I don’t even know where to begin. There are no words that could possibly describe the feeling that place gives you. Seeing MACHU PICCHU, one of the New 7 Wonders of the World, was simply amazing. Standing on top of that hill, looking down on the ancient Inca city (which was never finished, because the Incas abandoned it during the Spanish Conquest), being surrounded by these huge mountains, which seem so unreal, you feel really small and humble all of a sudden. ‘Overwhelming’ would probably describe it best.

What made that feeling of being overwhelmed & amazed even stronger, was the fact that we earned that view & that satisfactory moment, overlooking the Inca citadel on 2430m. After hiking up the seemingly endless stairs for more than an hour, we were more than exhausted. But after a little worn out cry of relief and a quick break at the entrance, the excitement over what we were about to see won and we walked up the last stairs to the village. Since we got to the top at around 6:30am, everything was still pretty quiet and the sun had only begun to touch the surrounding mountain tops. Alessandra & I were even the first ones to walk to the Inca Bridge – one of the sites at Machu Picchu – so we were able to enjoy the silence, while trying to take in all the impressions that presented themselves in front of our eyes (way too many to even try and list them all here). When we got back from our little Inca Bridge walk, the village had filled up even more with people that arrived by bus or had hiked up just like us. Obviously, the people who took the bus were much faster (the bus ride only takes 20 minutes) & a lot less sweaty when they arrived at the top, but we did not regret our decision to hike up. It was really hard & we had to take some breaks – I needed more than Alessandra, at some points I just couldn’t breathe anymore, I guess she has super-lungs or something – but in the end, it was so worth it! It was such a satisfying feeling to finally arrive & enjoy the view over Machu Picchu, knowing that your sore muscles the next day would prove that you conquered this mountain all by yourself. We started our ascent at 5:15am at the foot of the mountain when it was still pitch dark & arrived at the top when the sun started to warm up the air. However, we were still really cold the first minutes after our arrival, because our clothes were soaking wet but during the hike we hadn’t realised how cold it actually still was. After a while, it got warmer though and we had our breakfast in the sun, overlooking the whole area from one of the highest points of the village. We spent a lot of time just sitting there, being thankful to be given such an amazing opportunity and resting our still tensed up legs.

Dawn on our way up to Machu Picchu

4:30am – still crazy excited about hiking up to one of the New 7 Wonders of the World

Quinoa granola bar for breakfast at Machu Picchu

First ones to sign in for the day

Our saviour: an older man selling water bottles for 5 soles at the entrance to the Inca Bridge. We didn’t bring enough water for the hike & contrary to our expectations, there were not a lot of people with their carts, selling water & snacks – to be exact, there was not a single person selling anything, so this guy really saved our lives!

Some time later, we started walking around some more, took a lot of pictures and from 9-11am we had a guide, explaining the history of Machu Picchu to us (not sure, if I understood everything correctly, since he was talking very fast in Spanish – I seemed to be the only one pretending to understand everything – but it was definitely good practice). After the tour – we had already finished all the snacks we brought – our bodies signalled us that after getting up at 4am, extreme hiking up several hundred steps & then walking around for hours in the boiling sun, they deserved a break. So we started looking for a spot to rest for a bit and found one on the llama meadow. We actually fell asleep for an hour and a half right next to our spitting friends, which fortunately didn’t spit but rather tried to find food in our bags (which didn’t exist, since we had eaten it all already – we were just as hungry as the llamas…). Initially, we also wanted to hike up to the sun gate (another site), but when we woke up it was already 1pm and we had to hike back down, in order to catch our train back to Ollantaytambo.

The village of Machu Picchu, with the Huayna Picchu Mountain in the back

Looking at the village from the opposite side during our tour with the guide, this time with the Machu Picchu Mountain in the back

Saying goodbye to such a marvellous and special place was really hard, especially when you know that you probably won’t come back any time soon. We hiked about 45 minutes down the trail that we had taken in the morning and that seemed so quiet and illusory easy now. When we finally sat in our seats on the train, we realised what an incredible place we had just visited and the impressions and pictures in our heads were once again simply overwhelming. Trying to process the events of the past two days, we closed our eyes and tried to sleep… But apparently, the crew of our train had something different in mind for us: so we got surprised by an ‘Alpaca-fashion-runway-show’ & some kind of dance by a guy dressed up in colourful clothes and a mask. All that came really unexpectedly and was just ridiculous and stupid. Good thing we had just visited one of the New 7 Wonders of the World and could therefore, simply ignore this over-the-top-tourist-entertainment-package. Back in Ollantaytambo, we rejected all offers of “collectivos” for 12 soles because we were so determined to get a cheaper ride for 10 soles, only to find out that there were no vans leaving from the center (where we had hoped to find a better price). We ended up taking a ride for 15 soles and a difference of 0,55€ should’ve really not mattered that much to us. Arriving back “home” at Kokopelli at about 9pm felt really really good and we were ready to get some rest after an amazing but also exhausting two-day-one-night-trip to the stunning Inca city Machu Picchu. I still can’t believe we actually went & got to see it with our own eyes – simply incredible.

FIRST STOP: OLLANTAYTAMBO

The “collectivo” taking us to Ollantaytambo. The ride only takes about 1 1/2 hours

Landscapes between Cusco and Ollantaytambo

Already excited about going to Machu Picchu, the next surprise hit when the two ladies next to me entered the van & it turned out that they’re from New Mexico and that the girl sitting next to me was also a Rotary Exchange Student in 2005 – how crazy is that!

Sorayda, the local lady at the market telling us about the history of the city & the ruins in Ollantaytambo

Hiking up Pinkuylluna Mountain

Overlooking Ollantaytambo, an archeological Inca site 60km northwest of Cusco

At the train station about to board the “Expedition Train” to Aguas Calientes

Perurail – getting us to Machu Picchu for $61 (not the cheapest option but definitely one of the most comfortable ones

Expedition: Lowest class you can book with Perurail: comfortable seats, nice windows for a good view, included a drink & small snack

SECOND STOP: AGUAS CALIENTES

Aguas Calientes (also known as Machu Picchu Pueblo) – named after its hot spring & the stunning river running through it – is beautifully located in a small valley, enclosed by stone cliffs

Aguas Calientes is very beautiful because of its amazing location but at the same time, we felt like being at Disneyland: restaurants, shops, spas, .. everywhere you go, everything only exists for the tourists. If Bingham wouldn’t have discovered Machu Picchu in 1911, the entire place might not even exist

The “Vista Dome” train: Second class, which cost us $88 but wasn’t really any better than the expedition class