# 16 Machu Picchu

Recent weather: 80s, sunny, with light rain off and on
Recent reads: Lamentations, Ezekial, "The Bolivia-Chile-Peru Dispute in the Atacama Desert" by Ronald Bruce St. John

It's been a goal of mine of visit Machu Picchu, number 16 on my list of 30 things I want to do before I turn 30, in fact. But it was really the whole 4 day jungle trek to Machu Picchu that set the stage for an unforgettable experience. And I have the mosquito bites to prove it!

With just a backpack of my essentials, day 1 started with biking down from 13,000+ feet above sea level along a winding mountainside road. The scenery was beautiful, with crisp green vegetation and awe-inspiring mountain tops almost within reach. I will say that normally clouds just depress me, often dark and grim, blocking out the sun, but these jungle clouds were ominous and epic, striking in their own way.

That afternoon we white-water rafted in Santa Maria. I'm pretty sure our guide found the 7 of us girls completely useless in navigating our raft but regardless, we had a great time!

Day 2 was our big trekking day. We marched through the jungle canopies, up and down stunning cliffs and valleys, and a couple of hours along the original Inka Trail before following the Urubamba River to Santa Teresa. In Santa Teresa we soaked our aching bodies in the hot springs. Normally, I shy away from cesspools of foreign bacteria but after 9 hours of hiking, even I managed to enjoy the thermal baths. That evening we feasted on alpaca and had our fair share of Peruvian tequila before boosting the local economy by visiting the only night club in Santa Teresa.

Yes, there's a large hole in the bridge right behind me.

Inka Trail

Day 3 started with a set of 5 ziplines that cruised over the river and jungle. That afternoon we hiked along the railroad tracks from Hidroelectrica to Aguas Calientes, the town at the foot of Machu Picchu. The last 30 minutes of our trek was marked by a torrential downpour. And this is the dry season! After a couple of physically intense days marching through the jungle, I couldn't wait for a hot shower in Aguas Calientes. Ironically, my hostel had no water whatsoever. That's South America for you.

Finally, the big day finally arrived! By 4:30AM I was already on my way to Machu Picchu from Aguas Calientes in the dark, bundled up in whatever clothes I had that were still dry. After the most intense stairmaster session of my life with over an hour of vertical stone steps up the mountain, I had shed a few layers and finally reached the official entrance to Machu Picchu! Since I've seen so many photos of people at Machu Picchu, I didn't know what to expect when I was actually there myself but it did not disappoint. Machu Picchu has a way of making you feel like you are king (or queen) of the world while at the same time reminding you of just how impossibly big the world is. I'll let the photos do the rest of the talking.

Path to the Inka Bridge

The entrance to Machu Picchu

On my way down

By 11AM I was on my way down the mountain, one stone step at a time, the sun shining on my back (and hopefully on my still sopping wet shoes). Once down the mountain, I backtracked along the traintracks to Hidroelectrica where my minibus back to Cusco was waiting. After a few hours in the bus, several unnecessary stops later, and just when group morale was at an all-time low, a miraculous rainbow formed in the sky, reminding us just how amazing this experience was!

Now to northern Peru to soak up the sun!