Machu Picchu - Day 2

Up early and boarded the 7.06am bus up to MP

No queues this morning, we were inside the site at 7.30. With not many people around, we were now having the MP experience we had envisaged.

We had a couple of hours of exploring before our Huayna Picchu climb which was booked for 10am.

Jack thought it would be good to explore the lower sections of the site as these were the areas which were the last ones that the guided tours visited and would be relatively quiet for a while.

He was right. We explored the Temple of the Condor, the Unfinished Temple and the Sacred Rock.

At 9.30 we headed towards the entrance for the HP walk. Already some of the 7am starters were finishing and boy did most of them look tired and sweaty! All agreed that it was worth the effort.

In a way, I had been dreading this walk ever since we had looked a a couple of people posting their walks on YouTube before we left. It looked pretty serious with some very steep sections and sheer drop offs. Only 400 people are allowed to do the walk each day, 200 people at 7am and the others at 10am. We had chosen the 10am walk in case of foggy weather. Luckily today the weather was perfect with clear skies.

We managed to grab a seat on a rock just behind a couple who were at the front of the queue. At 9.45, the officials at the checkpoint announced that we could start. Jack and I bolted to the gatehouse and were second in line. We had to show our entry tickets and passports and then fill in a registration book which is used to sign you in and out of. Our starting time was 9.50.

We headed along the path, descending first to a saddle and then we started the serious climbing. The track was mainly stepped, and very steep with lots of switchbacks. In several places there were fixed metal ropes to assist with balancing. We encountered several people returning from the 7am walk. Now accustomed to the pace required for walking at altitude, I maintained a slow but steady pace. We had already decided that Jack would head off up to the summit at his own pace. He bolted off and eventually overtook the first couple. I plodded on and was grateful for the 2 walking poles and also the good training we had done for this trip. With a steady rhythm I climbed, stopping only a couple of times to let people descending pass. I arrived at the first vantage lookout  and took in the view.

I looked up and could see Jack at the summit already. I paused briefly for a photo and then continued upwards, via a very narrow tunnel, arriving at the summit in 35 mins. I was very proud that no-one had overtaken me on the ascent, knowing that there were some very loud fit American guys not far behind me when we were queued up at the start.

Jack was very keen to move on to do the extra walk around to the Temple of the Moon so after another very brief photo stop, he headed off with plans to meet me back at the track junction on the descent.

I was happy to revel in the success of bagging this peak and sat down to enjoy the view from the summit of HP. There was another couple that arrived not long after, an Australian couple, so we had a short chat about each others travels and took photos of each other. After about 20 mins, I decided I should head down as I wasn't sure how long or difficult the descent would be. I followed the arrows which led down towards the storehouses. The path was literally rocks sticking out of the foundations of these storehouses on a precariously steep trail. There were no handholds or ropes or cables to use and to the right of these storehouses was a sheer dropoff of about 300 metres. This was going to be a challenge. I leant in to the building and used it as a support and slowly inched my way, one step at a time. It was very nerve wracking, but I had to keep my cool. I safely negotiated the 25 or so steps and got down to the storehouses proper.

Looking down at the storehouses from the summit

The treacherous staircase down to the storehouses

Not for the faint hearted!

 

The view of MP from here was not as good  and was obscured by some of the forest vegetation.

I decided to keep descending before I lost my nerve completely.

I looked down towards the next section and could see the Australian couple halfway down. At that stage, they were going down backwards, using the stone steps like rungs of a ladder. There were about 3 times the amount of steps in this section. I gritted my teeth and steeled myself for this next section.

My first approach was to tackle the steps going down on my bottom, taking one at a time. There was no way I was looking down to where I was heading otherwise the vertigo and fear would have taken over. I got about a third of the way down and realised that my walking poles were more of a hindrance than a help. I stopped and slowly packed them away into my daypack and then decided to then use the backward ladder technique the other Australian couple had used. I turned around gingerly and ever so slowly took one step at a time downwards. I managed to keep my fear under control with some deep breathing. The descent seemed to take an eternity. I was about 80%of the way down when I thought I could hear someone behind me coming up!

I glance behind and sure enough a young American guy was wanting to overtake me, enquiring "are you coming down?". It took all of my nerve not to start swearing at him, but not wanting to lose my cool, all I could reply was "Yes, do you mind!!!". He moved aside onto a terraced area, and I continued down, finally reaching one of the track junctions.

I couldn"t believe that I had done that all by myself!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This track junction was where there was an arrow marking the usual route to the summit, so that there was one route up and another one down in a anti-clockwise fashion. This was the route I had taken. Apparently Jack had not seen this arrow because a group of people were in front of it, so he ascended via the steep stone staircase that I had just descended.

I continued down the track as I still had to meet Jack at the Temple of he Moon track junction. The descent was much easier, especially with 2 poles to help.

I met up with Jack and we decided to climb Mini Peak. We headed off, taking the side track and after having to use a rope to help climb up a rocky outcrop, we made it to the summit. After a few more photos, we headed down and reached the registration checkpoint just before 1245.

Bat Girl!

Machu Picchu Mountain in background - tomorrow's goal

Another amazing view of Machu Picchu

We were ecstatic and jubilant at another goal achieved - Huayna Pichu was always going to be a real challenge. I was happy to have done the two peaks, but jack had really excelled doing all of the circuit!!!!!!!

We met the Camerons for lunch. They had already finished touring the site, having got up even earlier than us and arrving at the site before 6.30am.

The Six Amigos

After a lunch break, we decided to spend the afternoon walking up to the Sun Gate, another one of the main vantage points for good views of the MP site. The Camerons wanted to visit the Inca Bridge, but enroute to the checkpoint, we were stopped by officials. The Inca Bridge track was closed for approx 1 hour. They decided to head home.

The route to the Sun Gate was still open, so we continued on with our plans. The afternoon was very warm and after the morning´s efforts, we were a little fatigued.

The path up to the Sun Gate is one of the original Inca roads and is the last section of the official Inca Trail. It had several sites to look at on the way, more ruins and an old cemetery. About a third of the walk was shaded by the forest which was very welcome. We stopped at one of the ruins for a toilet break, and jack finished off one of his drinks. As he was attempting to put the drink bottle back into his day pack, it slipped out of his clutches, rolled over the ledge and down into the jungle, most definitely out of reach. Oops, luckily we still had enough water for the walk!

On the Inca Trail

Halfway to Intipunku

We reached the Sun Gate in 1 hour. There were quite a few people there as a couple of hiking groups were just finishing the Inca Trail. One of the groups was from the UK and not long after we arrived there was a lot of commotion as the last member of their group was coming up the trail. Apparently this lady, a Japanese-American was the oldest person to complete the Inca Trail, at 78 yo!!! We all applauded her arrival.

We enjoyed another magnificent view of MP with the afternoon sun blazing down on its western flanks for about 20 mins and then headed back down.

Another beautiful view of Machu Picchu

Enough sightseeing for one day, we caught the bus back down the mountain. We were tired but exhilarated!

Rum and Colas were the drink of choice at Happy Hour tonight and then we had tacos for dinner.

PS - Later we heard the reason the track to Inca Bridge was closed earlier that day was because there had been a death! Apparently a man in his 60´s collapsed, had a heart attack and despite CPR, he died.