 50 mins. and were there in time to watch the sun rise over Machu Picchu. It wasn’t too sunny of a day, but it wasn’t cloudy down low, so we saw the sun light up the mountains behind MP.
It was gorgeous, but we could see the busloads of tourists arriving and we wanted to get inside before it was too crazy. They should let the hikers in first! We booked it down to the ruins. We had an almost 2 hour tour with Casiano and then were on our own.
I was really floored by it. I don’t think that there are words to describe it, there are so many amazing things to be surprised by as you wander around. I think that the most impressive part to me was the way that they incorporated the "growing rock" as Casiano called it into the buildings and other things. You see all
Sunrise over Machu Picchu
Looking down from the Sun Gate these blocks so perfectly fit together and then you realize that some of them are a connected part of the rock right out of the ground. Incredible!
I decided that I would not be able to live with myself if I didn’t climb one of the smaller mountains nearby to look down on MP. I didn’t think that I had it in me to climb Huayna Picchu which is what most people do, so I decided on "Chico Picchu" as Casiano called it. They only let 400 people through the gate a day to climb these mountains and I was #401! I managed to talk the guy into letting me through since I was just doing the little one--it meant I didn’t have to register or anything. Later when I was pretty sure that I was going to fall off and die I really wished my name had been recorded.
It was a good call for me to climb this one. It was quick and pretty easy, and there was no one else on it (4 other people total.) It was pretty steep and I pretty much used my hands to get myself up, all the while thinking
that going down was going to be a major problem. The view from the top was amazing though! You can see across all of MP and see the shape (a condor) that the buildings make.
The worst part was this rope hanging over a pretty sheer rock that you had to use to haul yourself up. When you get near the top you realize that the rope is fairly frayed where it rubs on the rock. Nice! I looked like a complete idiot coming back down that rope--thankfully there was no one there to see me. There were a couple of other moments when I wondered if my legs were steady enough to keep me on the mountain (I was the one who fell on basic stairs the day before) but in the end I survived and it was great! I came down filthy but satisfied.
Originally, I was really bummed that we had tickets for the 2:35 train back to Cusco, it meant that we had to leave MP by about 12:30 and I just didn’t think that that would be enough time. But in the end it was perfect. By then the place is absolutely swarming
with people (I worked really hard to keep them out of my photos--Damn tourists!) and I felt like I had seen what I needed/wanted to. It had been a perfect day and I was ready to head back.
We got off the train in Ollaytatambo and took a bus with just our group on it back to Cusco. On the way back we listened to the news for the announcements of the new 7 wonders of the world. Machu Picchu made it! Everyone was so excited and they had music from the Plaza de Armas in Cusco and interviews and stuff. This has been a big deal down here for quite some time and it was a pretty amazing experience to have the announcement, and energy from that on the very day that we had been there.
Day 4 Totals:
Who the hell cares?
I was at Machu Picchu!!!
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Arantxa
non-member comment
the important thing is...
I know that most people would comment on the beauty of this sacred place, your achievement in making it there and back without plummeting to your death, and other such insightful topics. I on the other hand would like to note that your haircut looks really good, both in a headband and a scarf.