It's 5:15am and we're standing at the back of a long line of people, at the bus station. We're waiting for our ride up to Machu Picchu - one of the new 7 wonders of the world. We've had a small breakfast of toast and coffee, but realize that we should take something else for when we get hungry later. I run into the store and find all the prices are heavily inflated. So I just buy a couple of candy bars for the rip-off price of 10 soles($4) each. The buses come quickly and we only wait about 10 mins.
The 20 min. uphill ride is scenic with views of the mountain side in the mist. Before we know it, we're at the entrance. Most people already have entrance tickets - I'm not sure how - but we have to wait in line for 30 mins to get ours!
It's 6:30am when we enter Machu Picchu and it's like walking into another world. Everything is amazingly green and the site is vast. But we don't have time to fully take it all in, we have to get tickets to climb Huayna Picchu. Huayna Picchu is the taller mountain next door to Machu Picchu and it gives you a great view of the city. Because a few tourists have fallen off the slippery mountain path (to their gruesome deaths), they now limit the number of people who go up each day. So you have to get there early to ensure you're one of the lucky 400 people.
We get our tickets and we can go up with the second group, between 10:00am & noon. Perfect, this gives us time to do an 8am guided tour of the site. The tour guide is well informed and leads us around the ruins for 2 hours, explaining the different buildings along the way.
Did you know that the president of Peru instructed people to move an obelisk that stood in the middle of Machu Picchu so that the visiting Pope could land in a helicopter? Well, they we're able to move it in one piece, but after the Pope left, the obelisk broke as they were trying to put it back in the field. Thus ruining a statue that had stood there for hundreds of years. What a farce!
Also, did you know that Yale University funded the American explorer who found the 'lost city' of Machu Picchu? Apparently they believe this gives them the right to indefinitely hold on to all the artifacts found here at the time - for research purposes of course. Our guide isn't happy about this one!
During our tour, the guide repeatedly mentioned how difficult it is to climb Huayna Picchu...and how many people don't make it to the top...and how people have fallen off the top due to overcrowding....
Well, after hearing all this and becoming breathless just walking around, we start to think maybe we won't climb the mountain. The air is so thin up here, it gets hard to breath after walking just a few steps. Also Rich still isn't fully recovered from his bout of food poisning and hasn't eaten a full meal in two days. Plus, I climbed Mount Sinai a few years ago and I think one mountain in a life time is enough. Right?
After the tour we both agree that we should turn in our climbing tickets and just explore the rest of Machu Picchu. And there is loads to explore, so we're not disappointed. We spend the next few hours walking around, taking pictures and meeting resident alpacas. Some clouds have rolled in, covering the ruins in a veil of mist. What a scene! This place definitely lives up to all the hype.
