Peru - Machu Picchu and climbing Waynapicchu

Machu Picchu


This morning we were up early to catch the 5am bus to Machu Picchu.
Was amazing! You really cannot believe how stunning it is until you are there breathing the cool, clean air up within the Andean mountains at 2,400m high. This is why I travelled to Peru, and I have now seen and explored the most beautiful and well preserved ancient Inca city in the world. I feel very privaledged to have stood amazed by the size, skill and beauty.

Mountains around Machu Picchu


This is my first early morning view of Machu Picchu


Did you know?
More info about Machu Picchu ...

Our tour guide Cecilia suggested Kirsty and I walked up Waynapicchu which is a mountain next to Machu Picchu to see the city from a good view. Sounded a good idea to me so off I went to queue for a ticket to climb.(There are only 400 tickets available each day and you have to start queuing at 7am for either a 7.30am or 10am start.)

My view of snow capped mountains whilst waiting for my Waynapicchu ticket



I had my ticket in my hand for the 10am climb so headed back to the main gate to meet the rest of our tour group who were on the last part of their Inca trail trek.

They were all very pleased to have reached Machu Picchu after also having an early 4.30am start ... and treking 30miles over 4 days. I gave them all a Snickers bar each as I knew there were no shops on the Inca trail (which they all liked) and we had stayed last night in a nice comfy bed and had a good meal in town, where as they had camped.

Machu Picchu


We had a good tour guide who showed us around. Was hard to take all the info he said in.

Don´t touch the sides


They were clever builders the Incas


The Southern Cross star constellation


How did they manage to carve a city out of the rock?



Then it was time to walk up Waynapicchu. Kirsty had decided not to do the walk so it was me on my own. I looked at the mountain and wondered if I really could climb it as I was a bit scared just walking a few feet on an angled platform to take the above pictures. Kirsty gave me her phone and a bottle of water!

KIRSTY - You are a star for giving me your water as I don't think I would have made it in the heat without it. And lending me your phone for contacting the group when I arrived down.

I thourght as I was unable to do the Inca trail trek I would trek up this mountain instead and see the good view. We had to sign in a book our name, sex, age, nationality and the time that we started, then when we get down sign out. So there was a long queue.

Waiting in the queue at the start


Can you believe I am about to climb the mountain behind me in the pic above? You maybe able to see the Inca terraces at the top? Well if I only get half way then at least I have tried!

Whilst waiting in the queue I asked the guy behind me if he would take a picture of me, with the mountain behind me and he did. I was surprised that he spoke English so well as I thourght I was sandwiched between a hippy old French couple and a group of young hunky Dutch girls and guys. So we started talking. Michael is a Canadian guy who is trekking around Peru with some friends. But they did not want to do the trek so is also doing the climb alone. Made sence to climb together.

There were narrow stepped paths all the way to the top!


The paths were really narrow ... there were metal ropes 'parts' of the way that you could hold onto and then sheer drops the other side ...

DAD - This trek would not pass health and safety in Britain!

Where there were not metal ropes it was sheer guts ... adrenaline ... and will power that helped me get up, across or down. Without Michael I think I would have trekked a two thirds of the way up then would have turned back from being to scared. Michael is an experienced trekker and climber so I felt safe. He also liked taking pictures so was happy to stop, take photos and admire the view.

I did sing a few dun dun dun dunnnnnnn, dun dun dunnn to keep me sane. (Indiana Jones theme tune)

There was a gap in the trees and this was our view about half way up!


Hmmm ... not sure where my guts had come from but I was determined to get to the top! Still a bit scared and breathing quite deeply. Probably should have talked less but you know me.

Good place for a photo!


We arrived at the first terrace to rest and amaze at the view of Machu Piccu. It had been carved out of the mountain ... you can really see from the pic above. I took my sunglasses off in this pic so you could see my eyes. This was on a ledge so I did not go too far back.

Michael and I resting on the edge


A nice Dutch lady took the pic above. Here the path split into a circle. You go up on the right path then come back on the left path as passing people was a bit tight. So I looked up and thourght we are nearly there so started the hardest climb I have ever done.

Inca terraces


You can see the zig zag road leading to Machu Picchu below and me sitting with probably 70% adrenaline in my blood and a smile of pure fear


I really had to be mad. We had to go through a narrow tunnel, up a ladder that had a angled block at the top that you had to climb over then we were at the top. Michael helped me get across the block as there is no way I could have done that by myself.

