Blogs from Machu Picchu, Cusco, Peru, South America - page 18

Me again, So as soon as I started to tell people that I was off to Peru, the first thing that most people asked me is 'are you going to Machu Picchu?' I have to admit that before sorting out this trip I had never heard of it, showing my ignorance but at least it is honest! For those of you who are like me and did not know of Machu Picchu until now I will give you a brief oultine. It was 'discovered' in 1911 by a man named Hiram Bingham who was looking for the Lost City of the Incas, the place that they had disappeared to when the Spanish finally defeated them. The locals from the area had known about Machu Picchu for many years and they led him to it, and he ... read more

Woke up this morning with great excitement as Jo had been looking forward to seeing Machu Picchu for a while... After an early breakfast, the group walked to the train station 5 minutes down the road to catch a 7.20 am train to Aguas Calientes (the nearest point to Machu Picchu). We were extremely surprised to find a one-carriage rather plush train with clear glass windows and part-glass roof with a free snack service of sandwich roll, three biscuits and soft drinks - like on an airplane) Tickets cost $50 each way and were included with our trip. The train ran on a single track alongside the river which due to the season (rainy) was a raging torrent - and between steep and high mountains. The train stopped a couple of times for a train to ... read more

Although I'd asked for a wake up call before I turned in last night, I was wide awake before the phone even rang. It was more to do with the rather uncomfortable I had attempted to sleep in rather than the excitement of finally getting to see Machu Picchu. Thankfully Keith reached over for the phone with a groan, clearly as happy to be getting up at 4.50am as I was. Having washed my face in cold water and grabbed my duffel bag and day pack, I headed downstairs to join the rest of the team for breakfast. Everyone looked dead on their feet as I took my seat next to Henk-Jan and began to gulp down my breakfast. Few words were exchanged and we sat eating, apart from to say how pleased we were that ... read more

HOLA….HOLA…WHOOO!!!!! This is what we awoke to at 3.30am whilst the tent was battered with rain. It was the day we had been looking forward to for so long, and yet, we were more than reluctant to get up in the freezing pouring rain, in the pitch black. Finally, we were up, had some breakfast and were queuing outside the checkpoint for the start of the final 6km to the Sungate and eventually into Machu Picchu. It was still pouring with rain as it reached 5.30am which was the time we could finally enter and start to walk the last tiny bit of the trek. Worry was starting to set in though, what if we had undertaken this trek for the last 3 days only to be denied the sight of the wonder of the world ... read more

We were so excited the night before that we literally only got 2-3 hours of sleep!! As we walked from our hostel to the plaza at 4am we were impressed to see that the Saturday night life in Cusco was in full swing. As we boarded the bus barely awake, we were greeted with a round of applause by our 17 porters (the Red Army)...yup, this was going to be a wicked adventure! We arrived at km 80 to gear up and set off. The weather was gorgeous and both of us were feeling better at this altitude (2700m versus 3300m in Cusco). We passed Inca sites, local villages, winding rivers, and beautiful flora/fauna. We met up with our Red Army a few hours later (they had passed us each carrying 25kg) for lunch...wow, we had ... read more