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Published: December 6th 2010
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The city from the watchtower
On the side it looks like a face Machu Piccu
Alex insisted that we all wake up at 3am to make CERTAIN that we'd arrive at the lower gate a good fourty minutes before it opened. He developed a limp that morning, and so after he woke us up he pointed us in the direction of Machu Piccu, told us another guide would be giving us a tour at the top, and promptly went back to bed. I was the only one who tipped him, and that was just because he said his mother had cancer.
Unsurprisingly, arriving at the gate over half an hour before it opened made us the first people there. At roughly 320am. The reason for arriving early is that the number of people allowed to climb Huayna Piccu (the mountain overlooking the city of Machu Piccu) is restricted to 400, and the first people to walk from the lower gate up to the entry are the people who get the tickets to go up. The walk takes about 40 minutes, and is entirely uphill using steep stone staircases.
Waiting a the gate at the bottom, i befriended a border collie when i donated a
chunk of my sandwich to him. By the time the gates opened, there were about 100 other people waiting, and our arriving first had given us only about ten seconds headstart (the time it took for the guard to tear off our ticket stubs). We set off, and i saw that the dog had snuck through the gate and was waiting impatiently, tail wagging, at the opposite end of the bridge. Being keen to get to the top early (and REALLY keen to get there before the losers on the buses), i paced ahead, and the dog took off up the first staircase. I caught up, he took off again, but was waiting again at the next corner, now panting. It ended up a fairly surreal morning, following the dog the entire way up to Machu Piccu while the sun rose, and quickly left the rest of the tourists behind.
I ended up the first person to the top, secured my Huayna Piccu ticket, and waited for the rest of the arrivals. The next people to show up were two Americans who had been staying at the only lodge at the top of Machu Piccu.
The cost is US800 for the cheapest rooms. They were complaining about how they got up at 5am to get there, boasting about their inca trail, and constantly referring to Aguas Calientes as "A-C". They almost got a sweaty palm to the face. The rest of the walkers trickled in, and buses started to arrive, and the queue at the gate got fairly huge.
Eventually the gates opened, we strolled in, and caught our first misty glimpse of the ruins. They didn't disappoint. Pictures don't really capture it well because the mist is constantly moving and passing through the city, but the massive hype is absolutely valid. Our tour guide met us at the top, and we had a two hour walk through the ruins, before our time came to clamber up Huayna Piccu. One horribly overpriced and very average coffee later, we set off. The climb was arduous as balls after running up the mountain in the morning, and three days hiking. More stairs, some so tiny you have to walk up sideways or pull yourself up a rope. The view was amazing. Pachamama was nice to us, and it didn't rain at all the
whole day. There was just enough fog for the city to look all MISTical, but it cleared for long enough for us to take great photos of the ruins from above.
Amazing day. Slept most of the way home on the train, and then the bus to take us back to Cusco from Ollantaytambo train station almost didn't turn up. We found it in a carpark nowhere near where it was supposed to be. Passed out heavily on our return to the hostel.
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