Peru Pt. 8
7/24/2008
Up at 0400 this morning in the hope of being the first group to the checkpoint. We slept OK, although i was pretty congested from inhaling several pounds of trail dust. That might have been a bit of blessing though. It rained in the night which seemed to activate all of the dried piss in the ground. The place smelled awful... Anyways, most of the porters had already left, so breakfast today was just some bread.
We made it to the checkpoint at 0500 and were the first ones there. Yay! We departed at 0525 and it seemed a bit like a jailbreak. We were all hiking extra fast through the dark with flashlights. The hike wasn't too difficult today except for one area with super steep stairs. It only took us about 45 minutes to get to the sun gate, Intipunku. This is the first place where you can see Machu Picchu. When we got there it was still pretty cloudy/misty, but the mist soon cleared. Machu Picchu is far, far larger with many more buildings than any of the places we had been so far. We stayed there for a while and watched the many, many buses wind their way up the twisty path from Aguas Calientes.
After we watched the mists swirl for a while, we made a quick walk the rest of the way to Machu Picchu, completing the 6km walking for the day. We got there around 0730 and listened to Carlos talk and wandered around for several hours looking at the buildings and climbing around. There are still a lot of stairs there. It was, of course, very impressive and quite full of people. Eventually, we took the bus down to Aguas Calientes. When we got there, we met up with Carlos and some other from our group to hunt down our official "I Survived the Inca Trail" shirts. Carlos found us a place where they were wicked cheap (S/10), but the woman somehow managed to give us all the wrong sizes. And they fit weird. And they don't like the washer. I suppose you get what you pay for... Then we had lunch at the Pachmama restaurant, which Carlos recommended. It was pretty clear they knew him. We got a guinea pig to share. It was pretty expensive (S/55) and a tiny amount of meat. Not really worth it. At least it was gruesome... After lunch, we shopped in the market dealy for a while and had cakes and booze. I had a Peru Libre, which was pretty foul. Coke + Pisco + Lime.
After that, we ran and jumped on the train to Ollantaytambo. It was pretty nice, but a bit cramped. They gave us snack boxes with two sandwiches and sweet rolls. I also had some Inca Kola, which is bubble gum flavored and a bit odd... Once the train was underway, they had a "fashion show". First a guy one of those bizarre masks pranced around with a stuffed llama, then they modeled various clothing items they were selling on the train. Yes, even the train was a market...
Once we got to Ollantaytambo, we hopped on a bus to go back to Cusco. It was more crazy-ass driving, this time with 80s music. Wee... We made it back to the Hotel Prizma in Cusco around 2015 and then went to dinner at the restaurant next store because we were tired of walking. The restaurant was Leña y Piedra's. The menu ranged from really cheap to really expensive. I picked something really cheap, alpaca pinchos. They were delicious. Like one of the best things the entire trip. Just grilled al paca meat on skewers with some fried potatoes. But super great. We also finally had some chicha morada, which was quite tasty. I'd like to try to make it at home, but i'm not sure how to get purple corn...
First ones to the checkpoint, bitches!
The final steep staircase to Intipunku.
Machu Picchu in the mists from Intipunku. In didn't completely clear off until we had started hiking again.
The place of Intipunku.
More Machu Picchu in the mists.
Family photo at Intipunku.
Sun rising over the mountains. If it were the solstice, it would be right over Intipunku.
Not much farther now...
Llamas! Why not?
Family photo at Machu Picchu.
Machu Picchu from on high.
The ruins of Intipunku from Machu Picchu.
Inside Machu Picchu.
Terraces at Machu Picchu, more exciting climbing!
Intihuatana, the sun dial.
Buildings, with a wire to measure what effects earthquakes have. They are worried it is being slowly destroyed...
More buildings...
k + llama
Machu Picchu and Wayna Picchu. k hoped to climb it, but there was just no way to start the day early enough to beat the people on buses.
More climbing!
Scenic, eh?
Roasted guinea pig. Yum, yum!
Eww.
