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Machu Picchu
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We received our bus tickets and boarded the National Park buses for the 30 minute ride on a dirt road up to the Sanctuary Lodge at the site. There it was planned to have a buffet lunch for 30 minutes, at 11am, and then explore Machu Picchu as a group. They allow only 2500 visitors a day into the site; 500 may walk the Inka Trail; and 400 can hike up Wayna Picchu, the smaller mountain with terraces at an unbelievable angle. That last is for very young or very experienced folks. We had one couple from Toronto who were experienced climbers and they chose to separate from the group and walk uphill at both Sacsayhuaman and Machu Pichhu. We found Gary to be so full of information that the rest of us stuck with him. One couple and the other man with the breathing issues did not go on the tour as the activity was far beyond their ability. Even for those of us in better condition, the 2 1/2 hours were very strenuous. We saw all of the famous sites that we had read about and walked on the terraces in the agricultural area, crawled through narrow passages in the temples, saw the natural sundial. The Inkans built all of this without any technology and yet everything fits without mortar. The fascinating thing is that nothing has been reconstructed. This is Machu Picchu as Hiram Bingham found it in 1911, except without a jungle covering it.
They did not construct "to code" 800 years ago and the steps are very difficult to maneuver. We certainly climber a lot of steps when we were there, sometimes both up and down the same ones and jockeying for position with the other 2485 people who were there. Gary literally ran back and forth to make sure that we were all together, counting us over and over. Peru has managed the site very well and has a number of staff stationed around to make sure you don't go over the edge, or walk where you shouldn't. There is no trash to speak of anywhere. They make you walk out with your empty water bottles, etc. Gary was constantly warning us to drink water, use sun block, use bug spray. We had pretty much covered ourselves with sun block and never used the bug spray as we did not have a problem.
After our alotted time, we headed back to the Sanctuary Lodge, got Machu Picchu stamps in our passports (pretty impressive, huh!) and lined up for the 30 minute bus ride back down the hill to the town and eventually the 3:20 train. Gary brought up the rear with our slower members.
