Machu Picchu

When I started planning for my Around the World trip, most of my destinations were unplanned. However, Machu Picchu was on the list from the beginning and I was so thrilled when I finally got there. It was a great finale to the three days of walking up and down mountains, sleeping in a tent, and squatting to use the bathroom at various locations in the Sacred Valley. 

We woke up super early and made our way to the bus to take the windy road up the mountain. If I hadn't hiked the last 3 days, I totally would have hiked up to Machu Picchu. For once, I was glad to be on the bus. We totally lucked out with the weather during our trek, so it only seemed fitting that it was raining when we arrived at the top. Seriously. 

Soon there was the realization of a lost phone, so we all put on our rain gear and attempted to find the missing phone. No luck. However, since we had spent about 20 minutes handling that, the rain got out of it's system and we were ready to go see one of the wonders of the world. 

First sight of Machu Picchu.

And boy was it a wonder. The actual ruins of Machu Picchu are nothing extraordinary compared to other ruins. However, when you look around, you can see what makes it special. The mist and mountains are so beautiful. And the thought of building a city on this mountain is pretty unreal. I can see how the site went unknown for centuries. The Incas deserted the city a century after they built it when the Spanish invaded. Eventually it was an American that brought international attention to Machu Picchu. 

Our guide Yoel was still with us, and took us on a tour of the grounds. But before we started, we had to get one last shot of the Green Machine (with our new shirts).

We made it. 

The mist continued to move in and out, which made it even more stunning. 

Yes.

Joel took us on our guided tour to explore the ruins. We learned a bunch of stuff. Some of it stayed in my brain. Some did not. The lack of sleep from the previous week definitely caught up to me. I was pretty tired and at various points all I wanted to do was take a nap in the grass somewhere, just like the llamas.

Checking out the ruins.

But I powered through and continued to take in the scenery. Unfortunately we only had Yoel for a couple of hours, and after he concluded his tour, we said our goodbyes. 

We decided to leave the ruins, and take a bathroom and snack break. Afterwards, we were rejuvenated, and as a smaller group, we hiked up to the Sun Gate. This is where a lot of people conclude their trek to Machu Picchu. I can understand why this is so popular. I'm so glad we did what we did, and don't know what I didn't see. So this didn't bother me. Plus, we still got to see the view. Just from a different perspective. I have to say, the Incas were pretty tough though. Going up and down mountains on a regular basis is not easy. Especially at elevation. 

The Sun Gate.

We headed back out and took a break for lunch. We were allowed to go back into Machu Picchu 2 more times after the initial entrance. Without really planning it, we were pretty strategic with our exits. And knowing we had to go back up stairs again to get the main area helped. 

On our third trip in, we headed to the Inca Bridge. We thought we were going to be able to cross it, but no such luck. We are better for it. The hike to the bridge wasn't as strenuous at the hike up to the Sun Gate, but it was more terrifying. We walked single file and definitely as close to the wall as possible. If you fell over the edge, there would be damage. The hike was really beautiful, but I was happy when we got back to less treacherous paths. There was a reason why we had to sign in before embarking on the hike. I wonder how many people in history have fallen to their deaths. Or maybe I don't want to know. 

The Inca Bridge.

Before leaving, we took in Machu Picchu one last time. The view kept getting better and better as the day went on. And there were less people later in the day. I'm really happy I got to share this with these two. It was pretty amazing. 

Twin shot.

After our full day at Machu Picchu, we headed back down the mountain on the bus, and immediately grabbed a cervesa. We were so thirsty from the heat and all that hiking. I practically chugged mine. Also, it was time to properly celebrate Aunt Sally's 60th birthday.  

We found some wine and champagne at a local minimart. I thought about getting some good wine in Argentina to bring with me, but I don't think the porters would have been happy with my overweight duffle. So we had to settle for what Aguas Calientes had. Fortunately they had bubbly. There was no alcohol, but most of managed to put a dress in our duffle. So we all got dolled up (as best as we could) and went out to dinner. 

Dressed up for Sally's 60th.

We had a good night of dinner and drinks, but we were all pretty wiped out. So it ended up being an early night. Sally and I were going to stay an extra night, but decided to try to change our train tickets. So we headed to the train station the following morning. We successfully changed our tickets, but not without an additional fee. 

We spent what little time we had left wandering around Aquas Calientes. We also said our goodbyes to the rest of the group since we wouldn't be going back to Cusco with them. Oh, and of course we got ice cream before heading out. 

Aquas Calientes.

When we got on our train, we understood why the extra fee. Our ticket change resulted in a fancier train. It was all windows so we could see the surrounding mountains. Way better than the train we took up.

Fancy train ride.

While we were enjoying a beer and chatting with a couple from LA, all of a sudden a guy appeared in a crazy costume and danced around the train. I'm still not sure what they were celebrating, but it was entertaining. We also got a fashion show of various sheep and alpaca products. None that we bought of course. We may be on the fancy train, but we were not spending extra money on items that we could get in Cusco. Or not buy at all due to a budget. 

Celebrating something fun. 

The train ride went by so fast and all of a sudden Sally and I were back in Ollantaytambo. We had a couple of days to explore the cute town that we saw very briefly a couple of days prior.