The adventure started in Cuzco, the capital of the Incas. There, I met two australians, both travelling on their own. One of them had a very tight budget, so I adapted to sleep in low cost hostels, eat in cheap places, and negociate even for the toilet paper... that was great! apart from spending less, it was fun!... and I adapted quickly to the new quality standards... even my stomach didn't complain about it either!
In our way to Machu Picchu, our first stop was Ollantaytambo... which we called "Olli" to simplify... I was proud to have found a 3euro per night hostel with very good views to inca ruins... After dinner, we went for a drink, and we arrived to the hostel at midnigth... The door was locked, we knocked the door as hard as we could, but no one was there to open... In desperation, I resolved to climb over the hostel wall to get inside the garden, it was dark, and the climb wasn't very obvious... but I made it!... once in the inside I could open the main door and we got to bed.
From Ollantaytambo, a train takes 1 hour 30 min to arrive to Aguas Calientes, the villange next to Machu Picchu. However, that train is quite expensive, so we found a way around, with a 4h bus + a 2h local minibus + a 30 min taxi + 4 hours hiking. And it was worth it!!... both for the views and for the feeling of adventure.... At the start of the hiking part, we had to cross a river. Before, there was a bridge, but it got destroyed with the recent floods around Machu Picchu area... The only way to cross it now was with a little platform which slided by a metallic cable... and at that moment we started to sing the Indiana Jones tones... "tin tirintin.. tin ti rin..." only for that cable thing the trip was worth it!
At the end of the hiking part, we had to walk on the railway... and that wasn't difficult, except when it got dark!... we had torches, so usually it was ok, but sometimes little rivers crossed under the railway, a couple of meters under it... forcing us to step only on the actual railway... I missed one of them, and I got a wound on my leg... deep enough that it should have been sewn... When we arrived to Aguas Calientes, the only place I could get a cure was in a half pharmacy, half internet-cafe, which had a doctor... he decided not to sew my wound and gave me antibiotics to avoid infection.
Next day we woke up at 3:30 in the morning to hike up to Machu Picchu... (to be within the first 400 people, who can access to hike Wayna Picchu mountain, with great views to Machu Picchu). It was very foggy... and that made it even more special... we could see Machu Picchu apearing gradually out of the white fog... soon after that the fog was completely gone.
At the end of the day, we had walked over all of Machu Picchu and surrounding mountains... and then we lied down on the grass of the agricultural terraces... and that was an amazing feeling! We even slept for a while there... Then a woman passed by, complaining "I don't know why this people are there lying down, they should be walking around..!"... and I just smiled... her ignorance disturbed her, but it didn't disturbed me... all the contrary... I understood a little bit better that when we get angry, probably it's because we are also ignorant...
