Mission to Machu Picchu

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Tom and I met a German guy Tobi who told us about a cheap backpacker way to get to Machu Picchu, and seeing as we are trying to stick to a budget we decided to take on this idea. When Tobi told us about this trip the three of us were a few drinks in during an evening at La Casa Roja in Santiago Chile. Tobi wrote down four names for us... Santa Maria, Santa Teresa, Hydro Plant and Aguas Calientes... the rest he explained in a bit of mumbled drunken speach (no he wasn't that bad, sorry Tobz!) When Tom and I were in Cusco we decided we would look further into it, basically this just meant looking at a map to see where these towns were in reference to Cusco. That's all we did, we didn't even buy a map, just had a brief look at it... Tom headed to the bus station to buy us tickets to Santa Maria, our first stop... Our bus was leaving at 8pm, and the lady who Tom bought the tickets off said it was about a 6hr trip (so Tom added an hour and told me it was a 7hr trip, wise). We were on the bus by about 7:50pm, and the bus didn't get going till about 9pm 😊 The bus had a rediculous amount of clearence and these huge 4WD wheels... hmmmmmm?? Tom and I were the only foreigners on the bus, and to my shock there was NO toilet on board, 7hrs without a toilet, that's crazy!! I felt pretty anxious, but also excited! Tom couldn't stop smiling! With a fair bit of effort the bus finally got going. Within 2mins we were stopping to fill up with petrol. You know how are petrol stations they have signs up to warn you not to use you mobile phone, and don't smoke etc... well they had these warnings however they still left the engine running whilst filling up. Tom and I exchanged worried looks. This was just the beginning of our adventure...The drive to Santa Maria was similar to driving along the Great Ocean Road, only faster and bumpier, oh and every now and then we would hear the driver hit the horn and wonder "why?". After a couple of hours we hit gravel road. The drive from then on was like driving up the old Mt Morton Rd in Belly Sth. Rough, and I the suspension on the bus wasn't too flash. We had young children on board and Tom and I were suprised as to how well they behaved the whole journey, hardly any crying (thankfully). Though as Tom pointed out they were probably used to the rough trip. The children in Peru are just beautiful, they are so well behaved, friendly, considerate of each other... much different to spoilt little brats in Australia and other Western countries! During the journey we stopped several times in what seemed like the middle of nowhere. At one stop the driver yelled out something, that we guessed meant toilet and break stop cos everyone started vacating the bus. We jumped of and women and children we just squatting right next to the bus, well I didn't really care as long as I got to go to the toilet somewhere �h time the bus stopped Tom and I would look at each other as if to say "Do you think this is Santa Maria yet?" Eventually we asked someone and they very kindly told us they would let us know... and they added it was still about another hour. Tom and I quite enjoyed the bumpy bus ride, though sometimes we thought the driver wouldn't break in time going down some of the hills, and other times the bus felt as though it was going to tip over, and every time I head the horn go my heart skipped a beat. At least we knew why the bus had such high clearence and mega wheels!
We arrived in Santa Maria and once again it was the middle of nowhere, though it may have just seemed that way seeing as it was 3am on Saturday morning 😊 There was a taxi and a mini bus (AKA Collectivos... which Tobi had also mentioned) We jumped in a taxi with a German couple and their Perivian guide in the boot. And we headed to Santa Teresa... we drove along a gravel road with a massive drop on one side and climbed higher and higher and the taxi driver rallied his whole way there. We flew around blind corners at high speeds, a few times closing our eyes to avoid seeing what was in front of us 😊 The German lady next to me kept huffing and puffing and making complaining noises. I mean he was a