Machu Picchu: Vale la Pena

Just got back into Cusco from our 5 day/4 night hike up to Macchu Picchu. I am battered and bruised. So far I have counted 1 sprained ankle, 3 sun burns, 167 mosquito bites, and a 2 non-functional legs.....but it was well worth it.

Our trek began in Cusco where we were woken up at 4:30 AM by a cab driver who took us to something that resembled a bus station. We had 11 people in our group and our "bus" only fit 9, so we had to hire a cab to drive 2 people 2.5 hours to our destination in the Peruvian highlands. I was in the back seat and it was like I was sitting on a bouncy ball as we drove over the bumpy, cliff-side roads. Our driver still found it necessary to try and pass large trucks even though the roads were only wide enough for 1.5 cars. I was feeling a little weezy from the rodent the night before and was just trying not to poo my pants...

We set off by foot walking through hillside towns and farmland, passing tobacco fields, coca plants and cows along the way. The scenery began to change halfway through the hike. We turned a corner and felt a chilling breeze in our faces as we spotted the massive glacier settled between two mountain ranges. It got colder and more impressive as we marched along. The 19 km hike took us from 9,000 ft to 13,000 ft and we set up camp at the base of one of the glaciers in the vicinity. Just beyond it you could see Salkantay Mountain peaking over with its 19,200 ft frame and a glacial river flowing through the east side of the campground. The porters set up our tents and dinner table in a small shelter. We sat around and played cards in our winter gear as the temperature dropped. This was really the first time that we all had a chance to meet, chat and get to know eachother. The people were fantastic and I knew that we would get along well....especially after 3 games of hearts and a couple of beers. Out group included 2 Swedish students, 2 married Norwegian engineers, 2 young and spunky Australian girls, an older, bad-ass Australian crime scene investigator, and 2 other amazing friends that we met in Quito. We ate our crappy dinner....some sort of meet that had the taste and texture of a zip-loc bag, rice, and multiple cups of the coca tea, which they make out ot be the miracle tea (supposedly it helps with altitude sickness, stomach issues, sore throats and loss of voice, weight loss, and gives energy). I received none of these benefits....the only thing I noticed was that my tongue went numb when i chewed on the leaves, so i did that a few times.

Wake up call was 6 am and i woke up with a sore back and frozen feet. Apparently they provided sleeping mats and I was the only one that didn't receive the memo. Today was to be the hardest day, walking 21 km and passing over 15,200 ft between the 2 glacial mountains. It rained intermittently and clouds rolled through the valley, blocking our view of Salkantay. We made it to the top and rested on a boulder, catching glimpses of the peak and listening to the sound of massive chunks of ice crashing down the side of the mountain. Apparently nobody has ever summited this mountain and dozens have died trying....didn't look THAT hard to me. The hike was difficult and some did better than others. We descended down from the highest point and watched as the landscape changed from snow and rocks to a grassy river valley with mountains on all sides. We saw eagles and some giant white birds with black tails hopping on the ground.... which our guide said were wild turkeys, but he was an idiot. It was warm when we stopped for lunch and I took off my jacket, but the wind picked up and it began to rain before lunch was served. One of the girls was suffering from mild to severe altitude sickness and I thought she was going to vomit on me at lunch. She didn't and I was thankful for that. The path after lunch led us down from the valley and into lush jungle. The mountains were just as prominent, but were covered with weird looking rainbow trees (that's the scientific name I invented for them), vines, and ferns. It seemed like an eternity but was enjoyable the whole time. Waterfalls would show up every now and then and the changing climate made for some great photos. It started raining again about 4 km from our campsite and we arrived right before the torrential downpour hit. It rained and rained and rained...and I drank hot chocolate and read a book to the soothing sounds of water hitting the straw roof and thunder. We ate dinner and chatted until bedtime. The sky cleared and revealed an amazing display of stars and constellations. I slept on a mat this time...and it is really nice not having rocks jamming into your hip.

