Adventures in Peru: Machu Picchu
This entry's going to be mostly pictures because really, what more can I say? You expect that Machu Picchu will blow your mind, and it doesn't disappoint.
This wasn't a big drop, but it was just high enough that Kate was nervous and begged Elliot not to goof around, and of course he didn't listen.
When we sat down to eat lunch I noticed there were gobs of greasy black stuff all over my face, and I had no idea where it had come from. I asked Kate why she hadn't told me sooner that there was dirt on my face, and she said, 'Why would I help you when I can laugh at you?' (And she did.)
We didn't arrive early enough to climb Huayna Picchu, the mountain perched right over the city that you see in all the photographs (sounds like you have to arrive before dawn, because they only let 400 people up per day), so we did Machu Picchu (the mountain the city is named after; 'Machu Picchu' means 'old mountain') instead--it's a lot higher, and took about three and a half hours round trip. I was short of breath and lagging behind the whole way up, but MAN, was the view ever worth it. You can just tell how exhilarated we all felt:
(We were long-arming it because Jill wasn't with us.) In this second shot we were going for a view of the city in the background, but you can only see the tip of Huayna Picchu.
If you're planning a trip to Machu Picchu you should consider hiking Machu Picchu instead of Huayna Picchu, because we didn't see nearly as many people as we would have had we been able to climb the latter, and I can't imagine the view from Huayna Picchu can compare.
After a long and happy day we returned to Aguas Calientes for fruit smoothies, then took the evening train back to Ollantaytambo, followed by an overnight bus to Puno.
Next post: Lake Titicaca.