Machu Picchu

I almost don´t even know where to begin. It seems like forever since we´ve had a chance to email or blog. So this might be a long one! Lizzie and I just got back yesterday from a four day trek out to Machu Picchu. The tour was called Inka Jungle -and it certainly was. Let me begin first by telling you about the most exciting/scary bus ride of our lives. Liz had only recently confided in me that one of her biggest fears in life is tipping over in a bus. And it almost happened. It was a wet and rainy day which left the "road" messy. I say "road" because apparently the normal route had just experienced a land slide, so we were on a new road that was being made as we were on it and consisted of mud only. We were heading down a mountain and it was a rather rocky ride. We thought we were going to tip over in any minute. The Peruvian people on the bus were even freaking out. People were praying, crying, screaming to be let off the bus. Then it happened! We nearly slide off the mountain stopped only by our drivers brakes and a small pile of mud. Everybody had to run off the bus in a panic. I freaked out more upon getting off when I saw what almost happened. Let´s just say it was a far way down and wouldn´t have been pretty.



A bunch of people pushed the bus back and got it back onto the road. We didn´t really want to get back on, but that was our only option. We made it safely to the drop off point where our group and one other group got off and were fitted with helmets, gloves, and bikes. We started our descent on the lovely paved road. It was rainy which made it slippery, but fun. The views were very 'Gorillas in the Mist-esque'. We were having a blast for about the first hour on the nice paved road, but before you know it the rain was gone the sun was beating down and we were on an unpaved bumpy ass road! That fun lasted for a very painful three hours. What made it even worse was my chain kept on falling off and Liz couldn´t get her gears to shift.

That was fun going up hill! But all in all it was a good experience. We got to Santa Maria and our guide, Omar, checked us into a hostel. We shared a very nice dinner with our group. The other three in our group was, Ruiari - Irish bloke, and Maddelena and Michael - Swiss couple. We went to bed very early as we had hours of hiking the next morning.

Hiking was beautiful. We were going through the Peruvian jungle. Lots of banana, orange, mango, papaya trees and coffee and coca leafs. It was very tropical. Lots of parrots flying over head too! And the pleasure of some freakishly strong mosquitos. No, we didn´t feel them flying up our pant legs divouring our legs, but lets just say we are still itching and it looks like we have scurvy! The day started out pouring rain, which was nice as it kept it cooled off. The fog was amazing. As a kid I always wanted to open the window of a plane when we flew through the clouds to feel what they were like. Here I could just reach out and touch the clouds. There was some climbing up that was pretty difficult, but we made it. We had a stop at a little hut that fed us bananas off the tree and fresh squeezed orange juice. That lovely stop was topped off by the Gun´s and Roses tune of 'Welcome to the Jungle' playing in the background - very apperpeaux. For part of the day we hiked on the actual Inca Trail. It was amazing!

These were the steepest stairs built between 1000 and 500 years ago. We took a couple of breaks along the way to hear history of the Inkas and then met up with the other group for a nice lunch at a ´rest stop´ along the way. The people who fed us had a sign in book for all their visitors... hundreds of trekkers from all over the world. It was pretty cool to see all those who had passed before us.
The highlight of the day however was the hot springs. After a day of hiking we were rewarded with a dip in natural hot springs. There was a catch. In order to get to the springs we had to cross the river. The way to do it? Via cable car. It consisted of a cable maybe 5 inches in diameter stretched about 100yards across a swirling, rocky river below. Normally 2-3 people get in and are pushed across. Lizzie and I got in with another guide (who preferred to stand... crazy!)and we were pushed across. A bit more than half way we lost our momentum and were stopped over the water. The car had a system of ropes that connected from one side to the other, we were then pulled by rope for the remainder of the way across. The most frightening part of all? Right as you climb in there is a cross marking the memorial of some people who died in 1999 when the cable fell. Not a good thing to see right before you´re pushed!


