on the way to Machu Picchu

To get to Machu Picchu from Cuzco we took a train for 4 hours to the town of Aguas Calientes. The train ride was a treat as it was very comfortable and the scenery was gorgeous.

Aguas Calientes is nestled in the valley below Machu Picchu. The town is actually quite pleasant.

After settling into our hotel we headed to a trail near town. Supposedly there was a good view of one side of MP from the top of the trail. I didn't know what I was getting into. After almost 3 hours of a extremely steep climb we arrived at the top. I honestly didn't think I would make it. Part of the trek included a climb up a practically vertical ladder of about 100 rungs. There were several of those actually.

Towards the top the climb up the 1-2 foot high steps was increasingly difficult under the hot Andean sun. The picture below shows the view from about two thirds of the way up. The town is where we started!

The view to Machu Pichu was amazing. I'm putting on my happy face in the picture below, although I was exhausted!

At the top we met an assortment of internationals. We all started chatting and it turned out to be sort of a party...every time another person made it to the top to join us we would cheer and clap. There were about 8 of us up there at once, speaking an assortment of 4 different languages at once. We made friends with a Brazilian named Ivan, and a two people from Montreal. then some French folks showed up. Carmen (wearing a green t shirt) was speaking Portuguese, French, English and Spanish almost simultaneously. She is an interpreter by profession so this comes quite naturally to her. She is a great travel mate because we meet all kinds of people since we have a few extra languages to use.

Going down was much faster...maybe an hour...but it was super hard because my legs were shaking from fatigue and the sun continued to beat down on us. Carmen barely broke a sweat, which I expected since she is a regular marathon runner and active in several other sports. At the bottom of the mountain we were all happy to be heading to a shower and food....oh yeah, and a cold beer!

We had a great ol' time up there and 5 of us decided to meet for dinner once we were cleaned up and at the bottom of the mountain.

From the left is Amanda from Toronto, Ivan from Brasil, Andy from Ottawa and Carmen.