Delicious, delicious alpaca!
Up at 0400 this morning in the hope of being the first group to the checkpoint. We slept OK, although i was pretty congested from inhaling several pounds of trail dust. That might have been a bit of blessing though. It rained in the night which seemed to activate all of the dried piss in the ground. The place smelled awful... Anyways, most of the porters had already left, so breakfast today was just some bread.
We made it to the checkpoint at 0500 and were the first ones there. Yay! We departed at 0525 and it seemed a bit like a jailbreak. We were all hiking extra fast through the dark with flashlights. The hike wasn't too difficult today except for one area with super steep stairs. It only took us about 45 minutes to get to the sun gate, Intipunku. This is the first place where you can see Machu Picchu. When we got there it was still pretty cloudy/misty, but the mist soon cleared. Machu Picchu is far, far larger with many more buildings than any of the places we had been so far. We stayed there for a while and watched the many, many buses wind their way up the twisty path from Aguas Calientes.
After we watched the mists swirl for a while, we made a quick walk the rest of the way to Machu Picchu, completing the 6km walking for the day. We got there around 0730 and listened to Carlos talk and wandered around for several hours looking at the buildings and climbing around. There are still a lot of stairs there. It was, of course, very impressive and quite full of people. Eventually, we took the bus down to Aguas Calientes. When we got there, we met up with Carlos and some other from our group to hunt down our official "I Survived the Inca Trail" shirts. Carlos found us a place where they were wicked cheap (S/10), but the woman somehow managed to give us all the wrong sizes. And they fit weird. And they don't like the washer. I suppose you get what you pay for... Then we had lunch at the Pachmama restaurant, which Carlos recommended. It was pretty clear they knew him. We got a guinea pig to share. It was pretty expensive (S/55) and a tiny amount of meat. Not really worth it. At least it was gruesome... After lunch, we shopped in the market dealy for a while and had cakes and booze. I had a Peru Libre, which was pretty foul. Coke + Pisco + Lime.
After that, we ran and jumped on the train to Ollantaytambo. It was pretty nice, but a bit cramped. They gave us snack boxes with two sandwiches and sweet rolls. I also had some Inca Kola, which is bubble gum flavored and a bit odd... Once the train was underway, they had a "fashion show". First a guy one of those bizarre masks pranced around with a stuffed llama, then they modeled various clothing items they were selling on the train. Yes, even the train was a market...
Once we got to Ollantaytambo, we hopped on a bus to go back to Cusco. It was more crazy-ass driving, this time with 80s music. Wee... We made it back to the Hotel Prizma in Cusco around 2015 and then went to dinner at the restaurant next store because we were tired of walking. The restaurant was Leña y Piedra's. The menu ranged from really cheap to really expensive. I picked something really cheap, alpaca pinchos. They were delicious. Like one of the best things the entire trip. Just grilled al paca meat on skewers with some fried potatoes. But super great. We also finally had some chicha morada, which was quite tasty. I'd like to try to make it at home, but i'm not sure how to get purple corn...
First ones to the checkpoint, bitches!
The final steep staircase to Intipunku.
Machu Picchu in the mists from Intipunku. In didn't completely clear off until we had started hiking again.
The place of Intipunku.
More Machu Picchu in the mists.
Family photo at Intipunku.
Sun rising over the mountains. If it were the solstice, it would be right over Intipunku.
Not much farther now...
Llamas! Why not?
Family photo at Machu Picchu.
Machu Picchu from on high.
The ruins of Intipunku from Machu Picchu.
Inside Machu Picchu.
Terraces at Machu Picchu, more exciting climbing!
Intihuatana, the sun dial.
Buildings, with a wire to measure what effects earthquakes have. They are worried it is being slowly destroyed...
More buildings...
k + llama
Machu Picchu and Wayna Picchu. k hoped to climb it, but there was just no way to start the day early enough to beat the people on buses.
More climbing!
Scenic, eh?
Roasted guinea pig. Yum, yum!
Eww.
Delicious, delicious alpaca!