pretty crazy driver but man she was irritating! Tom and I were glad when they left the car and it was just us and the driver, though we were anxious as to whether we would make it to Santa Teresa alive! Fortunately we did. The town was small, dirty and dusty and once we were dropped off (around 5am) we were a little stumped as to what to do next. We decided eating was a good option. We found a lil restaurant and ordered some breakfast. We walked around wondering how to get to the Hydro Plant when a minibus drove by and asked if we were heading to the Hydro Plant, just our luck. We jumped aboard and headed off on a half hour trip.
When we arrived we weren't really sure where we were headed for. Were we heading towards Aguas Calientes or Machu Picchu?? Hmmmmmmmmm. We decided to follow three guys who looked competent in knowing where they were going. We climbed a couple of hills through the shrub and came out at train tracks. Hmmmmmm where now?! Luckily one of the three guys, Johan, happened to be a tour guide and invited us to join their tour. He was guiding in Spanish (to two French guys who didn't seem too impressed that we joined in for free... hee hee), though he spoke fluent English so translated what we didn't understand! How NICE!! We walked along the train tracks for approx 2hours. It was a really beautiful walk. On either side of us was lush green rain forrest, and one one side down below was the rushing Urubamba River. Every now and then (I think twice on our walk) we heard a toot toot of the train coming down the tracks. We simply moved to one side, in the bushes, and waved to the happy travellers as it passed, nothing too dramatic. By this time Tom and I had been up for about 30hrs (as the bus trip was a little rough to sleep during) and were starting to feel the tiredness hit home, well I was 😊 We met a German girl along the way who had been kicked out of MP only an hour b4 as she had been caught sneaking in. Her and her friends had staked out all night in the bushes in only the clothes on their backs. They spent about an hour in MP b4 being discovered. It all sounded very adventerous and was a great story to tell, I could see Tom's eyes lighting up at the thought! 😊We finally made it to Aguas Calientes and I was suprised at how spiffy it was. I was expecting a town similar to Santa Teresa though I guess I wasn't thinking about how touristy MP is. It was much like a ski resort (in the Summer time). New developments being built, flash appartments and hotels, touristy restaurants, colourful markets, paved footpaths and roads, very flash! Johan lead us to a hostel (he had offered us, on our walk along the tracks, cheap accom that he was hooking up for the French guys... as if we could say no!). Wow what a deal... we had a private room with two single beds, a great view of the town and a private bathroom for $25 between us (about $12), actually cheaper than our hostel (with between 6-14 per room) in Cusco. We explored town and discovered the supermarket was as expensive as a ski town/village in Europe. Had a power nap in the arvo to help us see through the night then headed out for a couple of beers. We met some cool locals selling their Happy Hour prices at one of the restaurants, we made a good deal with them so had a few beers there. We then headed to meet Johan at a restaurant as he told us he could hook up a cheap meal for us. Right he was, compared to the prices elsewhere it was a ripper deal and great food! A couple of beers into our meal we discovered Johan was all of 15yrs young. WOW! We were both in shock, I know in the photo he does look young but he presented so well and seemed so mature and together we both thought he was at least 20yrs. He was the most enthusiastic, dream driven 15year old I have ever met. Tom and I were in ore of him. He told us all about his Dad's and his company and how they started it, how he learned English, how he wants to speak 5 different languages so he can do world tours, how they are starting up a FREE hostel in Cusco etc etc... He was so animated and full of life and passion! Truely an amazing fellow!! Tom and I hit the hay early ish as we had an early start up the mountain in the morning...

