'Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away!'
Seeing Machu Picchu was definitely one of those moments in my life that made me stop and think 'wow!' Although getting to see Machu Picchu was not completely easy. From Cusco there are many ways to get to Machu Picchu and it is sometimes hard to know which is best. Luckily a friend from camp Emmy had made the trip this year and gave me some really good advice and so did Heather who went on her honeymoon.
At 7am Nathan, Abi and I (Abi is another airbnb guest at the same place we were staying in Cusco) left the house and walked to a street in Cusco where we could get transport for almost 2 hours to a place called Ollantaytambo. We got into a car with a driver and another man wanting to go to the same destination. The driver wasn't the best and at times had us moving all over the back seat. I was extremely grateful when the journey was over, we handed him 15 soles each for his trouble (around £3.50).
Once at Ollantaytambo we had to wait an hour for the ticket office to open and at 10am we were able to collect our tickets for our 11.15am journey on the IncaRail train. This journey cost Nathan and I £65 return each so was pretty expensive for an hour and 40 minute train.
However when we stepped on board it was lovely. As the train started to pull away I felt like I was in a movie, it was so gorgeous and the train slowly moved through the sacred valley so you were able to get great views all around you. The train also had a window in the ceiling which meant you could see the talk mountains and trees above you.
The train track followed the river and it was wonderful watching the farms and people who lived alongside the train a river.
We got a cup of tea and a snack on the journey which was really nice.
When arriving in Aguas Calientes we were meant to be met by someone from the hotel as it is pretty hard to find. No one seemed to be around holding a Victoria or Wing card so we started walking into the centre of town to find the hotel ourselves. Eventually after asking a few people we found Inka Wonder tucked away with only a doorway visible between a restaurant and convenience store.
This hotel was basic but we were really impressed, the bed was comfy and the shower was excellent. The views from the window were stunning.
Aguas Calientes has got spring that we were about to explore when suddenly it was like a monsoon so we took shelter in our cosy room for a few hours before going for dinner and an early night.
4am the alarm went off and I jumped straight out of bed as today was the day I was going to see Machu Picchu! We headed into town to line up for the bus. By the time we had purchased our ticket the line was over 100 people long, and this was off season, I cannot begin to imagine how busy it is in the peak tourist season! We got on our bus and off we went on another fear for your life Peruvian journey! After 30 minutes I was grateful to exit the bus.
You must already have your ticket and your passport with you before arriving at Machu Picchu. Once through security we eagerly walked off down the path to where you would be greeted with your first glimpse of the wonderful Machu Picchu.
All Nathan and I could see was 2 metres in front of our feet as the fog was so bad! We tried to make the most of it and started climbing up and found some llamas to entertain is for about 30 minutes.
Then we found some death steps and had a go at those.
The fog started to lift and I got excited and snapped my first photo of one of the wonders of the world, and then as quickly as it had started to clear it fogged over again and you could see nothing.
At 7am Nathan and I were meant to hike Huayan Picchu, the mountain that overlooks Machu Picchu. Only 400 are permitted to do this a day and you have certain time slots. Due to the rain that had started to come down there was no way we were going to be able to get to the base, let alone climb it, as we had no clue where it was as we could not see a thing.
We met a nice girl from Vietnam and her boyfriend from Canada and we all got into a bush to avoid being soaked! After 15 minutes our bush was providing little shelter so we decided to climb further to see if there was anything better!
We got lucky one of the Machu Picchu workers was in a little wooden hut and he let us all in to share his shelter!
We were in there for over an hour, talking about the weather and what if we didn't actually see Machu Picchu! This was a thought that horrified me! How could we come to Perú and get all the way here and not see it with our own eyes! Nathan and I decided to stay until closing at 5pm of we had to!
After about 90 minutes the rain had eased off although the fog was still thick we decided to start hiking around to see the ruins even if we couldn't see them at a distance. About 15 minutes later while we were walking it was as if someone just blew and the fog started to blow away! The clearing was beautiful!
We were lucky that we got about a 60 minute window to take photos and boy did I go crazy! I took about 60 on my phone and about the same with my camera, it was so stunning!
The mountains, the Inka ruins, the beautiful flowers, the greenness of it all took my breath away.
The mist actually added to a crazy eery, mystical feeling and made for some pretty fun photos.
The rain started to fall again and like a curtain the mist came back over and Machu Picchu was gone! It was like the world was saying ok you have seen it in all it's glory, remember it but that is all you are getting for now!
How grateful I am for that 1 hour! For me it made it more amazing that we had been walking around it but couldn't see it and suddenly it was revealed to us!