Today's the day! Up at 4:00 a.m. we walked out of the hostel to pouring rain! Really??? On with the ponchos again and down to the bus stop where we really were almost the first people in line! But rain??
The buses started leaving at 5:30 on the dot and we were actually on the first one. Amazing. As we started the windy climb up the hill the sky started lightening up. There were quite a few VERY hardy souls that were climbing up the hill instead of taking the bus. This is about an hour and a half climb straight UP! Good for them! My excuse is that we will be climbing Huayna Picchu at 7:00 this morning and that will be our trek.
Half way up the mountain it started clearing up. The fog was swirling around the mountain tops and we could see where the sun was starting to rise behind them. Things were definitely brightening up in every way. We reached the top and stood at the beginning of the line to get in at 6:00. The only ones in front of us were the very speedy climbers. Of course Sivanne found another friend from her travels in the line up! I seriously don't remember the last time I was as excited as this. The energy in the line up was incredible.
They let us in at 6:00 sharp (these Peruvians are punctual!) and we started climbing the stairs to the entrance gate. The skies cleared, the sun poked its head up over the mountains on our right and there we were - looking out over the most photographed site in the world. Kind of surreal to really be here. It was even more amazing than I had imagined. I couldn't believe that all the stars and suns and moons had aligned to show us this perfect view of the sun rising over Machu Picchu.
We started to make our way across the saddle to the foot of Huayna Picchu, the mountain that is in the background of all the photos of this place. The whole place was still empty of people. We had tickets to be amongst the lucky 400 people per day that are allowed to climb it. 200 climb up at 7:00 and 200 climb up at 10:00. What was cool is that this group of people really become your comrades during those few hours. As you climb the wickedly steep stairs straight up the ridge of this mountain, you pass and are passed a number of times by the same people so you kind of get to know them. When you all finally congregate at the top after one or two hours of climbing (depending on your fitness level), you are fast friends, sharing stories and backgrounds and generally just wallowing in the fact that you are all here and have managed to successfully make this rather challenging and in some places, VERY scary climb. There are steep drop-offs on either side of you as you walk along the ridge, with views way, way down to the Urubamba River. In many places there is only room for one person to pass. At the top are some ruins and resting places where we lay on the rocks in the sun snacking on the crackers and cheese and fruit that we had brought with us, taking in the 360 degree view of the mountains around, the river and train tracks below and far down there - the Machu Picchu site. Pinch me.
After filling our quota for picture taking we started the climb down. Just as challenging but still easier without the cardio workout. We almost made it to the bottom before the next group of 200 people started their way up at 10:00. I was so glad that we had booked the earlier time to climb as it was already very hot and I wouldn't have wanted to do that climb in this heat.
We spent the rest of the morning exploring the ruins. I had researched the site beforehand and printed out information and maps about the most important points so we sat at each place and read the stories about them. It was grueling to climb up and down the steps and in and out of the buildings because it had become really hot and there was hardly any shade. Our water was almost depleted from the tough climb we had done in the morning and new supplies were only to be had way back at the entrance to the park, a good hike with a lot more stairs.
I couldn't believe how many people were clambering about there. While we were up on Huayna Picchu the treks, the trains and multiple buses had arrived, dumping out crowds of people. From up there they looked like ants. There were all types, ages, and nationalities. Amazing how many quite elderly people were there too. Some of them could barely walk but they were going to see Machu Picchu dammit! Talk about a bucket list! We stopped to listen to some of the guides but for the most part we weren't impressed with what they had to say. I think we enjoyed the papers I printed more, reading about the history of the Inca people, their battles with the Spanish and Hiram Bingham's discovery of the place a hundred years ago. It's a pretty fascinating story.
We managed to see the Temple of the Sun, the Royal Tomb, the Sacred Plaza, Intimachay, the Temple of the Condor, the Funerary Rock Hut, Intiwatana and the Temple of the Three Windows, all of which had interesting stories. After this we climbed up near the Sun Gate which is where the trekkers on the Inca Trail finish their 4 day trek and enter the site. We headed towards the Incan Bridge because I had heard that it was an interesting place to see. But let it go on record that it wasn't me that didn't want to continue on the extra half hour hike to get there. In all fairness it was probably a good decision as we didn't have any water left and we were pretty exhausted. Instead we rested on one of the terraces and had lunch and unknowingly I proceeded to get the worst insect bites all over my legs. They are still driving me crazy a week later but keeping the memories of the day alive I suppose.
After a long, tiring but completely incredible day, we took our last look over Machu Picchu, said our goodbyes and headed for the bus down to Aguas Calientes. Now WE were part of the group that had successfully accomplished the goal watching the new blood coming in off the train!
Omer and I decided to ease our sore muscles up at the hot springs so we headed out again. If I had known it would be a long, hard climb up to the end of town with multiple stairs on the way, I may have reconsidered. I've seen enough stairs today! But we did get there and had a good soak. These baths are not too nice but they are still okay. Kind of similar to those we went to at Banos.
Early to bed tonight. Tomorrow we're back on the train to Ollantaytambo.
Some comments on buying tickets for Machu Picchu:
I bought them ahead of time on the internet on the government website - http://www.machupicchu.gob.pe/. At first I had a lot of problems getting it to work. It kept freezing on me. But somebody recommended that I not change the language to English and that did the trick. I was glad that I bought ahead of time because that's the only way to get one the 400 tickets up Huayna Picchu each day. By the time I booked (about 10 days in advance) there were no more tickets for the second shift at 10:00 for the day we wanted. Of course I was glad to be in the first set in the end because of the heat.
I recommend pre-purchasing as much as possible. Flights and trains do get full and if you don't have the luxury of waiting around (like Sivanne), you really have no choice. The tickets for the bus up the hill can be purchased when you get to Aguas Calientes. They don't sell for a particular bus. You just have to be there VERY early in the morning (we were there at 4:30) and stand in line. The buses fill up and leave all the time.