Machu Picchu

I realize I am hardly the first person who has taken pictures of Machu Picchu so these aren't really that exciting.

As for the day...My friends - I have friends in the hostel, very exciting - wanted to stay overnight in the town near MP so they could be at the ruins before all the other tourists arrived in the morning. But I'm not such a ruins person, and I dont really begrudge other tourists from being there since I am one too...so I only wanted to do a day trip. I bought roud trip train tickets for Thursday not from Cuzco but from a town 1 and a half hours away, which were a little cheaper, and that is what my friends were doing so I could travel up with them. We took a taxi to the town with the train station - Amy bargained him from 60 soles to 40 soles for the ride - but he didn't take us all the way to the train station, and when we got there he wanted 5 soles more. But he was hardly in a position to bargain, and we didn't like that he neither took us all the way to the train or asked, so we didnt give it to him. When we got to the station I started thinking it was a bad idea not to have bought more food to bring with me to MP - I did have some Ritz crackers and a little chocolate - and 2 English guys we knew from the hostel were sitting at a table eating a dish of chicken and rice that was 2.5 soles - about 80 cents. I decided to eat it solely on the basis of not feeling like I was getting ripped off from the price - it was tourist central. So even though I was a little concerned about eating street food, I ate it all up...and then felt really nervous for the rest of the day, wishing that for the sake of avoiding inflated tourist prices I had just bought a bar of chocolate instead. Right now its about 23 hours later and I don't feel bad yet, and I feel like stomach problems usually hit within 24 hours, so hopefully I am in the clear. On the train I sat in a near empty car with the 2 British guys, who were really nice, my friends had bought their tickets before me and were in another car that had nicer seats but was packed to the brim...Anyway the train ride took about an hour and 40 minutes and was STUNNING. Practically worth the journey just for the train! MP is actually about 1000 feet lower than Cuzco so the climate is tropical. For the whole day I really could have worn shorts. The weather was just perfect...it was sunny the whole day. But I am getting ahead of myself.

From the train station you need to tak a bus 20 minutes up a hill, and I wanted to get on th first bus possible because I was feeling a little anxious about only having about 4 hours at the site. So when we got in to the station I was first off the train, raced to the bus station to buy tickets, and then it turned out that the bus wouldnt leave until full. Maybe 15 minutes later it was, and we headed up anothr stunning journey to the MP entrance. When I got there I headed for the back, where there's a hike to something called Waynapicchu. Its like a mountain just behind the ruins, and if you hike up you get a great view of MP. But they only let 400 people in a day and it was about 11.30 when I arrived at MP, which opens at 6, so I wasn't sure if I would be able to do it. It was also supposed to be 1 hour each way, which definitely was going to eat in to my time in MP, but I felt like the hike was part of the experience. Anyway I arrived at the entrance, which is in the back of the ruins, in less time than I expected so figured that I didnt need that long to explore the ruins themselves. And I was person 364 in. I was right behind two American girls and chatted with them for a while, but then left them behind because I really didn't have time for a stop and smell the roses hike...I wanted to get up and down as fast as possible. I know that wouldn't be everyone's perference but I'm more of a "do more with less time for each thing" kind of person because I don't have a lot of patience. Anyway the hike was steep and hard, and I was definitely huffing and puffing when going at my own pace. When I was stuck behind people and going at their pace, it wasnt that hard. I guess I am a better hiker than I think I am, because I made it to the top in about 35 minutes. The view really was great...365 degrees around and tons of sun. But I didn't stay too long and got lost for a minute going down, but then figured it out. There was a wait for a while - I think a lady hyperventilated. Like almost every hike I have ever done, I was 90% glad I did it and 101% glad when it was over. The views really were beautiful.

Anyway, I was out of the hike in an hour and five minutes, with 3 hours left to explore MP. I had a hard time figuring out the map at first but then got a hang of it. I didn't have a guide and was thinking of trying to eveasedrop on other groups, but most of the guides were speaking Spanish and I didnt have the patience for that, plus it was kind of fun just to explore on my own at my own pace. Twice I ran into a guy from Germany I had met the night before, and he was also on his own and have listened to some guides, so he showed me one place I was looking for and then we walked around together. He pretty much refuses to speak in English - he said now that he has learned Spanish he can't speak English well - so at least I got some Spanish practice in. It turned out that I didn't even want all the time I had at the site....there's only so much ruins I can look at, and it was more about soaking it all in and appreciating that I can't imagine how the Incas found the site, got up there, and built things! Anyway we took a bus down and walked aroun the 100% tourist town. We stopped to get a pizza which the waiter said would take 10 to 12 minutes. Apparently that doesn't mean the same thing that it does in the US because 10 minutes later they started firing up the wood burning oven. And I had a train to catch, and was getting nervous about making it. The couple next to us was also waiting a long time for their pizza, and started talking to us - they were from Argentina and really nice, they shared their chips and guacamole with us. Finally the pizza was out, and at about 4.10 I started running for the train station for my 4.20 train...and I was really tired after all the hiking in MP. I think I went more out of the way than I needed to, and then when I was running through the market with my train ticke clutched in my hand, a lady pointed out to me the right direction. I arrived at the train about 4.18, and it left at 4.22 so I had a bigger cushion than I thought. Unlike the morning's comfortable train ride, this time the coach was full and I was stuck in a section with what I first thought was a group of college students but then realized were just high schoolers. And then I figured out they were from Boston, when they started playing a game called "Concentration" - the one where you clap and chant and call out things in a category. A game that should NOT be played in a closed environment with other people around. Yet they did. And they also played games like naming people in their class and saying what first came to mind about them...why oh why hadn't I brought my iPod? So the train ride back was not too fun and although I had a window, somehow the scenery wasn't as impressive as on the way up.

Back in Ollataytambo, which I can never say, I was going to find a place to eat chocolate cake and look at the ruins lit up at night, and then catch a public bus back to Cuzco, but amongst the madness of 300 plus people getting off the train essentially 99% heading back to Cuzco. People who had booked their whole train ticket-visit-hike etc had taxis waiting for them, but there were also tourist buses calling out "Cuzco 5 soles" and I decided to just take the easy way home rather than figuring out a public bus. In the end my return to Cuzco was way more comfortable than I would have imagined...a tourist class coach or a colective in a 1980 minivan where they stuff in 15 people into every space imagable for the same price? I've done plenty of more local transportation and it was nice to have a comfy seat and a window.

So that was the day, which was wonderful. I really wouldn't have wanted 8 hours at MP, as stunning and impressive as it is. I do want to find a book or more information about the site, but as it is I'm really pleased with the experience.

I will try to write more soon about other things in Cuzco, and I have more pictures. For today I think I am going to take a bus to a town with supposedly impressive ruins that are another hike, even though my legs definitely hurt. As long as I feel certain my stomach is ok. Tonight I'm going to a "Full Moon" party with some friends, which isn't something I normally do but I figure it might be interesting.