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16 Mayo - Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu was incredible. Aquas Calientes was not. I'll tell you what, if you are going to Machu Picchu and you haven't been hiking the Inca Trail for at least three days, don't waste your time in the hot springs at Aquas Calientes. In the opinion of everyone in my group, it was a waste of time and money.
I have to come back for the Inca Trail, though. I cannot imagine what sort of experience that is. I have only heard good things about the trek and about alternative treks that take you through the same sorts of environments but not on the Inca Trail or through some of the ruins. The Sun Gate was closed due to a mud slide, so you now spend your last day detouring to Aquas Calientes, hiking along some perilous stretch of railroad tracks (I spoke with one Canadian couple who said their train hit and killed someone), then possibly sleeping on the floor of some restaurant (like my Scottish friends almost had to do), before getting to Machu Picchu the next morning. Talk about anti-climatic. That's about as opposite an experience as you can have to
making the final approach by passing through the Sun Gate and descending on the magnificent ruins after a 4-8 day hike through the wilderness.
We got up early, 3:45, to make the 2-hour hike up the side of the mountain for the 6:00 gate opening, rather than taking the bus up. Kate and Nikki kicked my butt. I was so out of breath. I am going to blame this one on the altitude. I never felt like my lungs were getting full. They always felt ½ to ¾ of the way full, like I couldn't take a deep breath. It didn't help that I am sorely out of shape either. And those girls walk extremely fast anyway, so I didn't feel too bad since I was actually passing people on the way up. Still, I think they probably waited a good 20 minutes or so on me before getting in line. Dan had been having problems with his hip for a couple of days and decided to take the bus up. He showed up as I was finishing the climb.
Once inside, we spent quite a while at the entry, which is an incredible overlook of the entire
city, and waited for sunrise. Dan and Nikki decided to have some photo fun with some of the llamas. The llamas are apparently used to the presence of humans and are not scared or even phased by us. They just hang out and eat the grass. So, Dan and Nikki decided to go take some posed pictures with them. They had a bunch of fun.
Shortly after that, we noticed that one of the llamas was acting kind of weird. Then we noticed that there was a little head poking out of its hind end. She was pregnant!! So, we stood not 30 feet away and watched as this little llama was brought into this world and we witnessed the little guy's first steps. That was a pretty incredible experience, to be able to watch a quasi-wild creature give birth.
After that, Dan and the girls hung out on top for quite a while and took pictures. I was anxious to get right into the place, so I left them and started exploring.
I spent quite a bit of time at the ¨Energy Rock¨. Kate has a friend who told her she needed to go to “The
Energy Rock” and asked her to buy an “Amulet of Power” and to place it on the rock for her. She had been to Machu Picchu before and wanted that amulet to absorb some of the energy. Kate did more than that. She bought 5 or 6 amulets that she hoped would harness some of that power.
Kate and I meditated on the rock for quite some time, did her "perfect 100", which is an attempt to take 100 perfect breaths, clearing your mind, concentrating on nothing. And I spent even more time there, just trying to relax and to focus my thoughts on what was going on around me. It was not life changing for me, by any means, but I definitely felt a connection to the rock and to the place.
I also had an interaction with a woman there. I noticed her photographing me while I was meditating and feeling the rock. She acted all aloof, like she was photographing the roof of a building next to me. She started to walk away and then turned right around and came up to me and started asking questions. She wanted to know "how do you do it?" so I told her what I thought and what I knew. I told her to focus, first of all. Don't try to think about anything except what you are feeling. Close your eyes and put your palm on the rock, then concentrate on what you are feeling. Don't try to control your thoughts or your feelings, just let it happen. When she was done she looked calm and reflective, much more so than when we started talking. She said that she had seen something, that at first she felt an energy moving from her fingers, through her arms and into her body, and then she started seeing colors. She then saw a vision of the mountains behind the rock and that she felt like and it looked like she was flying towards them, soaring in the air and gazing on the mountains. She said it was amazing. She then thanked me and left. I didn't get that out of it, that's for sure, but I'm glad she did. I saw her later in the train station on the way out of Aquas Calientes and she appeared like she was almost in a trance. She must have found Machu Picchu very moving.
The girls hiked Hyanu Picchu, the mountain behind Machu Picchu while Dan and I made our way around the rest of the ruins. We went to see the other "Energy Rock" and tried to find a way to touch it, except that a guard woman had her Condor Eye on us the entire time. She knew what we were up to. We also went to the Temple of the Sun, the Condor room, and basically around the whole place. We had a lot of fun together and then spent a lot of time looking for the girls, who had already made their way down the mountain and were shopping to their hearts' content in the market while I ran around the complex looking for them. But alas, we met up in time for the train and a good nap on the way home.
Photos of Machu Picchu:
Machu Picchu
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Dan
non-member comment
Great site here, I'm just checking it out for my first time and there's some nice memories I had almost forgotten.. in retrospect we should've touched Energy Rock 2 anyway. What would Condor woman have done?