Rachel's Adventures in Wonderland(s): Machu Picchu- Day One

Hey again!

So, as most people I'm sure would say, Machu Picchu was most definitely the highlight of my entire Peru trip- the hike itself was one of the hardest, most incredible, and most gratifying things I've ever done! I'm just glad I walked a lot the weeks before, because my legs hurt for three days afterward! But anyway Heather, Amy, Michelle and I did the 2 day/1 night hike, which was amazing!

We got up at 6am to catch our train, and rode for about 3 hours until we got to our starting point. From there we hiked almost 2 hours up stairs and slanty roads (it was estimated to be a 3 hour hike, so we did good!)- it was amazingly endorphin-inducing (thank God!) and once we reached out first checkpoint we were all panting, super-sweaty (well, at least I was) and ready for lunch. From there, we hiked another 10 minutes to Wiñay Wayna (or Forever Young), and saw some Incan ruins- terraces, a temple, and a washing place (to be used before entrance to the temple...at least, back in Incan times)- it was so beautiful, sitting right at the mountainside, very lush and green- still can't believe it's almost all intact!

The start of our hike

Note the awesomely-ghetto bag tied to my already ghetto backpack-luckily, "Ol' Trusty" (as I've deemed my backpack) didn't break at all during the trip! It was pretty heavy, too!

The first ruins we saw (sorry, I can't remember the name!)

Wiñay Wayna, or "Forever Young," and our tour guide, Nélida- she was great, very funny, knowledgeable and always optimistic- we loved her!

The ruins at Wiñay Wayna- very steep and beautiful

The 4 Muskateers at Wiñay Wayna

Aren't the terraces amazing? I still can't get over it!

Me, the proud Incan warrior... riiiight...

See that river? Yeah, that's the level we started from. So it was a pretty hard climb hahaha!

Me, in a window of the temple

From there, we hiked another 1.5 hours or so, with the destination of Sun Gate- the rest of that hike was flatter and easier, with great views of our first checkpoint, terraces, and ruins in the distance. Nélida taught us a song in Quechua, as well as the words for "ready to go?" "yes!" and "be careful!" We also talked about how beautiful the hike was, and how great we thought we were doing, and how excited we all were (ah, endorphins, haha)! So, here are some pictures from Sun Gate... we were really lucky that it wasn't too cloudy!