The first bus leaves at 5:30, and I was not far behind. I was a bit disappointed as it was raining and there would be no sunrise to be seen, but the rain turned out to be an integral part of the experience. Nine hours ago, I was soaking wet. As I sit here writing this, I am covered in mud.
Machu Picchu, on the other hand, was covered in fog this morning. Literally, I could see maybe 40 feet in front of me, and the ruins were near deserted. This was my first pass through, pathways and ancient temples emerging in the fog, with no one around. It was absolutely surreal.
But all I was really thinking about at that hour was Huayna Picchu - the peak you see in every photo of the ruins at Machu Picchu. Only 400 people are allowed to climb it each day, and I wanted to be one of the first. I was number 39. I spent the next three hours taking several trails to the top, and encountered only four other people. One was a hour long walk to a cave the Incas used to inhabit, and I just sat there for awhile imagining calling it home 500 years ago.
If I have to mark a highlight of my day, however, it came when I reached the summit of Huayna Picchu at around 9:30am. I stayed an hour and a half. The ruins below were nowhere to be seen behind the blanket of fog, at least at first. What was magical, though, was just sitting there atop the highest rock, watching the valley appear and disappear below as the clouds moved by. I was not the only one so affected, there were about 5 of us at first and we all stayed a very long time.
After about an hour, the ruins began to appear from below. As did everyone else. By the time I started my descent around 11, the summit was swarming with people and my solitary climb to the top became a line of people upon my descent. I climbed the smaller mountain for yet another set of unbelievable views of the ruins and the valley.
I briefly joined the masses in the ruins, jumping in on other people´s expensive guides for quick explanations beyond what Lonely Planet had to offer, then stopped for lunch. I returned to the ruins around 2pm and walked through them again, ultimately finding myself a new perch on one of the terraces to watch the site from the classic vantage point. Here I sat another hour and a half, watching the view change as the sun came in and out of the clouds, marveling at the valley below in seemingly every direction.
Finally, once my camera and my ipod died, I took one final photo of the ruins and called it an unforgettable day.
No comments:
Post a Comment