3:30am. We woke up and then quickly ate cake and hot chocolate. (Meanwhile the porters were packing up getting ready for their next trek.) We then quickly ran to the gate and waited for the gates to open up. Finally around 5am, we were let into the Machu Picchu.
We hiked for 30 minutes. At one point, we had to climb up 50 steps using our hands because it was so steep. We then finally arrived at Sun Gate. The first site of Machu Picchu is amazing. From afar you could see the llamas in the courtyard grazing along this giant Inca city. They say that Machu Picchu was similar to Camp David for the Incas, a place for R&R for the noble class.
We took a few shots, and then got closer with the Guard House. This is where we took some amazing shots before the sun rays crept on the ruins. Our guides then gave us some more information about the ruins, and then we entered the site.
We sat around the courtyard, and then see a lady with a cane walking towards us. Elaine, Paul’s wife, found us! She took the bus to Aguas Calientes and met us at the ruins. (She said she was able to find us by Paul’s voice.)
Simply said, Machu Picchu is an amazing site to visit. The ruins are well kept, and you can really visualize how the city was 500 years ago. Supposedly the city was wiped out either by malaria or fear from the Spanish (and maybe a mixture of both).
The guides took us throughout the ruins, but it was soon time for them to “get off work”, so they left us to explore the ruins. The guides and porters really made the entire hike amazing. The office staff of Llama Path left something to be desired, but as soon as we got on the trail our experience was absolutely amazing. Kudos to Roger and JJ.
The architecture for the windows and doorways is trapezoidal in nature to be stronger to prevent damage from earthquakes. When the Incas conquered a culture, they would take the best things the culture offered and incorporate it into its culture. Very cool. And you can make the point that the most diverse culture has the best advantage to succeed.
We found llamas throughout Machu Picchu. At one point, a stray dog attempted to play with the llamas, but they weren’t having any of that. The ruins were not too busy either: the recent floods deterred the daily visitors. There were about 2,000 people that were in Machu Picchu when usually there are about 5,000.
Ron, Chris, Paul, and Craig wanted to hike Huayna Picchu, which they left us to do. Jason, Bridget, and I explored the ruins a bit more. We then went to search for the Inca bridge. Once we got there, the trail side was about a 1500 foot drop down. That’ll get your heart racing. The trail was about a five minute hike, and once you got there, you could see an incomplete Inca Bridge. The most impressive part was how people would work on the path with such a steep drop.
I could have walked through Machu Picchu for quite awhile. Perhaps that’s the sign that I was quite impressed with the ruins. And really never felt bored. From the sky scraping mountains, the mosquito diving birds and friendly llamas, the colorful flowers hanging off a deep cliff side, or the intricately built walls of the ruins – there’s plenty to see.
After trying to take it all in, we jumped on a bus down to Aguas Calientes to meet up with the rest of the group.