The ride was definitley worth it. The hot springs were great. It consisted of 3 huge pools of different temperateures of water. We quickly changed and got right in, not paying much attention to the construction crews still working on one of the pools. After a cold shower the night before and knowing we´d only get a cold shower tonight, we soaked up the hot springs!

That night we arrived in Santa Teresa. We had gotten to know the other group of hikers pretty well by the second day, that group was a Spanish couple and two German brothers, Manuel and Pasqual. We shared some Pisco Sours and Cusqueña cerveza after dinner and decided to head to the local discoteca with our guides. This place was unbelievable!!! Talk about local. It was a tiny little room with a disco ball, animal pelts hanging on the walls, and a seven year old behind the bar! We drank and danced all night. It was a blast. The guides were trying to teach Liz and I some crazy Peruvian dance - but it mostly was just bounceing around. It was a great night, but again we had an early morning.
The next day we took a 40 minute bus ride to some railroad tracks and began on the trail to Aguas Calientes (last stop before Machu Picchu). This turned out to be a terrible trek as you had to walk on the railroad tracks, but they weren´t evenly spaced. So you had to be looking down the whole time. Ouch. That lasted about three hours. Once in Aguas Calientes, Lizzie and I decided a nap was much needed and let the others do an extra trek up a different mountain to see the sunset over Machu Picchu. That night we had a nice dinner. Liz, Riuari and I met up with two English guys, Mo and Matt for a few beers before hitting the hay. Poor Matt and Mo. Who knows what agency they signed up with. They paid about 50 bucks more than us and both had terrible accidents the first day on the bikes. They were all scratched up with road rash - oh yeah, and they weren´t even given helmets! But they survived. As we all did.
The next morning was an early one as we were to begin our accent up the mountain to see the sunrise over Machu Picchu. We got up at 4 and were trekking by about 4:30 am. We walked up about 2,000 steps by the moons light. This was tough, but so worth it.


The minute you reach Machu Picchu you are taken a back by the stunning beauty and pure amazement that it evokes. The sight was unreal. The sun coming up and the clouds rolling over it was breath taking. It was a hard climb to get up there, it´s amazing to think that they constructed such a magnificent city in the clouds like this.
We had a two hour guided tour by the very knowledgeable, Ricardo. He told us about how their civilization lived by three laws: work hard, be honest, and love. They had some fascinating practices, such as in their jail they tied prisoners up by their hands to die there and be eaten by the condors (vulture like bird). If someone stole they chopped off a hand, if a man cheated on his wife they opened up his gut and took out his intestines, if a woman cheated on her husband they hung her on a cliff by her hair. There were also a number of temples up on the mountain. One of the most fascinating practices came twice a year on the summer and winter solstices. The temples were constructed in such a way that the sun would shine directely in one window 6/21 and another on 12/21. Another amazing aspect of the buildings was that they were constructed to be earthquake proof. The buildings were built with wider stones at the base and taperd up so if an earthquake hit the waves would be absorbed.
There are a few theories as to how the last Incas hiding in the hidden city were wiped out. Crazed Amazonian, moved to another place, or most likely disease. Machu Picchu was "discovered" by an American archaeologist, Hiram Bingham in 1911. However, peoples living in the surrounding areas always knew off it. So it´s not that it was really discovered by him, he just brought it to the general public´s knowledge. Along with taking all the artifacts found there up to the Peabody Museum at Yale. The Peruvians are still waiting for what is rightfully theirs to be returned (it was supposed to be returned after a 2 year loan). Still waiting.
All in all it was amazing and I recommend everyone seeing it. Definitely a must see!




We got in last night about 6p. We met up with our trekking friends for some celebratory dinner and drinks and a night on the town... after much needed nap and hot showers.
We are going to hang out in Cusco for a few days before heading to Northern Chile to meet up with my friend, Katherine and possibly Lizzie´s cousin... Can´t wait for our next adventure. Miss you all!