In the morning we climbed Huayna Picchu. We almost didn't get to climb-- would you believe the people right in front of us were numbers 199 and 200 to be let in? They wrote the numbers on the tickets. I was like ooooooomg I can't believe this is happening after waking up at 415 and waiting in line. There were a ton of people waiting at the top of the mountain already even though we were the third bus in.
About half the line for the bus that had formed by 5 am. Turned out to be hundreds more already waiting up at Machu Picchu.Anyway we walked around MP a bit, actually took some amazing llama/cloud pictures, and finally decided to go see what we could do about our situation. We walked to the Huayna Picchu gate, not having much hope since everyone said their cutoff is very strict.
They started letting people in at 7, but very slowly. The last of the group got in around 750 and I realized they were letting people without numbers in because not everyone who got a number ended up using it!!! Even while I was there, a group of middle aged women were saying, "I'm not going up there, I'll shit my pants!" hahaha seriously.
We were numbers 188-190, whew!! So if you end up in the same situation, don't despair! Go to the unofficial standby line :D
The climb was HARD... But certainly doable. It only takes about an hour but that means you are covering a lot of height in a little time, so you are literally climbing on you hands and knees at some points. Definitely not for those who are really out of shape. And not for those scared of heights :). This pic shows our view of Machu Picchu below. Oh it's so crazy, towards the end you are climbing up a narrow walkway with a steep drop, them crawling through a tiny cave, then jumping from boulder to boulder a the very top, and finally sliding down on your butt on a huge slate of rock with no steps to begin climbing back down. Definitely worth doing once, as the views are breathtaking and you have a general feeling of accomplishment, but I don't think I would do it again :P
My brother a the peak. He climbed to a farther boulder than I did. I was happy on my boulder (the first possible boulder on the absolute peak. I was honestly pretty scared ahaha).
Left MP around noon-- wish i had more time. Took a train back to Ollantaytambo, where we took a taxi back to Cusco. On the way passed these salt terraces at Maras (or was it Salinas?) which were very cool and pretty. We also visited the Inca ruins in Pisac, and caught the last of the afternoon sun's rays on the mountain's terracing.
We spent the night in Cusco which has such a pretty City center! Had the worst and most expensive meal of the trip at this place called El Truco. AM's friend had recommended it. Do not go there, it's a tourist trap. Instead there is this amazing place called Cicciolina in Cusco that is 10000x better.
Ah camera pictures... SO much better than the iPhone...
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