Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Day 4 - Macchu Picchu
We had agreed with Marisol that we would like to be one of the first groups to arrive at the Sun Gate the next morning, even though we thought we might not get a classic sunrise due to the rain.
She woke us up at 3:50am and sure enough it was raining. We had breakfast, and got ready in the wet and dark. Our short walk to the "control station" was in the dark, and our nearly flat torches were not terribly useful. Next time we will buy LED headlamps which light up the path like daylight (and which Beate and Magnus had). The control station does not open till 5:30, and despite arriving at ten to 5 we were still about the third group there. It was raining and there is certainly no shelter, but we were excited nevertheless.
Just before 5:30 the staff arrived, and Marisol elbowed her way to the front of the guide queue. The starting flag was effectively dropped and we were off!!! Marisol had rather psyched us up the night before and there was no stopping us. One by one we overtook people in front, until we were quite near the front. I had not walked so fast ever I think, especially on slippery rocky trails (which amazingly seemed to feel totally firm with our serious determination). The very last part was about 60 steep steps, and I was really puffed, but there was no stopping me. Jamie and Darryl had been setting the pace, with Beate and me close behind, and Marisol at the back running interference from anyone trying to catch us! It was really very funny. We made it to the Sun Gate, and Marisol popped up behind us! Her first words were "48 minutes! Congratulations!".
We relaxed for a while at the Sun Gate, and after about 15 minutes the mist lifted and we got our first glimpses of Macchu Picchu (pronounced PICK-CHU, not PICHU, as Marisol told us many a time).
After a two hour guided tour of the city, Marisol left us to climb Wayna Picchu (a mountain above Macchu Picchu) and suggested we might like also to go to the Temple of the Moon. The climb up was a tough one hour, including wriggling through a tunnel with our backpacks in front of us. It was a fantastic view though and worth the effort. We headed off to "Temple of the Moon", not entirely sure where we were headed, and certainly not expecting the walk to be as tough as it was. It was a very steep descent almost as far as the Urubamba River, several hundred metres lower than Macchu Picchu. Then we had to climb back up to the town, to catch the bus to Aguas Callientes. Although only three and a half hours in total, it was probably the hardest walk we had done.
We caught the bus down, and enjoyed a pizza. We heard some rumours about problems with the train, and when we got to the train station we found out that a landslide had closed the trainline, and no trains had run all day. This caused some consternation, as we all had places to be. Pat and I were on a plane to Quito the next morning, and if we missed it we were going to miss our cruise.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, we were offered "standing places" on the train we had originally had reserved seats on. We took them, and Marisol
Oops will have to finish this later....about to miss a plane to Buenos Aires!!!
EDIT: Later on, now in Buenos Aires!!
Anyway, to cut a long story short, we were offered "standing places" on the train we had originally had reserved seats on. This train was running about 1 hour late. We took them, and Marisol arranged for us to get off at Ollantaytambo and provided a bus from there to Cusco which was supposed to save us an hour of time.
All was well, and the six of us got off at Ollantaytambo, and found our bus. Then we sat on the bus, and sat and sat, with no-one telling us anything. Finally after Pat making a lot of noise, we found out that we were waiting for "the Russians" (another group), who obviously did not make this train, so we were waiting for the next train to arrive before the bus would leave. As it was already late, and we had a 430am start the next morning, we all got slowly more agitated, but to no avail. We were about to hire ourselves two taxis for the hour and a half journey back to Cusco when finally the next train arrived, with said Russians, and better yet, with Marisol! Marisol had serious words with the bus driver, and we got started.
The bus had a little statue of Jesus that was connected to the brakes and lit up when the driver braked! I guess it was his way of praying that the brakes worked! Fortunately they did, which was just as well. We ended up back in Cusco a little before ten, and went straight to the shop to get our photos copied to CD, then home for a shower - after four days of walking this was very much enjoyed!!!!
