Machu
pichuu hike !
We have
fears of not completing the climb. Prior to machuu pichuu , when we were at
Puno and Cola Canyon, we felt the strains of a small hike, we were exhausted
after one km of a small walk . But , these places were high altitude of above
3000m . Machuu pichuu is below 3000m , so maybe it’s easier ?
We set off
on an early morning train . 2 nights earlier, we had a
briefing with our guides. We are to pack an overnight bag and the guides will
send them in advance to our hotel in Machuu Pichuu . We only needed to bring
our day pack on the day itself.
The train
run was pretty smooth . It had a wide
glass window, with no curtains, glass roof, to allow for par anomic of the Andes Mountain. We were served breakfast and it was a fun
ride although it was rather sunny at times.
Around 3.5
hours into the ride , the train crew informed us the 104km station, for the 1
day hike is near and we have to get ready. We were surprised, as there would usually
be announcements for train stations, nevertheless, we got with , and with our
barang barang … INCLUDING ours and the guides lunch bags, which the driver gave
us in the morning. When we were at the train exit, there really is no train
station, but it’s just a stop in the middle of nowhere, and I see our guides running to us. The train steps are too high for me and I
couldn’t step down, I had to sit on the highest step, to jump down down from
the train. I think either the crew/
guide had to hold me down. Imagine how
we look to the rest of the passengers, where we were told drop off in the
middle of nowhere, with all our baggages – and then jumping off from the
train.. Sounds like a Jackie Chan / Tom Cruise
“”Mission Impossible” Movie
As we
walked to the Machuu Pichuu 104 checkpoint,
we got ourselves ready for the hike, it’s a bit of hassle, really, we
removed our raincoat, put on the mosquito repellent , sunblock’s, hats ,
sunglasses, cooling T shirts, got our passports stamped and we set off
It was a
sunny morning, and as we walked we perspired a lot, a felt stuffy at times .
For me I think the first hour walk was not so bad.
We rested at the pit stop and decided to
remove the calf part of the pants and true enough, I felt much cooler. Note
that I’m wearing the 2XU compression tights as well, to help with
recovery. Hence this is the reason I
felt hot (plus the tights makes the NF pants a bit tight)
For me, I
was almost keeping pace with Wanda ( first guide), for the rest, Carlos was the rear guide. I hear from them that Carlos
was very encouraging , pointed the plants, animals ,
leaves to them
We made it
to the waterfalls around lunchtime, comprising
of dried sandwich, desert, drinks and a salad. I think, most of us didn’t have
the appetite to eat them, but took it for recovering our energy sake
We went on
again and there are steps, steps and more steps… to the Terrace . Wanda told me
its 300 steps ! It didn’t look like it
as its 10 steps, turn a corner and then another 10 steps…. I was panting and
stopping every 50 steps…. BUT , it’s really worth it as the Terrace steps are
beautiful and awesome.
It was eye boggling and all greens
After lots
of photo taking and rest, we set off for the final leg of the hike… towards the
Sun Gate. There were rocky paths and
again steps up steps down, with some pit stops along the way. On the final climb, I can only see upright
steps !! Wanda took my camera and told
me to pose.. He went up first and I slowly climb up.. Along the way, some of
the times I have to use my hands to crawl up the steps, it’s that steep and
narrow .
Around 50
steps, I made it to the top ! Another pit
stop.. Actually, there is this guy in front of me ( we met this group at the
waterfall and terrace) was really panting and panting away.. If you see from
the photo, he was lying against the rock
and panting, drinking water ! J
The rest of
the group caught up with me, once again, I can see them crawling on 4s to climb
to the top
Can you imagine the jubilance, pride, joy, elation that we feel when we
reach the Sun gate ? After 6 hours of
hike, tiredness, this is what we feel when we see Machuu Pichuu from afar ..
After about 20 minutes of photo taking, Wanda told us that we need to
start the track down to the bus , as it’s getting late and looks like rain..
So, we trekked , this time rocky paths down .
For Auntie Pat, she can’t climb up, for Auntie Winnie, due to back and
leg injury , she can’t climb down . So this is another hour of tired walking
down . Along the way, we took many quick photos of Machuu Pichuu again.
We reached the bus terminal, ( I was first and got my passport stamped
Machuu Pichuu) and reached the town of Agues
Calientes and hotel.
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