The van:
...And even though you can't tell (I was sitting in the middle of the van), there were a LOT of people in there... luckily the windows were open!
We finally got to Ollantaytumba, though, and literally fell out of the van on our way out. Ollantaytumba is the last town that you can drive to between Cusco and Machu Picchu, and it is absolutely BEAUTIFUL as well! There are ruins on giant hills that surround the city, aqueducts, and Spanish architecture. The town itself is a little expensive, but amazing at the same time.
We met up with 6 other people from my program in Ollantaytumba. After spending some time there (and trying some llama... another interesting experience, haha), we took a train through the Sacred Valley to Aguas Calientes, which is the town closest to Machu Picchu. Aguas Calientes is a SUPER touristy town with not much to do except for shop and eat. But, it is beautiful, of course!
Aguas Calientes:
Our whole group:
That night, we went out for pizza as I had met a group of Peruvian teenagers on the train that told me that the pizza in Aguas Calientes was "the best in all of Peru!" We tried it (I got llama pizza... haha), but it ended up not sitting very well in my stomach, or in the stomachs of everyone else... that night, I went to the actual "Aguas Calientes" of Aguas Calientes... the hot springs! I have been to hot springs before, and I was expecting these to be similar... instead, I found myself in what looked and smelled like people soup. It was so nasty! I got in for Peruvian fare, though, which made it a little better... haha.
People soup! Eeeew:
After our lovely experience in the hot springs, we made our way back to the hostel, showered thoroughly, and went to sleep. We woke up the next morning at about 1:45 am so that we could leave our hostel as soon as possible. Aguas Calientes is the closest town to Machu Picchu, so most tourists stay there before they embark on their Machu Picchu adventures. We got up super early because we wanted to climb Waynapicchu, which is the mountain that you see in almost every picture of Machu Picchu. They only let 400 people a day (200 at 7am and 200 at 10am) into Waynapicchu because of erosion from tourists, and there is always a huge line to get in--there is a LOT of competition for those 400 spots! We hiked to the base gates of Machu Picchu, and did stretches with these Brazilian guys before the gates opened at 3. After that, it was every man for himself... luckily, since we had gotten up so early, there weren't a lot of people with us, but there was still competition for the first couple of spots! It ended up taking me about 50 minutes to climb to the gates of Machu Picchu--it was ALL stairs, and Machu Picchu is at a pretty high elevation, so by the time I got to the top I was SO sweaty and hot! But, it was about 4 am when I got there, so I immediately cooled down and was then freezing until the gates opened at 6... haha. We watched the sunrise from the gates of Machu Picchu, though, got our tickets stamped for Waynapicchu, and entered Machu Picchu. It was so amazing to actually be there! I felt like our entire trip had been leading up to Machu Picchu, and we were actually THERE! Waynapicchu opened at 7, so we had about an hour to walk around and take pictures without tourists (because, believe me, that was the ONLY time we had the opportunity to take pictures without tourists), and watch the sun come up over the Sacred Valley. So beautiful!
At 1:45 at the bottom gates of Machu Picchu:
Machu Picchu without people! Que raro!
Machu Picchu, with Waynapicchu in the background:
After walking around, we waited in line to go up Waynapicchu. At about 7:30, we were finally allowed in and we started our hike... I know it doesn't look like it from the pictures, but Waynapicchu is ridiculously tall and steep, especially because from Machu Picchu you have to hike down to the base of Waynapicchu before you can start to climb. It took about an hour to climb to the top, and it was ALL stairs. On one side there would be a handrail, and on the other side was just cliff.
I am in all of these pictures because I like to prove to you that I was actually there... haha.
Starting up Waynapicchu at sunrise:
So steep... this was our entire way up! :
Halfway up Waynapicchu, looking at Machu Picchu:
The group (well, some of us... we all pretty much went at our own pace and I don't always wait for people when I hike) at the top of Waynapicchu:
...And at the top of Waynapicchu, there are all of these Inca ruins:
We stayed at the top of Waynapicchu to eat lunch and converse with other foreigners that were there. I realized on the top, though, that it was only 9 am, and I had hiked all the way to the top before I was usually even awake. It was an amazing view from up there, with Machu Picchu on one side and the valley on the other. Being on top of Waynapicchu was definitely my favorite part of my entire trip, and I would highly recommend getting up early to climb to anyone thinking about going to Machu Picchu! It was intense, but again, incredibly worth it.
After staying on Waynapicchu for about an hour, we climbed down through Inca ruins and more stairs and explored Machu Picchu. You can hire a tour guide at the gates of Machu Picchu, but I didn't want to pay for a tour guide, and neither did anyone else in my group. And besides, the tour guides were herding their groups around like sheep, and I would rather explore by myself. So I went off with a couple of energetic people and we saw every landmark at Machu Picchu... by the end, it got pretty intense because I was still SO tired from barely sleeping and hiking all the way up there, but I still saw everything. Machu Picchu is really amazing, but there are SO many people there at certain times of the day! Around noon, it got unbearably crowded, and you could barely walk anywhere without walking into someone's picture. But we still saw everything!
Ruins:
The view from the top of the guardhouse on Machu Picchu! :
Machu Picchu and Waynapicchu: DEFEATED! haha:
After seeing everything we could in Machu Picchu, we eventually made our way back down to Aguas Calientes. It took about half an hour by bus to get to the bottom, and had taken us about 45 minutes to an hour to hike up that morning... it was a long way down haha (I just want to give perspective on how high up Machu Picchu is). We made our way back to our hostel, packed up all of our belongings, grabbed some ice cream as it was HOT that day, and took a train back through the Sacred Valley into Ollantaytumba. I pretty much passed out on that train, only to wake up for the food they served. By the time we got back into Ollantaytumba, I was absolutely exhausted and just wanted to fall asleep, but on our mission to do as much as possible, we forced ourself to walk around the city for a couple more hours before we finally went back to our hostel and passed out. It was an amazing experience and I was so happy to be able to climb Waynapicchu! That was definitely my favorite part of my entire trip.
Well, that's it for my update for now... I'll continue with part III in a couple of days! :)
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