Day 15 - Machu Picchu!!!

So today was the day we had been waiting for our entire trip! We had to wake up at 4:30 am so that we could get in line early and be some of the first people to see machupicchu that day. The buses going up to machupicchu start at 5:30 and keep going as soon as they fill up. The entire ride is maybe 20 minutes but with winding roads and much anticipation it felt like the bus took FOREVER. Luckily we got on probably the 6th or 7th bus, arriving way before the sunrise. Then we met our tour guide and walked probably ten minutes to our first viewpoint of machupicchu. It was the classic postcard picture that we've all seen of the world wonder and it was really awesome. The sky was bright but there was still no sun yet it was time to go so we took a few pictures and then began our guided tour!

Firstly, as we were told several times on our trip, us westerners pronounce the name of this world wonder all wrong! 'Machu pichu' means "old dick", whereas when pronounced properly as' machu pick-chu', you are saying "old mountain". Important distinction!

Machu Picchu has several different sides with different constructions and terraces but it was built by the incas predominately as a place for the nobles to live. As impressive as the construction is, it is the natural scenery surrounding it that makes the site so outstanding with views of glaciers and mountains stretching as far as the eye can see. Machupicchu was ' discovered' in 1911 by an american who brought the site to the world stage but not before taking all the artifacts back with him to the States where they still remain at Yale University. He came to peru and by speaking to locals, he discovered ruins but they were totally covered by trees and other vegetation. Peru has attempted to reclaim these artifacts but they have failed to do so thus far which is unfortunate because the objects found at Machu Picchu really do belong at the actual site. 

Our tour guide was really great, one of the best so far. We saw the different houses and temples and go to walk along a few of the terraces. What was impressive was that certain buildings like the princess' house and the main temple had really well done brickwork. It is crazy to think that with construction as impressive as that and built methodically into trapezoidal structures to maximize stability was done before there was an modern equipment. In there centre of the site is where all the Incas used to gather to hear announcements made from a tower above. What is so fascinating is that in this one area, you are able hear the spoken words of people far away as high as the guard towers. This is probably why our tickets warn us to not yell or whistle! Then we saw the only bathroom in Machu Picchu (lisa's favourite part), which was really a little whole in the ground! Apparently they used to put ash in the bathroom to soak up the odors and bacteria. Other elements on the site were carved representations of animals such as condors and guinea pigs and there is a giant sun dial, which the Incas used to distinguish the seasons. 

During the tour, we could see the 5 members of our tour group that had hiked the inca trail. Their few days sounded wayyy more intense than our trek! They geot their own tour of and then quickly headed back to town to relax and eat. After our tour, we headed with daniel back to the viewpoint to take more pictures. The sun was now bright and the pictures look surreal, sortof like our faces were photoshopped into the scene! The other members of our group went to climb the actual Machu Pichu mountain which takes nearly 3 hours and we were feeling lazy, so we sat and chilled on some grass, staring at the amazing views.
At around noon (which felt a lot later since we woke up so early), guilt set in and we decided to walk up the 50 min hike to the sun gate. It was really hot out which was an amazing change of events so we took our time and regretted not purchasing more water. Finally we reached the top where we could see the entire Machu Picchu and sat down and started talking. I guess one couple sitting nearby was not too happy with us and they kept moving farther and farther away from us! Woops. 

Then we made our way down, took the bus back to town and met up with our friends from the Inca trail for some beer and snacks. This was followed by an early dinner with the entire group- and beth's farewell dinner! After dinner, we took a train and then a bus back to Cusco, where we arrived around 10:30. 
A long but really amazing day! It was great to have a place with so much hype live up to and even surpass our expectations!!

Day 14 - Last leg of the Lares Trek

We awoke to snow on the ground and a breakfast of omelets, toast and quiche. We put on every layer we had and begun our final day of the trek, which was a few hours downhill. We struggled a bit but luckily had some solid walking poles to relieve the pressure caused by walking on rocks. We trekked alongside waterfalls and rapids, sometimes having to walk through them. We barely cared since the sun was in the sky and our bodies finally felt warmth again. The hike ended in a small town and we were bused to Ollayantambo, a city we had previously visited on a tour of the sacred valley.

Then took a 2 hour train ride (Emily's first time on a train!) to the small town at the base of machupicchu. This is a really touristy place that basically has only one main strip. Our guide told us everyone living in this town works directly with tourism. We checked into a relatively nice looking hostel and had a well deserved shower! It was only after we dressed that we realized how dilapidated the hostel was but hey better than frost covered tents! Then our entire trek decided to hit the town. We walked around a bit before going to a "pub" WHICH, was really the front room of someone's house. We were leered by the ad claiming that beers were 4 for the price of 1 (turned out to be false) and that had a pool table and games. Besides for the false beer advertisement, the afternoon turned out to be great. With a little buzz and some weird techno music we had a hard time concentrating on our pool and scrabble game. Then we met the rest of the group for a quick dinner. This turned out to be the first place we actually had decent pizza. Everywhere else seems to favour cheese and dough at the cost of any other ingredient. This was probably the only benefit of being in a tourist town where everything is over priced and lacking culture. We went with Daniel to get snacks at a small store that attempted to charge us DOUBLE 51 instead of 24 soles for some drinks and crackers. Thanlfully we knew better! Then it was off to an early AMAZING sleep in a BED!