A View of a Lifetime

Our second day at Machu Picchu began very differently than our first. The first day was clear and you could see almost everything as we climbed up the mountain in the us. The guy I was sitting next to was just excited as I was, and we had a half Spanish, half gesture conversation the whole twenty five minute ride. Everyone was in great spirits.

The second day was not so. I know that I personally was more tired from waking up at four o'clock the second day in a row and wanted only to get to the top, sit, and enjoy the beautiful sunrise. But even before we got to the bus stop we could see how foggy it was. The crowd was smaller due to the fact that it was not exactly the winter solstice anymore, and our excitement, although still present, did not compare to the day before.

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At the top, after we rounded the corner and were expecting a spectacular view like the day before, I was a little bit confused. You could see most of the ruins below, but Huyna Picchu and the other surrounding mountains were completely absent. All you could see was white.

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As the sun rose, the fog lifted, and parts of the mountains reemerged. At this point, things were more extraordinary than the day. I think that in the presence of clouds, you could more easily see the size and distance of the peaks.

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Following another morning of class and analyzing the Incan architecture, we were assigned the task of hiking up Huyna Picchu [Figure 8] to get some data and a way point on the GPS. I was not exactly all that excited about the climb, to tell you the truth. But I knew the sight would be breathtaking, plus I didn't really have a choice.

The trail does this awful thing where at the beginning, you go down hill. Down stairs, then down an decline, then down some more stairs, and then you look up and see the angle of the rock that you now have to walk up. Stairs upon stairs are stacked so high you lose sight of them. I did my best not to think about how many there were. We had to stop a few times because we got stuck behind groups.

I was very impressed by the amount of elderly people we saw on this hike. They moved slowly, but still conquered thing that I, as a nineteen year old, had difficultly with. 

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The top of Huyna Picchu was packed. There were so many people that you really couldn't move all that much. Some were frustrated with the fact that people were just chilling, but there was not way you could just take a glance around and make your way down again. It was a sight you had to take you time to absorb. 

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The way back down was much easier obviously, but there were some steep points where Micheal and I were sliding down on our butts, as Alice took off ahead of us. It is certainly a sight I would hike to see again.