Machu Picchu

For some one who spends her peace corps career sleeping in till 9 every morning, this trip was a shock to my system. Every morning we were up at 6, except for the day we went to Machu Picchu when we woke up at 4:45 to try and get there for sunrise. I knew it was silly, cause all the mornings had been cloudy and rainy, but we still rushed out of our hostel like a bat out of hell. The boys didn’t even eat breakfast. When we got there it was raining and clouds were sitting on top off the hills so you couldn’t see anything 50 feet away from your face. When it came to be the hour for the sun to rise, nothing happened. It was just like some one was turning on a dimmer switch as the sky went from gray to slightly brighter gray. I could I have stayed in Lima to see that effect. I was thankful that I had been there in June with my parents to see the sun rise over the adjacent mountains. It was so beautiful and mystical but I was also grateful I could be there in December with the mist and fog on the mountains. That too was beautiful and mystical in another way.

In the morning Luis gave us the tour of the sacred city. It was a better, more thorough tour than I had with my parents in June, so it wasn’t all a re-run. We took about 1,000 pictures. Then the boys and I climbed Wayna Picchu, a steep mountain that over looks the ruins. Me and my dad did it two weeks before I ran a marathon and I remember feeling like my heart was going to jump out of my chest. Even though I was no where near in shape the way I was when I climbed it with my dad, but it didn’t even feel challenging this time around. I credit that to the fact that I had been acclimated to the altitude and was actually able to breath this time.

The sun came out around 9 o’clock in the morning and we enjoyed the rest of the warm day and the beautiful views that revealed themselves after the clouds lifted.

On top of the mountain Ryan pulled out an Almond Joy candy bar that he had been saving since Lima. He went out to a club and danced all night with the candy bar in his shirt pocket and then slept that night without taking it out. There was no real significance behind the candy bar, only that it was ours and we were going to share it as a victory celebration at Machu Picchu. So we ceremoniously feed each other the candy bar because we are complete weirdoes.

We wanted to hike beer up and enjoy a well deserved refreshment from atop Wayno Picchu, but we didn’t get our act together the night before.

All the boys wanted to stay at Machu Picchu as long as humanly possible. We were on the first bus up and they wanted to be on the last bus down. Stephanie however, had no desire to spend the entire day amongst a pile of rocks. Since I had already been to Machu Picchu, I offered to go down to Aguas Calientes and spend the rest of the day doing whatever she wanted.

We had Lunch at the hotel where my parents and I stayed. I ordered a dish that I had been dreaming about for six months, beef tenderloin in a elderberry sauce with a quinoa soufflé. We enjoyed the tranquil setting of the luxury hotel that contrasted the crowded town of Aguas Calientes and it’s slew of cheap hostels.

We decided to top off our Machu Picchu experience by getting a well deserved, full body message. Meanwhile, back at Ruins, the boys were synchronizing their ipods and running around again to the theme of Indiana Jones. They stayed until the last bus back down to Aguas Calientes where we all met up in the evening and recounted how we had spent the rest of the day.

At 6:30 we boarded a train back to Cusco. The landscape was dark and quite and the train comfortable and peaceful. The entire group for the first time on the trip was silent and lost in thought of the days events. Everyone agreed that we picked the perfect tour and the past 4 days had been one of the most unique experiences of our lives.

Since we had been up since 4:45 in the morning and had a day filled of mountain climbing and excitement, one might assume that this would be the night the boys would take it easy and go to bed. No No No. The boys had big plans for Cusco that night. After we got off the train in Ollantaytambo and onto a bus, every one fell asleep except for me, Ryan and Rico who were all drinking beer in the back and obnoxiously quoting every movie we could think of. The fun came to a screeching halt when we got to the hostel in Cusco and Ryan realized he had left his wallet and passport on the train. Operation Get Ryan’s Stuff Back was underway. I made about 10 phone calls and did all I could do for the night. But it was nearly midnight and there we would have to wait for the next day. We would have to put our plans to leave for Lake Titicaca in the morning on hold until we got everything back.