We woke up at 3am and left Aguas Calientes to hike up to Machu Picchu around 3:30am. We had bought snacks and supplies the previous day so were stocked up well. It was pitch black out and the moon was unfortunately not out to guide us. Tom had a couple of nifty torches so we were set. It was a tough hike up, constant stairs for about an 1hr 20mins. We stopped several times just for a minute to catch a breath and revitalise. We arrived at the gates at 5am and were the firsts ones there, along with a little white friend who you will see in a couple of the photos. We tried to see if we could get in early b4 the tourists arrived, but they were adament that the gates opened at 6am (shame). As time went on more people appeared and b4 we knew it there was a line of tourists waiting to get in. Tom and I were very proud that we were the first ones there and the first ones into MP (a part from the workers). It was amazing seeing it bare without hundreds of people wandering around! We headed straight for Waynapicchu, as only 400 visiters are allowed there a day, and got there only to find out it didn't open till 7am. We rushed back to catch MP at sunrise, though it was a bit cloudy overhead so wasn't much of a sunrise. Neither of us could believe we were there. It had been such a mission (tho a fun one) to get there and we both had to pinch ourselves to believe! It really was a sensational sight. The pictures just don't do it justice. We headed back over to Waynapicchu and a local worker stopped us on our way to inform us to climb up this side and down the other side and visit Temple La Luna (The Sun Temple). It was a bit of a wait to enter as we had to give all our details, passport number, name, the time etc. As I said previously only 400 visiters are allowed on Waynapicchu a day and it is only open till 3pm, so they have to keep track of who enters so they can mark you off when you return. The hike up was A LOT harded than I had anticipated. In fact by far the hardest hike I have ever done. It was a never ending staircase (well it seemed never ending at the time) and a steep one at that. After some time (with many breaks in between) we made it to the top. Though to our disappointment it was tourist city, so we decided to find our own possie. We followed a lil track (off track) and came to a rock that dropped off straight down, a very long way. I decided this was the spot to be. And this was where we shared our first vodka on Waynapicchu... oh yeah I forgot to mention Tobi had informed us that he and his crew sat on Waynapichhu all day and drank a bottle of rum so Tom and I thought it only fair we follow in tradition and took a bottle of vodka and some OJ along for the trip 😊 The rock became a little uncomfortable so we explored further and found a more forgiving spot. We were just getting settled when a guide came over to inform us where we were sitting was dangerous as rocks could fall over the edge as could we. We found a perfect possie that was allowable and kicked back for a couple of hours enjoying the view, each others company, our vodka and the sunshine.... ah what a life! It wasn't until Tom started going on about all the tourists at Machu Picchu that I decided to put on my glasses (as I couldn't see a single person down there...) and OH MY GOSH what a difference it made. WOW!! Truely the most INCREDIBLE view I have ever layed eyes on, unexplainable!! Heading down the mountain after a few vodkas was a bit challenging, but not as hard as going back up... wow! Though there were lots of laughs a long the way there were also many groans. Poor Tom got sick of waiting for me to get my breath back 😊 You know how the saying goes ''What goes up, must come down...'' well I think the Inca's invented the saying ''what goes down, must come up''. Every time we thought we were on the downhill straight we were disappointed to find yet more steep steps! It was a killer mission but when we made it back to the start gate we felt pretty happy with our efforts!
We rested for a while before wandering more around the Inca ruins and Macchu Picchu. After another couple of hours walking around we decided to settle on a grassy patch overlooking MP from one of the Inca walls and finish our vodka and snacks. We we chillaxing in the last of the days sun when a massive group of school kids bombarded us. We asked where they were from. Turns out they were from Lima and were on the ''Prom Trip''. They were getting a group photo and I said to Tom ''go on take a pic of them, just for a laugh'', he got the loudest sceams, shouts and thumbs up, it was halarious! This tall blonde, random, Dutch dude taking a pic of school graduates! They loved it! Afterwards we had about 10 different girls come up to ask to have a photo with us! HA!! What a cack!! We left the mountain just before 5pm, so we were at MP for nearly 12hours! WHAT A DAY!! It was truely the most amazing day of my life and something I will NEVER forget! We headed down the mounatin with a French guy we met along the way and a lil friend Tom met... a cute lil dog, I swear everywhere we go, whether it was Argentina, Chile or Peru, Tom always had a dog following at his heal. This one in particular was very obedient. It was as if Tom was his master, very funny! We chilled out that night again at the happy hour bar with our local friends, and a lovely Dutch gal we met!

