On Sunday, we woke up in our Aguas Calientes hostel at
5:00 am in order to meet our tour guide at 5:45 to take the bus to Machu
Picchu. The road was extremely steep and curvy (to say the least) and took us
up a mountain for about 25 minutes.
When
we finally arrived, our wonderful tour guide took us all around Machu Picchu,
giving us all kinds of valuable historical information. We saw some amazing
views and learned many facts about the Incas, including the 2 sectors that
Macchu Picchu was divided into (agricultural and urban), the temple of sun, how
the Incas kept watch over their city, and the temple of the 3 windows.
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| Shout Out to the Birthday Girl!! :-) |
We also
got to view and pet a few llamas that were grazing in the terraces of Machu
Picchu. An interesting fact was, when looking from the terraces of Machu
Picchu, mountains (which included Huayna Picchu) made the profile of an Incan
face.
After a 2 hour tour, we ate a
light lunch and then prepared for our hike up Huayna Picchu.
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| Huayna Picchu |
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| Just a glimpse of how steep it was to climb |
We began our hike by signing in at the bottom of the
mountain (so that they could make sure that if we did not return, they could
send assistance).
The first 10 minutes
of the hike seemed nice and easy, then we realized that we hadn’t really
started climbing the mountain.
Chris had
to give Nate Blakeley a pep talk before we started our journey due to Nate’s fear
of heights.
Very quickly, the narrow
path got extremely steep and almost constant uneven stairs began (putting our
depth perception and proprioception to the test).
We needed frequent breaks due to the altitude
and extreme grueling path.
After about
an hour, we made it to the top, only to be met by large insects that we at
first mistook for bees, but then realized that we had no clue what they really
were (but they were definitely numerous).
We had a great view of Machu Picchu from the top, which appears in the
shape of a Condour (according to our tour guide). We were able to capture tons
great pictures and make many memories.
The hike down was not much easier than the hike up, due to having to
balance on the narrow, steep stairs (often with little to hold onto to keep our
balance).
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| Just a tad exhausted after hiking Huayna Picchu |
When it was all said and done,
we were all EXHAUSTED to say the least, but very happy that we accomplished
this hike and enjoyed God’s creation.
After our adventures of the day, we caught a 3.5 hour
train back to Cusco. While on the train, we met a very nice couple (they were
both radiologists) and played cards with them for a good portion of the
trip. We made it back to Cusco around
8:30 pm, checked into our hostel, and then ventured into Cusco to find some
dinner (the first full meal we had eaten all day). We found a great little
place to eat (most of us had our first American dish since we had been here),
and then went to bed, very ready for a good night’s sleep.
God Bless,
On Sunday, we woke up in our Aguas Calientes hostel at
5:00 am in order to meet our tour guide at 5:45 to take the bus to Machu
Picchu. The road was extremely steep and curvy (to say the least) and took us
up a mountain for about 25 minutes. When
we finally arrived, our wonderful tour guide took us all around Machu Picchu,
giving us all kinds of valuable historical information. We saw some amazing
views and learned many facts about the Incas, including the 2 sectors that
Macchu Picchu was divided into (agricultural and urban), the temple of sun, how
the Incas kept watch over their city, and the temple of the 3 windows. 
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