Up at 5am for the 5.30 bus up to Macchu Pichu. I awake very tired and have to drag myself out of bed. I felt like this many times in America. Leaving the hostel its raining. I´ve been there for 6hrs. The rain is disappointing. I was hoping for good weather for this visit. I arrive just as the queue for the buses is beginning to form. In a matter of minutes there´s a large crowd waiting. A line of buses pull up and fill up inturn as the tourists pile in. I get onto the third bus away so there are few people on site when I arrive. It was 6am. The rain has stopped as well which is a relief. The place looks fantastic. After all the photos of the site that I´ve seen over the years there´s still no sense of anticlimax. The surrounding mountains are so dramatic. Perched on a sheer sided mountain it feels as though the city is supended in the air. Clouds sit on the mountain tops and swirl in wisps around the sides only add a sense of mystery to the place. You get a tingling feeling on first seeing the place. You don´t talk, you don´t think, youjust stay quiet and gaze over theviews. The place is certainly a showstopper.
I was talking to Italian guy when mist began to appear as if from out of the ground and soon enveloped the whole city in thick fog. The fog shrouded everything for most of the next 2hrs. I was supposed to join a tour of the site at 8am but I decided to stay where I was. I had found a good place to get shots of the site if the fog lifted. Given a choice of getting good shots or taking the tour I wanted the photos. By nightfall I would have forgotten most of the 2hr tour anyway. Eventually around 9am the fog lifted and I got my shots. Good, bad or indifferent I have them now and will treasure them.
3hrs after arriving on site I entered the city and began to wander. It has clearly defined sacred, residencial and agricultural zones. I cocked an ear to tours I passed to hear what was being said. As there is no recorded history of the site there are many conflicting theories as to the age function and duration of settlement on the site. I can read up on it when I get home.
After looking through the city for a while I climbed Wayna Pichu the peak you can see directly behind the city in all the photos. It too contains buildings and terracing which tower above the main site perched on vertigo inducing cliffs. The mind boggles as to why they built houses in such a location. It took 45 mins to climb the rock cut stairway to the top. It rained heavily as we climbed. Mercifully the rain stopped when we reached the top in a sodden state. Again the fog rolled in so views were non existent. Another wait of 90 minutes elapsed on the top of Wayna Pichu before the fog lifted to give mist shrouded glimpses of the city. A buzz of excitement rippled around everybody on the peak as the fog lifted and there was frenzied snapping of shots in case the fog descended again. We were lucky. Many others had climbed to the top but couldn´t wait due to time constraints of the tour they were with and had to leave seeing nothing. All that effort and not one photo. I had all day so I waited for as long as it took.
Climbing back down I bumped into Juan the Peruvian guy I´d spoken to last night making the climb. We spoke for a few minutes before continuing on our ways. I got back to the city and continued to wander around, determined to make the most of my time here. Very soon, however, the rain came down again. This time in torrents. I ran for shelter. I felt sorry for anbody on Wayna Pichu. It was going to be a thoroughly miserable experience and no views to be seen. The rain continued for an hour so I sat in the shelter with some others and watched and waited. Eventually the rain lifted and the surrounding peaks reappeared through the mist. Every time that happened there was a tingle of excitement as you were never sure the fog would lift again. In many ways the poor weather added to the experience. There was a sense of mystery as the mist swirled around.
By 3.30pm, nine and a half hours after arriving I felt it was time to go. I was getting tired. I was damp. The fog had descended again and my train back to Cuco was at 5pm. So it was time to leave. Irinically, back in Aguas Caliente the sun began to shine. I had enough time to buy some snacks before heading to the train. It took over 4hrs to do the 120km back to Cusco. Tired and restless I couldn´t wait to get off that train. I took a taxi back to the hostel, hit the bed and fell into a deep sleep.
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