Ladder


Michael grinning on the angled block


Oh ... and did I mention that when I thourght that was it and I was at the top around the corner was a rockface that you had to slide down. There were small holes that you could just get a bit of you boot in, then it was a case of shuffling down on your bum. That is my boot in the pic below.

Sliding down a rockface


Michael took a picture from below of me. He has ones of me half way down which I will post when he gets a chance to email them to me. Fear will be clearly shown in my eyes and my tongue could have not be further out. (through concentration not being rude to Michael)

So I made it! Breath taking views! Michael had ran out of water so we shared what little water I had and had a well earned drink at the top!

Jubilent at the top!


Now I had to be back in town with the rest of my group to catch the 2.30pm train back to Cusco. We had already planned that I would meet them in town as I was not sure how long I would take. So we did not stay long at the top (5mins) and started to head down.

Flip it was scary. I had not seen any helicopters that could maybe take me down so I followed Michael.

You want me to go down that way! The first 20mins going down were more scary! I had to go down on my bum on a few steps as was safer than standing. I know my limits and am too young to die falling of a mountain in Peru.

This is the only way down ... with no metal ropes!


We have closed the loop and were back on the wider path.

For some weird reason going down steep, uneven and slippery in places steps was amazingly good and I was prety fast. My confidence was totally unexpected. To yet again the Indiana Jones tune we decended.

I WAS THERE AT THE TOP OF THIS MOUNTAIN!


With a good 20mins walk across the Machu Picchu site to the exit and a 30min coach journey down to the town ... I was pushing it. But was going as fast and as safely as possible.

We started our climb at about 11.15am and signed out at 1.15pm so about an hour up and hour down. We stopped on the way down to see if we could help a lady that had broken her wrist. So that was a good few minutes added onto the down route.

With a grin from ear to ear I meet on time my friends and we caught the train all okay to Cusco for a night of celebrations!

MICHAEL - Thanks again for sharing an amazing climb! As I said would not have made it to the top without you! Enjoy the rest of your trek around Peru!

Not sure that this experience can be topped!

Next stop the Jungles of Peru ...

Peru - Chilling in Aguas Colientes

MONDAY AFTERNOON

Walking along the train track


Aguas Colientes is the town you stay at to get the coach up to Machu Picchu. It´s a nice little town. The shower was nice and hot and we celebrated with a Cuba Libre as was gunna have champagne when I arrived back in Cusco!

The train track litterally runs through the town. Hotels, resturants and shops on either side of the track.

Kirsty taking a pic whilst sitting outside having a beer in a trackside resturant


We had a nice big dinner and had a reasonable early night as we had to get up the next day at 3.45am to get breakfast at 4.30am and the first bus at 5am up to Machu Picchu. I did some emailing in a shop the otherside of the track and was a bit surprized to see a train on the track. It did not seem to be going anywhere so I crossed a bit further up and hoped I would not be run down.

Peru - Lares trek! - Day 3

Our guides, horsemen and cook


In the morning we were woken at 5.45am for breakfast. It was very cold and I think my eyeliner had frozen in the night! We said goodbye and thank you to our cook and horsemen and then headed off.

Elvin at breakfast mentioned that in the night he had seen a black shadowy thing moving near to our tents. Hmm glad he told us this morning and not last night! He said it was either a Puma or a black spirit. Now which one would you prefer it to have been?

We had another downhill trek! and it was cold, about 3-4 degrees. My Peru hat and gloves that I had bought from the lady in the first homestay kept my ears and hands warm. The water along part of our path had frozen! And we saw Puma footprints about 20meters from where we camped.

Crossing the steam


It warmed up!


As we decended it did warm up and like an onion we peeled off our layers! We saw peeling trees called Polilapis Queuna that had bark that peels off throughout the year.

We made it to the end of our trek!


It was a 3.20hrs decent to Yanahuara and were pleased that we did not need to do the trek on a horse. It was cold but luckily it had not rained and although a very tough 3 days it had been very rewarding and a beautiful trek! Some of the way we went were old Inca trails but it was not the official famous Inca trail.

In our warm bus we then headed for the station to get the train to Aguas Colientes where we were staying the night in a hotel and looking forward to a well earned drink and hot shower!

So we had just trekked 26k (about 16miles) which does not really sound that much but it was at high altitude and cold! and nearly died in the bus journey as the stupid driver drove far too fast and took too many risks to get us to the train station on time. Hmmm but we arrived in one piece ... shaken and stired!