Woke up at 6 am again to the porters knocking on our tents and handing us coca tea with sugar. We ate bread and jam for breakfast (again) and wasted no time in starting the days trek. The path lead us down the side of the mountain and with a huge river below. From there we hiked up and down the river floor, crossing waterfalls and streams on more shady south american bridges. Everything was going great and we were really enjoying the hike until we got to La Playa, a little town on the edge of the river. This is when I noticed the bugs. They were everywhere....it was like the worst Minnesota summer swarm following me around everywhere I went. I swear to God that there was a cloud of them following me around....I was like Pigpen, the stinky kid from Charlie Brown. I put on 100% deet bug lotion (strong enough to melt skin) and the bastards would't cease their onslaught. Maybe they were attracted to the scent of 4 day old underwear and man sweat. Everywhere we walked someone would giggle and tell me in spanish that the mosquitos "loved me". Yeah, real funny....anyway, we ate our best lunch of the trip and bought big beers at lunch to take our minds off of the bugs. We took a bus to Santa Teresa, where we were to camp with 100 other people. There was a monkey running around and we fought to pet him and hold him...until we watched him pee in his hands and wipe it all over his body....I am just going to assume that was the first time he had ever done that. From here we all took a short bus to a large hot spring on the outskirts of the city. It looked ok, but was probably the most disguisting hot spring in the world because the only clients are hikers whom haven't showered in days and go there strictly to wash off. Ate dinner in a cloud of bugs that night and I consumed a moth that flew into my tea for 5 soles ...which is worth about $1.65. I make $0 an hour, so $1.65 in 3 seconds seemed like a steal.....you gotta do what you gotta do when you are unemployed. One of the girls got sick that night and vomited in the tent...she had some sort of stomach bug...so that was our excitement for the night.

Everyone was tired and sore on the fourth day, but we got up at 5 am to try and make it to Aguas Calientes as early as possible. Our guide told the sick girl to walk it off, and that he would stay back with her to make sure she was ok. He disappeared after about 30 minutes and the girl was so pale that we sent her off in a taxi. The worthless guide had stayed back and hitched a ride with the cooks. He didn't even know anyone's name and forgot about the sick girl. He got a mouthful at lunch and had his tail between his legs the whole way to Aguas Calientes. We had to walk along the railraod tracks for the last 6 km, but the scenery was changing...the mountains began to look like Machu Picchu mountains and I got excited. We passed by the back of the ruins and could see the Incan bridge and a few terraces. We arrived into town, exhausted from our 70 km hike and settled into our hostel. Ellie the Canadian and I decided that we wanted to climb to the top of mount Picususu (or something like that). It is the second best viewing point for Machu Picchu, and a great hike. We had to climb wooden ladders straight up the side of a mountain and trampled over stone stairs on our way to the top. We got our first glimpes of the surrounding area and of Macchu Picchu ruins. The mountains look fake....shooting straight up into the heavens with cloud crowns and sun rays lighting up portions of the hillsides. I took a hundred pictures and sat up there taking in the views. We hiked down and ate a massive meal.....tomorrow was the big day. We woke up at 4:30 am and 2 of us decided to hike up to the ruins instead of taking the 30 minute bus ride (me because it was $7 for the bus and Ellie because she is insane). We hiked straight up 1,700 stone stairs in the dark to the entrance of Machu Picchu....we were 17th in line (not that I was competing). We waited there and entered the ruins at 6 am. We ran to the end of the ruins, snapping photos like a japanese tourist (no offense) and made our way to Waynupicchu, where they only allow 400 people in each day. We got our tickets and waited for the gates to open. We hiked up the steep mountain attached to the ruins. It was straight up and took an hour. The views were amazing. We were walking in and out of clouds and passing incan structures and lookouts. We were first up top and jaws dropped as we looked down at the ruins and mountains. It was the most amazing thing I have ever seen (even better than the Galapagos and the cliffs of Moher). This is what I would think heaven would be like....except instead of Incan ruins I would have an 18 hole championship golf course, 4 basketball courts, free Chipotle burrito stands, and all of my friends and family. Words and pictures don't do it justice....I will post pictures soon so you can try to grasp its beauty. The ruins were much larger than I had imagined, and I sat there, on top of a mountain, looking down at one of the world's greatest accomplishments. It is mind boggling to comprehend how sophisticated and infallible these peole were. It is the greatest clash of mankind and nature...can't imagine anything better. Eventually, too many people showed up and we headed down to tour the ruins. 4 of us ended up leaving the tour and just sitting in silence staring at the ruins from the famous postcard viewpoint. We eventually headed down after 7 hours of amazement. I walked again.....so I could eat 2 dinners. The whole group met for dinner and we found a 4 for 1 happy hour where we discussed our lives back home and the surreal day that we just experienced.

I couldn't feel my legs, I was delirious from dehydration and pisco sours, and the mosquitos continued to munch on my flesh....but I stopped for a second, and said to myself "Vale la pena".

Next stop is Bolivia....and I haven't shaved my mustache in almost 4 weeks.