The restaurants were all closed and in any case we were getting up at 430, so we flopped into bed, congratulating ourselves on conquering the Inca Trail!!
She woke us up at 3:50am and sure enough it was raining. We had breakfast, and got ready in the wet and dark. Our short walk to the "control station" was in the dark, and our nearly flat torches were not terribly useful. Next time we will buy LED headlamps which light up the path like daylight (and which Beate and Magnus had). The control station does not open till 5:30, and despite arriving at ten to 5 we were still about the third group there. It was raining and there is certainly no shelter, but we were excited nevertheless.
Just before 5:30 the staff arrived, and Marisol elbowed her way to the front of the guide queue. The starting flag was effectively dropped and we were off!!! Marisol had rather psyched us up the night before and there was no stopping us. One by one we overtook people in front, until we were quite near the front. I had not walked so fast ever I think, especially on slippery rocky trails (which amazingly seemed to feel totally firm with our serious determination). The very last part was about 60 steep steps, and I was really puffed, but there was no stopping me. Jamie and Darryl had been setting the pace, with Beate and me close behind, and Marisol at the back running interference from anyone trying to catch us! It was really very funny. We made it to the Sun Gate, and Marisol popped up behind us! Her first words were "48 minutes! Congratulations!".
We relaxed for a while at the Sun Gate, and after about 15 minutes the mist lifted and we got our first glimpses of Macchu Picchu (pronounced PICK-CHU, not PICHU, as Marisol told us many a time).
After a two hour guided tour of the city, Marisol left us to climb Wayna Picchu (a mountain above Macchu Picchu) and suggested we might like also to go to the Temple of the Moon. The climb up was a tough one hour, including wriggling through a tunnel with our backpacks in front of us. It was a fantastic view though and worth the effort. We headed off to "Temple of the Moon", not entirely sure where we were headed, and certainly not expecting the walk to be as tough as it was. It was a very steep descent almost as far as the Urubamba River, several hundred metres lower than Macchu Picchu. Then we had to climb back up to the town, to catch the bus to Aguas Callientes. Although only three and a half hours in total, it was probably the hardest walk we had done.
We caught the bus down, and enjoyed a pizza. We heard some rumours about problems with the train, and when we got to the train station we found out that a landslide had closed the trainline, and no trains had run all day. This caused some consternation, as we all had places to be. Pat and I were on a plane to Quito the next morning, and if we missed it we were going to miss our cruise.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, we were offered "standing places" on the train we had originally had reserved seats on. We took them, and Marisol
Oops will have to finish this later....about to miss a plane to Buenos Aires!!!
EDIT: Later on, now in Buenos Aires!!
Anyway, to cut a long story short, we were offered "standing places" on the train we had originally had reserved seats on. This train was running about 1 hour late. We took them, and Marisol arranged for us to get off at Ollantaytambo and provided a bus from there to Cusco which was supposed to save us an hour of time.
All was well, and the six of us got off at Ollantaytambo, and found our bus. Then we sat on the bus, and sat and sat, with no-one telling us anything. Finally after Pat making a lot of noise, we found out that we were waiting for "the Russians" (another group), who obviously did not make this train, so we were waiting for the next train to arrive before the bus would leave. As it was already late, and we had a 430am start the next morning, we all got slowly more agitated, but to no avail. We were about to hire ourselves two taxis for the hour and a half journey back to Cusco when finally the next train arrived, with said Russians, and better yet, with Marisol! Marisol had serious words with the bus driver, and we got started.
The bus had a little statue of Jesus that was connected to the brakes and lit up when the driver braked! I guess it was his way of praying that the brakes worked! Fortunately they did, which was just as well. We ended up back in Cusco a little before ten, and went straight to the shop to get our photos copied to CD, then home for a shower - after four days of walking this was very much enjoyed!!!!
The restaurants were all closed and in any case we were getting up at 430, so we flopped into bed, congratulating ourselves on conquering the Inca Trail!!
