Today is the big day!!! I went to bed at midnight and we woke up at 5:40. We didn't get a chance to eat breakfast; I grabbed a hard boiled egg on the run because we had to get to Huaynapicchu at 7!!!! We thought that there is a bus to Huaynapicchu (pronounced Winey Picchu), but actually it is only a 15 minute walk from the entrance of MP to the the foothills of HP. We kept our luggage in the hostal storage. The bus ride to MP is one of windy roads going up a hill. We arrive- did you know that a bathroom costs 1 soles!!! We rush to our mountain. We met some people from New York who had a guide. The guide was trying to hook us up with his taxi buddy for the Sacred Valley- nope to expensive. There was an older gentleman who was nervous but we encouraged him. Now there was an easy way around HP or the long-hard way. Well we are here, might as well go all out. We climbed and then Sandy told me to go ahead of her. I made sure, and she said to go. The hike up top is not one that I can express in words. It was completely a mind over body exercise. I saw people losing breath, one girl got altitude sickness and her guide gave her some drink which helped her feel better. The view was amazing. To see MP in an arial manner was just spetacular. The only downside was being attacked by bugs. Coming down was the hardest part for me, but I made it! We had a few Yuka. I met some French ladies who asked to sit down and just spoke with them in French about where they lived, what they do, ec...
It was difficult to follow the signs of MP because all the arrows also said exit. We finally climb the last hill and I was en route to the Inca Bridge. I went towards the Main Gate instead. So I just continued there- Sandy decided to wait at the top of the hill. After exploring this top, I had to come around. I could not find Sandy. I waited 15 minutes and then just decided to go towards the Sun Gate. As I hit the MP mountain I saw two girls on their return and asked them how long it would take. 30 minutes. Given that I had been hiking since 7 and it was aroun 13:00. I forgot about my trail mix in my bag, and didn't want fruits and had nearly no water.... let's just say I was hungry, thirsty, and tired. I was sweaty with the scorching heat continuing to come right down on me. So, I turned around to go back to the top of the hill where Sandy and I had parted ways. She wasn't there. I was going to go to the Inka Bridge which was very hard, given the cricumstances, but there were two guys who had returned and cheered me on. Then the older couple we met at the Amazon saw me and told me they saw Sandy who said she was going to the main entrance. I finished the hike as quickly as possible such that I could have people to go with on my return... safety. I went to the exit after seeing the bridge and we took the windy bus back, only to be met by rain. I wanted the rain; it felt great. I got some water, mango juice and ate the fruit. Our wait for the bus was an hour so it was good that we left early. We had some time to relax. We caught our train at 17:00. We saw this train across of us that had live music, a chef, nice seats... $300 not ours. We had a nice train too, but sadly it had mosquitos, that loved me too much. We finally arrived at Ollantaytambo. We walked to the main plaza and found a cheap motel, that I think had bed bugs and wouldnt't give us our room keys. I hardly slept because
1. super cold
2. they were partying outside. Right now most of Peru has some fsestivity going on.
3. Sometime in the middle of the night it sounded like we were being bombed... but it was the firecrackers landing on top of us.
I think I eventually fell asleep. But I was not feeling too well.
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