Machu Picchu...pretty steep!

Machu Picchu...the "Lost city of the Incas". Rediscovered in 1911 by American scholar, Hiram Bingham, Machu Picchu has quickly become one of the world's most famous historic sites for tourism, and attracts up to 500,000 visitors every year. It is the pride of Peru, and we happened to be there for the 100th anniversary. The iconic image of MP's ancient stone city, set up inbetween the peaks of Machu Picchu and Wayna Picchu, surrounded by the clouds has been imprinted in my mind for years. I was finally going to see it, and to do so, we were tackling the infamous Inca Trail.
The Inca Trail is one of the most famous treks in the world. As you know by now, I'm not the most enthusiastic of trekkers, but if there was one that I just had to do, it was this one. Still, we thought it best to chose a trek that was managable for us; a physical and mental challenge, but also enjoyable. We heard about the "Jungle Trek" back in Buenos Aires, and decided that this was the one for us. It was one of the cheapest around, and included the standard 4 day journey to Machu Picchu, via part of the Inca Trail, but with two main differences: the first day is by bike, and you stay in hostels, not tents! The hostel part was definately appealing. At high altitude and going into Peruvian winter, the nights in Cusco were pretty cold, so sleeping in a tent was not on my agenda. We were also very excited to get our first tropical experience of the Peruvian jungle!
The whole experience was amazing. It was completely exhausting at times, but always very rewarding, and we couldn't have had a better group. It was a large international group of fifteen, all different ages and backgrounds too. Tash and I bonded well with two English girls called Lucy and Becca, but we also loved German Simon, the crazy frenchman Xavier and his sarcastic sidekick Alex, and the 48 year old Chilean Pepe. Our two Peruvian guides Abraham and Jimmy, kept us well informed about local and Inca culture as well as attempting to teach us some Quechuan words (unsuccessfully). Tash was especially content, as she eyed Jimmy up as her future Peruvian husband...So we had our great group, which obviously made the tour better, but even without them, it would always have been epic.

The first day started up high in an icy blanket of cloud. The downhill biking was a breeze, sitting on the bike with the cold air rushing past me, speeding down the windy but tarmacked mountain roads. The views over the lush green valleys were stunning, and once through the worst of the cloud, we were hit with the dazzling blue sky.  Once we were down near the jungle, with the dirty dusty track, I gave in and hopped on the bus to join Tash. I wasn't about to wear myself out before we even started the trek!

Our accomodation throughout the trek was very basic. No warm water, and bare cold rooms. Our meals, however, were delicious Peruvian fare, with warming soups and filling mains. Considering that we had stuffed our bags full of high calorie snacks for the 4 days, we were fed very well three times a day too. Our days were long and energetic, so despite the extreme excess of food, we ate it all.

The second day was the longest and most tiring day, with a total of 9 hours of walking. At altitude, everyone struggled with their breathing, but it was made easier as Abraham would regularly stop to teach us about the local produce of the jungle. We learnt about coffee production, sample fresh sweet lemons, avocadoes, and cacao beans straight from the trees. We chewed on coca leaves, and were taught how to do this correctly (although I was already fully educated). We tried fresh passion fruit, the sweetest I'd ever tasted, and I gorged myself on avocado. All of these stops were at people's houses, who relied on the passing trade for a living. Water bottles were expensive, and we were asked for donations often. At first this was annoying, but once we realised how remote the lives of these Peruvians were, we felt that it was the least we could do. After all, they have to put up with tour loads of people trekking past their homes every day of the year.

The sun was strong, and we all got a little burnt that afternoon. After our wonderful lunch, and half an hour in the hammocks, we were climbing over the rocks by the river, crossing rickety old bridges and were pulled over the river by a makeshift cable car. It was a great experience that day, my favourite by far. We hadn't even spotted Machu Picchu yet, and I was already on a high! That night we all chilled out, by having a few drinks at the small town of Santa Teresa. The night ended in a tiny school-disco style night club, but we took it easy, knowing what lay ahead.

The next day, I felt the burn. My thighs and joints were achey, but whilst some of the group paid the extra to spend the morning doing the zip wire across the valleys towards Machu Picchu, us paupers had to trek some more. It wasn't as strenuous as the previous day, as it was mainly flat, but there was a lot less to see. The highlight was getting our first glimpse of Machu Picchu, up at the top of the mountain. It made me so excited to get up there! Yet we were all dreading the following morning, as we had heard the horror stories of the 4am "race" up the 836 steps to Machu Picchu. The reason for the race, is that only 400 people a day are allowed to climb Wayna Picchu, the smaller of the two mountains, but the most iconic one seen in all the photographs. It was an acheivement to be able to climb Wayna Picchu, and even more to make be the first 400 to climb the steps in the morning. By this point, walking along the old railway line to Aguas Calientes, I was unsure of how I would manage it. I was already exhausted, with my creaky joints not being up to scratch for a 22 year old. Yet there was no way I'd be going home without being able to boast about the 4am race. It would be up there with the greatest experiences of my life, and I was very determined to succeed!

