My birthday was Monday the 31st, and we spent it at Machu Picchu!
We took the train from Cusco to Aguas Calientes on the morning of Sunday the 30th. Well, from Poroy, which is a small town about a 20 minute cab ride from Cusco, which we made when it was still dark out. Our train, the "backpacker service" of course, took off from the station at 7:30am, and was about 3.5 hours long. It sure didn't feel like it though, because it was so scenic the entire way! Snow capped mountains, cacti, rolling hills, farms, crops, dramatic clouds, blazing blue sky, river, Peruvians heading out on the Inka trail, baby animals, etc. etc. The time flew by, feeling relaxed and happy, and a little un-believing that we were actually on our way to Machu Picchu. First of all, I have wanted to go there since i was little cause I had this series of books about animals in different places in the world, learning about the world, and how to have good morals (sp?), and one of them was about a llama who lived in machu Picchu. And secondly, this has been one of the places on our trip that required the most planning and money and worry, and excited anticipation. And it marks the 2 month mark on our trip. So all in all, hard to believe it was actually happening.
We got to Aguas Calientes in the early afternoon, waded through the huge artisan craft market you are funneled through from the train station, over the bridge, across the river, admiring the crazy dramatic hills surrounding us, and headed to our hotel. We had a cute little room overlooking the town, which was such a nice change from in Cusco, and lounged around a little before heading out for food. Pretty much every building in Aguas Calientes is a hotel, restaurant, or Peruvian hand craft booth. It is a major tourist trap being the only outlet for MP, and they are taking advantage of it! It has been built up a lot since Wyatt was last here, and to tell you the truth I can't imagine how the town could ever be totally full since only a certain amount of people can come in on the train, and there is not much reason to stay very much longer after you have been to MP. But they are building up their tourist empire, and it seems to only be getting bigger.
Anyway, almost every place we saw for food was either traditional food (lots of pictures of grilled Alpaca and skewered Guinea Pigs), pizza, or Mexican food. Also, 4 for 1 cocktails. So, of course I wanted Mexican, and got a fairly good take on it too. Most of the rest of the day was spent lounging, napping (have not been sleeping well, and then getting up early), and watching movies on tv. Then it was time for more food, and we were both feeling a little pre-celebratory, went and got pizza and pisco sours, which I did not like a whole lot, but got me quite drunk.
We set the alarm for 4:30am so we could catch the first bus up, and watch the sunset. We woke up a little earlier than that to thunderous rainfall, just sheets of huge drops, so we decided to wait a little while. We ended up heading out around 7:30 after the rain stopped and had a little breakfast.
The bus ride up was amazing, just about 20 minutes up the mountain with switch back after switch back, rising up into the clouds on tiny roads. When you are almost to the top, you suddenly see the first sign of buildings, and my breathe caught in my throat and tears almost welled up in my eyes. It was so awesome. We pulled into the hoards of people milling around the parking area at the top. There are all these rules about what you can and can't bring into the park, none of which was actually enforced, the guy didn't even look at our passports, just waived us in after making sure we had tickets.
We spent 6 hours up at Machu Picchu. When we got there we were walking in the clouds, literally, they were hanging all around us in heavy damp masses, giving everything that Machu Picchu postcard look. Seriously, even a bad picture up there is pretty good and looks just like a post card. We walked/hiked through the park twice, trying to avoid the huge tour groups and throng of tourists, which is actually not that hard because the space is pretty sprawling, and there are tiers of grass that used to be used for crops, that are easy to get to and hang out on. Unfortunately as the day got warmer it was harder and harder to find anywhere you could sit without being eatten alive by these tiny black bugs that have a fierce bite. My bites are still driving me crazy and the count is about 20 on my arms alone.
I was just in awe all day. Breathless too from all the hiking up huge stones and steep hillsides, and the air is so thin up there that you end up having to really pace yourself. But it felt good, and the sun kept breaking through the clouds until later in the day most of the mist had burned off. There were llamas everywhere, which was pretty cool too, even though you could see the brite tags on their ears from a ways off. Every view was amazing, I don't know that I have adequit words to describe it except that even though we have all seen the photos from Machu Picchu and get an idea of what it is going to be like, it is so much more, and I took so many photos that day, and never tired of the view. And since it was my birthday, Wyatt let me take as many pictures of him as I wanted. Sweetheart.
We took the train back to Cusco that night, which felt much longer than the ride out there, part of the reason being that it was dark so no view, felt a lot more cramped in, and hot in the train car. It was such a relief when the ride was over. We changed hotels, went out and had a nice dinner overlooking the Plaza de Armas (huge avacadoes stuffed with chicken and potatoes, yum!), and a drink, and I was so tired I could barely keep my eyes open. It was such a great day, Wyatt was so amazing wanting to be sure I had a good birthday even though we were far from home and it was just us. I did, it was the perfect way to start the last year in my 20's, and Wyatt really made it happen. Especially when he popped out a bottle of nice champagne to celebrate with! I love champagne.
We spent one more day in Cusco just reading and taking it easy, taking strolls around the city, and getting more fixed lunches with soup and a main dish for roughly $1.50 each.
This morning we arrived in Lima after a very trying bus trip of about 22 hours. It feels good to be here, we are staying in an awesome hotel called the Espana that has pasintings and sculptures and huge plants everywhere, and feels like a museum. Our room is small with high cielings and a floral satin covered bed, with cats wondering the rooftop patio that is right outside our room. We will be here about 5 days I think, we need to figure out our onward travel tomorrow. But looking forward to being here, this city looks amazing, dirty smoggy grit around old, gorgeous architecture, and ornate palaces, and fading, awesome churches. Wyatt stayed here when he was in Lima about 8 years ago and it is cool seeing what he remembers and the stories he has from that time.