Wanyapicchu - "path of death"
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Boy did that feel good...a great night's sleep. After a nice breakfast and a relaxing time on the hostal's roof observation level, we caught a bus back up the hill to Machu Picchu. We had prepaid for the admission to Waynapicchu, which you need to do, because they limit the number of people every day. We entered Machu Picchu and hurried across the complex to be in front of the line. We had heard the hike was a little crazy and you don't want to get behind some sissy. (That is Waynapicchu in the background of Micchu Picchu as I sit on a stone, taking in the complex from the trail head of Inca Bridge.) We wanted to climb to the top. The best way to communicate the hike was to post the youtube video to Facebook, to which Ruth commented...."I told Steve not to do anything stupid on his trip. This is exactly what I was talking about."
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It was worth the hike, the views were crazy, amazing. I was a little unsettled at the top, as was no more than a pile of rocks. Kids were doing all kinds of dangerous poses for photos, and I wanted
to get out of there before I saw an accident. The path down included a long, very steep set of stairs that had me going down backwards. Definitely worth doing when you go, but not with any close family members.
By the time we got down off the mountain, the crowds had already started to trim down. We made our way over to the Inca Bridge Trail. Nice hike and gave you another example of the amazing efforts by the Inca to construct pathways along a stone cliff.
It was getting late afternoon, so we needed to head back to Aguas Calientes, a nice little town bisected by the railroad tracks and a small stream. The town is in the process of being renamed to Machupicchu, which is more easily recognized. We took a pass on the hot springs as they appeared to be nothing more than heated public swimming pools. Now we needed to catch a train to Ollantaytambo, where we will stay the night. We paid a premium to take the Vistadome train, as we looked forward to some amazing views. Problem was that it got dark earlier than we anticipated. (This proved to be the
only glitch in our entire trip. Which should give you an idea how great it went.) Train ride included some snacks, entertainment and some peddling of various Peruvian products. We had dropped off a portion of our luggage the day before, so we would know how to get to the hostal, but we didn't expect to walk to it in the dark. After checking in we walked to a small cafe on the village square for a meal and a beer.
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