Monday morning we rose about 6:30am to set out for our trip back to Cusco! Feeling full of life and ready for our next adventure we set out along the tracks back to the Hydro Plant. About half and hour into our walk we head a toot from behind us. We moved aside and let a lil yellow cart pass (one of the carts that travels ahead of the train to chenge the direction of the tracks. We saw red brake lights come on and the lil cart slowed to a stop, we looked at each other and smiled with a similar thought in mind... Sure enough a Perivian guy popped his head out the little window and asked where we were headed and if we wanted a ride! Well, we weren't going to say no to that offer (our luck just kept coming...). They dropped us a lil way up the tracks and saved us about half an hour walking! We jumped in a mini van at the Hydro Plant and headed to Santa Teresa. WE had some breakfast there and asked about collectivos to Santa Maria. We knew the bus left from there to Cusco at 2pm because Johan had told us on Sat night. However we were told by the towns folk that there wasn't a bus until 8pm. Tom was adament that Johan was correct so instead of listening to the locals we decided to start walking towards Santa Maria and see if someone would pick us up along the way. Sure enough, we hadn't even made it out of town when a young guy pulled over and asked if we wanted a ride! WE jumped in and off we booted. And I mean booted, I thought the guy at 3am Saturday morning rallied fast along that road, but he had nothing on this young guy! Wow, I was glad when we made it alive to Santa Maria (sorry to freak you out Dad... as Mum would say, ''It's all a part of travel'' 😊) We arrived just before 2pm, with enough time to have some lunch. When we were waiting for the bus (which didn't rock up till 3pm, typical for Peru) a little girl took a liking to me. They do say I have a way with kids. She was so gorgeous. She was playing with my hair and did it in several differnt sytles (which ended in a ball of knotts, though I didn't mind) while she chatted on to us in Spanish. She was very sweet. Finally our bus arrived and we literally jumped on and off it went. We managed to find a seat each, though not together... however that didn't last long, I was kicked out of my seat within about 20minutes. All I could think was ''man, another 7hours until Cusco...'' Within about 1hr we had stopped due to a strike. If the bus wasn't bad enough already. We were the only foreigners, there were chickens on board and we had one seat between us, and now we were stopping because of a strike! We actually found it all very amusing! We were stopped for about an hour. I chatted to some locals to practice my Spanish (though it was pretty basic, still fun though). We hopped on board and waited at least another 20min before we finally headed off. Another hour or so down the road we were stopped once more, only this time it was a little more serious... there was a MASSIVE avalanch/landslide across the whole road. OH NO!!! Everyone hopped off the bus, and the bus behind us, and the convoy of cars and trucks also behind, and on the other side of the avalanch! There were people everywhere! One of the busses (with only the driver inside) attemped to drive over the rubble a few times. Each time people tried to clear away more rocks (as rocks were still sliding down the side of the mountain). There was a sheer drop next to the road so if the bus didn't make it it was rolling over the side of the cliff. It was the scariest scene I have witnessed. I actually felt sick in the stomach watching because we really didn't think the bus was going to make it. On fourth try the bus nearly tipped, it was so close. then it got stuck on top of the rubble. People were screaming and shouting, it was chaos. Finally they bought in more lighting and trucks, though none big enough to pull the bus over. People were running from one side to another moving there stuff into busses as it seemed the busses had to turn around and go back the way they came from, so we had to swap busses. A bus from the other side (the one we were swapping into) moved close to the stuck bus and some locals attached a heavy duty cord to pull it over. It really was something. No-one had any faith that the bus would make it over... thought fortunately it did! I swear my hear skipped a few beats during all the commotion! WE jumped on the bus and it had to turn around, well this scared me nearly as much as I thought we were going to back over the cliff. We made it and off we went. I stood most of the way back to Cusco as Tom was sound asleep in our shared seat 😊 It was a fast a rough ride back and my hear raced most of the time, though I must say I enjoyed the adenalin rush!

We made it back to Cusco safe and sound with no more dramas along the way! We were glad to be walking on our own two feet again and looking forward to a good nights sleep. We arrived about 3hours later than we were supposed to! Our mission to Machu Picchu was an unforgettable tale full of laughs, luck and adventure!!
Hope you enjoyed reading about it!! 😊

Sorry for spelling mistakes... didn't feel like proof reading!

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Photos

Walk to Aquas Calientes
Tim, how much does this remind you of Stand By Me?! :)

A parrot selling drinks in the street
in Aguas Calientes

Our Perivian guide
we met Johan along the tracks on our way to Aguq Calientes. He guided us in the right direction...

First to arrive @ the front gate of Machu Picchu
5am, us and our lil friend

Map of Machu Picchu
@ front gate

Waynapicchu
what we were about to hike up