Back to Machu Picchu

We got back to Cusco today from our trip to Machu Picchu. We really enjoyed the cute town of Ollantaytambo. We´ve been saving a ton of money by taking the local combi´s and buses. We get a lot of stares as we are the only white ppl on the bus, but it´s way more fun and exciting to travel with the locals. Everyone has been super nice too. The bus drivers always make sure we get off at the right spots and one even hand lead us to the correct combi to the town we were attempting to get to. It´s fun to stop every 20 min. or so and let ppl, on and off. We frequently have old men and women sitting on our arms and leaning against us. There´s absolutely no sense of personal space. So, we took a local bus to Urabamba from Cusco, then a combi to Ollantaytambo. The next morning we woke up at 4:30 am and hopped on the train to Aguas Calientes (which is in the valley below Machu Picchu). This train ride was absolutely freezing. We thought we were on the Siberian railway. For the past four days we´ve been wearing the exact same outfit. We didn´t bring much else except a camera and deodorant. Anyways, we arrived in Aguas Calientes wearing everything we brought and absolutely freezing our bones. We pretty much wandered around all day. AC is ridiculously expensive and the people are really rude, I guess because of the plethora of tourists. We had a hard time finding a hostel. all the ones in our guidebook were closed or under construction, so we ended up at a hotel with a private room, private bathroom and even a TV! Needless to say, after visiting the hot springs, we crawled into our beds and watched movies in spanish for the remainder of the day.

The next morning we woke up at 4:30 am again and rushed to the bus station to try to be one of the first ppl at MP. There were about 100 ppl already in line at 5am. we got on the 3rd bus up though. Machu Picchu was pretty incredible, just super mind-boggling. We hiked over to Wayna Picchu. Which is a large mountain with ruins at the top. They only allow like 200 ppl up each day, so we waited in line till 7am. we were number 59 and 60 to be let up. I think we way underestimated the hike. It was rather intense and long...straight up with at least 30 sets of stairs. However, some of the steps came up to Lauren´s thigh. So it was really more like climbing. At one point you pull yourself up with a rope. Another section you scale a vertical rock face. Near the top you have to crawl through a cave. I got stuck cause my backpack was on my back, so i had to crawl on my stomach. Then at the top we had to climb up a ladder. Then slide down a rock and shimmy down lots and lots of tiny steps built into the side of a cliff. It was a little precarious because there were a lot of ppl on the way down. You had to be careful someone didn´t accidently hit you and you lose your balance. The hike down was rough with all the steep stairs... A killer on our knees. Once we were at the bottom of the mounatin of Wayna Picchu , theres a short hike back up and over to get back to the site. We took a nice nap at Machu Picchu after that. Then we explored the ruins some more. In the afternoon we hiked down to Aguas Calientes to save us some money. Which was kind of crazy...straight down. Another killer on our knees. That took another hour. Then a 20 min. walk back to town. Then we walked up another hill to eat. So we were pretty exhausted. We took a train back to Ollantaytambo and crashed at a family run hostel that served us some awesome pancakes this morning. We visited the Ollantaytambo ruins today and then took a combi and a bus back to Cusco. We are pretty sore today. We´ve been walking a ton lately. Now we are resting and re-packing to get ready to go to Puno tomorrow. We hear the ride to Puno may be a rough one. Please pray for a safe and easy travel tomorrow. Healthwise we´re doing pretty well. No more stomach woes. However my left knee is giving me a lot of pain when I go down stairs. So, hopefully it will get better before our trek. Much love, Emly :)