Peru - Lares trek! - Day 2 (Week 15)

Our guides Ernesto and Elvin


We were woken by the cook at 8am with a hot cocoa tea. It was still cold out but much brighter than yesterday. We packed up our bits and had a good breakfast before starting the trek.

Off we go again


Farmers ploughing in the distance


In the distance we saw some men jumping up and down! It looked like, they were dancing. (Maybe dancing for rain!) When we looked closer we saw they were ploughing the land. The villagers help each other plough the land. We saw Andean Caracaras (Falcons), Llamas, Andean Geese, Dogs, Chickens, Horses and Pigs on the way.

The sky was blue!


Inca trail steps


The horsemen and cook overtook us


Two young girls tried to sell us stones


They seemed to have appeared from nowhere. We gave them our bananas which they thourght was funny. It is best not to give the children in the communities sweets as they don´t have dental care so end up with bad teeth.

The path was long


Posing


We trekked past Huacahasi point which was 4,900m above sea level. (Pretty neat!)

Our camp was insight!

We had made it to the top of one mountain and were now heading to our camp by the lake for lunch! It was a great view. We looked back and had walked along way! The lake is called Laguna Aruraycocha and is at 4,750m above sea level, which is the highest lake in Peru.

The lake


KIRSTY - Can you email the pic of all of us by the lake? Kirsty took a great pic using her timer on her camera. (I don´t think I have a timer on my camera)

There was a bull by the lake that I had to walk past. Was I scared?

Do you come here often


I am looking forward to a well earned lunch


After lunch it was a downhill trek to camp! We had treked up 10k of mountains over 6 hours. Thinking about it, it was good that it was just us and not doing the trek with 8 fit guys as we went at our own pace. Enjoyed the views. Had a guide each to talk to and could took lots of photos.

We are all smiling


Me in our tent!


We had again great food. Our camp really was in the middle of nowhere. It had taken us 1.5hrs to decend 2k. The cloud cover had gone and the stars were amazing! Has to be the most stars I have ever seen! Saw the Milkyway, Southern Cross and Scorpio! I took my star chart and tried to identify more constallations, but it was cold so went early to sleep.

Actually cold is an understatement. It was -9 degrees. I don't think I have been that cold before, certainly not camping on it. In the night I was a bit scared to go to the toilet tent as it was pitched further away from our tent. And it was dark. But at 12.10am I ventured out and made it back safely.

Peru - Lares trek! - Day 1

Kirsty and I at the beginning of our trek!


Kirsty and I are about to start our Lares trek! The other 5 of our group are on the Inca Trail 4 day trek and we are going to meet them at Machu Piccu. It´s cold and we are a bit aprehensive about our abilities and going off alone into the mountains.

We are not exactly alone ... we have a guide - Ernesto and another guide is coming along to learn the route called Elvin. They are both nice. We also have a cook - Hilario a Horseman - Mario his horseman friend - Juan and Mario´s son Florentino. Oh and 5 horses. So just off to the mountains camping in the middle of nowhere with 5 men, a boy and 5 horses. Well it has been organised by Intrepid so we hope we don´t get kidnapped. We were (well I was) hoping that we may be joining a group of 8 single fit guys but alas we were by ourselves.

The winding roads


We had just driven along very windy roads from Cusco to Lares (3hrs). It was beautiful scenery but the road was pretty narrow and some of the bends were hairpin! We started our journey at the hotsprings and had a great lunch to set us off! It was very cold.

Wasp dragging spider along


The first thing we saw along the track was a large wasp killing and draging along a large spider to take it home for dinner. Hope they don´t sting humans.

It was a good and scenic trek. We started at 3000m and treked to 3,800m above sea level.

We had a few looks from the locals


Some lovely flowers


The mist was coming in


We made it to camp! It took us 3.20hrs to trek 7k to our camp! The cook and horsemen had gone on ahead and had set up camp! It was dark and pretty cold and we were happy to get a bit warmer in our tent!

The view from our tent!


Our first night camp


We stayed on the edge of a village by a river. We had a great meal in the main tent and hot Milo!(Australian hot chocolate)and cocoa tea ro help with the altitude. There was a portable toilet that was for our use only and big enough to have a wash in. We had hotwater bottles that warmed our feet. (These were a spare drinking bottle) The tents and equipment was all brand new and we were the first Intrepid travellers to go with the new tour company. We had hired sleeping bags that go down to -15 degrees so were about to find out if they worked! We also hired thermalrests aswell as the mats provided and walking sticks.

After our long trek we were ready for an early night! Not really sure how the next day would go and wether we would make it to the next camp or need to go on one of the horses.