That night at Aguas Calientes, the tourism based town at the foot of Machu Picchu, we all mentally and physically prepared ourselves for the following day. It was an early night, with all of our things ready to go at our 3.45am rise. Us four girls were freaking out a little. Tash refused to talk about it at all! We were torn between fear and excitement. All we could do in preparation, was get some sleep...

It was honestly the hardest thing I have done in my entire life. I don't even like to remember it! I can't say that I enjoyed the experience at all. In fact, I hated it.

We made it to the gates at 4am, and joined the queue. The rest of our group were about five minutes before us, but we were maybe eightieth in line. I was all pumped up and ready! It was pitch black outside, but we were all jumping up and down to keep warm and ready to start the steady slog up to the entrance. It was crucial that we got to the top before the buses, which would arrive just before 5am. Abraham had told us that the average time is 45 minutes to get to the top, at a steady pace, without stopping. I'm not sure what time we began, but nothing could have prepared me for the next 45 minutes.

It was constant. The big stone steps were just under a foot high, and we were tackling these a quick pace. It was the steps that killed me. My muscles were in shock and my knees were in constant pain. It was so dark, and all I had was the light from the girls in front of me. I really struggled, and at one point was close to stopping completely. I knew I'd have to finish it, but I couldn't get myself to start again.

It was only when I heard Tash calling down after me that I pushed myself to keep going. There was no way I was letting Tash wait for me, and miss her chance to climb Wayna Picchu. She'd just come out of hospital as well! I remembered what Annabel and I used to say whenever anything was stressful or hard..."suck it up". That's exactly what I did. I got on with it, and pushed ahead, thinking all the time, "you can do it".

Well, we beat the buses! In fact, we did the whole thing in 45 minutes, despite my struggle! At the top I was so happy I almost cried! My heart was thumping and my lungs were in stabbing pain, but I couldn't stop laughing! All our group made it, some in front and some behind. We did it! I climbed the 836 steps to Machu Picchu in 45 minutes! Boom.

The pride that we felt when we received our Machu Picchu stamp on our passports and ticket to Wayna Picchu, was huge. Yet the best reward was still to come, and we were completely blown away by the sight before us.
The city is remarkable. It looked just how I had seen in the photographs, and that was almost more impressive. It instantly lived up to my expectations. The tiered levels of the ancient stone foundations, looked almost as if the city was carved into the mountain, rather than built on. Most of the houses have gone, but the temples and tombs and remains of religious buildings are all still intact, as well as the ancient carvings. We visited the sacrificial sites, where lamas were used as offerings to the gods, and marvelled at a huge Inca sundial.

We learnt about how there is great debate about the discovery of Machu Picchu, as there are carvings to suggest that Hiram Bingham was not the first to discover it in 1911. Locals say that the Peruvian people discovered it long before Bingham, but wanted to keep it a secret as it was believed to hold many treasures within the tombs. It is true that Bingham only discovered it because a local boy had told him that he knew of some ancient ruins, and led him right to them. So really, Bingham only exposed the city to the Western world, and I wonder whether that is even a good thing at all.

I took hundreds of photographs. The views were stunning, and my pictures were exactly how I imagined them to be, with the peak of Wayna Picchu in the background behind the tiered walls of the city. Machu Picchu means "old peak" in Quechuan, and is the larger of the two mountains, whilst Wayna Picchu means "young peak" being the smaller.

We eventually climbed Wayna Picchu, the privilege that we endured the early morning pain for. This was a lot more enjoyable than the morning climb, as we went at our own pace. From the top of WP we were able to get an aerial view of the city, which many people argue is built in the shape of a condor. We all sat on the top in the sunshine and looked down on our day's achievement. We could see all the way down to the railway tracks that we had walked along the previous day, and saw how far we had come and how much we had accomplished.

That afternoon we fell asleep on the grass, all worn out. Machu Picchu has strict rules and regulations such as no eating, jumping, shouting and apparently, sleeping, within the city. We were ushered on by the security guards! We took it easy for the rest of the day, ruling out the climb up Machu Picchu or to the Sun Gate. I now wish we had maybe tried to do that too, but at the time it seemed impossible! However, instead I managed to take an iconic photo of Machu Picchu with myself and a grumpy llama staring at each other. My llama loving friends were all so envious and proud. Mission accomplished!

We said our goodbyes to the group in the evening, and caught the train home to Cusco. We were exhausted by the time we got back, and I'm pretty sure we didn't even speak to each other before crashing out in our comfy Loki beds. That was the end of our Machu Picchu experience, probably the greatest physical achievement and experience of my life! This is why South America is above and beyond everywhere else I have ever been. The number of sites and awesome experiences that we have had in just two and half months is wonderful, and we haven't even scratched the surface. It was a great way to redeem our time in Peru, after our shakey start. I will never ever forget our Machu Picchu experience.