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Published: February 12th 2009
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Day 14 - Machu Picchu Part 2
Another day, another early start: 5.30am (still dark) we join the other hundred people in the bus queue to take us on the 25 minute ride up the hill to the entrance of Machu Picchu. We are both very tired but excited for what the day has in store. The road to the top of Machu Picchu was very steep and narrow with a large drop to one side. The wet mud road climbed up Machu Picchu in a zig zag fashion and passed many trekkers en route.
Reaching the entrance we joined another queue, this time to enter the archaeological site, it was now starting to rain. Once through the entrance we could not see a thing as it was damp, grey and misty with no sunrise in sight. We followed the signs to Wayna Picchu which is the mountain we were going to climb as it overs looks Machu Picchu and should provide an amazing view,if the clouds lift that is.
As we reached the queue for entrance to the Wayna Picchu trail we realised we had just walked through Machu Picchu without seeing a thing because of the
fog! By this time it is around 6.30am and the first trail sets off at 7am. We decide to go up the mountain on the first trail as we can now see a glimpse of the sun burning through the cloud. By the time 7am comes round we are near the front of the queue as everyone else decides to wait until 10am due to the visibility.
Unaware of what we have let ourselves in for we are let through the entrance and after about 100 yards we are greeted by a sign saying left to little Wayna Picchu and right to big Wayna Picchu. Without a second glance we turn right and set off on the damp path that clings to the edge of the mountain. It doesn't take us long to realise this wasn't going to be easy as we catch our first glimpse of the path ahead.
As with the road up to Machu Picchu the path also zig zags up to the top of the mountain. After about 2 hours of climbing many narrow steps with thousand foot drops to one side we were about 5 minutes from the summit. We stop at the
start of the ruins near the top of Wayna Picchu and the cloud finally breaks as if it was timed just for us. Here was our first glimpse of the amazing view of what we have just climbed and more importantly Machu Picchu.
After taking out the camera the cloud was back as soon as it had cleared and the view was constantly changing. After the scramble to the top we climb onto one of the jagged rocks to wait for the perfect photo opportunity, along with the other 30 people up there! More people arrive and it starts to feel quite unsafe as we are all holding onto the rocks while concentrating on waiting for the cloud to clear.
Luckily after about 10 minutes the cloud started to move and Oliver managed to get some pictures of the site below us. It was amazing and worth every bit of the difficult climb we had just completed. Stopping at some further ruins the sun starts to shine and further photo opportunities arise. After taking what seemed about a thousand photographs we start our descent.
The decent was a bit unnerving as the steps seemed to get narrower
and at times we had to go down backwards. The weather was changing as the cloud had now disappeared and the sun was shining. Brushing passed all the people queuing to set off we felt thankful that we couldn't see the trek that lay ahead when we had set off this morning. If we had waited until this time we most certainly would not have attempted the climb up Wayna Picchu.
We arrived back down at Machu Picchu at 11am and headed straight to the cafe to rehydrate. Despite taking plenty of water in our backpacks we had drunk it all as it had been a very hot and tiring trek. We rewarded ourselves with an ice cream and an hours rest in the shade before going to view the ruins.
After a couple of hours around the ruins we had to start heading back as the train was due to leave at 5pm. We were planning to try the local delicacy of Guinea Pig today but we weren't feeling to well and thought better of it due to our overnight bus! The four and a half hour journey went quick as we talked to a lad from
New Jersey all the way. Our next destination was Copacabana in Bolivia so another night bus was required to get us there.
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Rachel Ellis
non-member comment
WOW!
Hi What a wonderful place and such a great experience. Machu Picchu looks beautiful - I bet it was worth the climb! The Nazca Lines from earlier are amazing too. You look to be having such a great time. Hope everything is going well for you and Oli. Take care love Rachel x x