Machu Picchu, Peru
3 am: im woken up by the familiar beeping from my phone. any other day i wouldve been pissed at this early alarm however, today it was waking me up to start my journey to MACHU PICCHU! By journey i basically mean chain of transportation.. car to train to bus..safe to say i was giving my uber app a rest. 1st on queue @ 4am: a car was picking us up at from the hotel. an hour and a half drive to Ollantaytambo in which time i used to continue my sleep. 2nd up @ 6am: we boarded a train for an hour and forty minutes that would deliver us to the the town of Machu Picchu. 3rd last on the list @ 9am: we loaded on a bus that would drive us 30 minutes to the top of Machu Picchu! the bus was driving us up the mountain on what i believed to be a one way road--until another bus, coming the opposite direction, goes zooming by. it was enough to give anyone a heart attack. if that didnt do it, take one look out the window and youd see the straight drop off the cliff. its terrifyingly beautiful. the day we were waiting for was finally here and nadia and i were so excited!! we had our selfie sticks ready, go pro batteries charged and mental images of the numerous "artsy" pictures we wanted to recreate. ---until we step off the bus at the top of the mountain only to be greeted by a heavy down pour. youve got to be kidding. the ONE day out of my ENTIRE life that ill be going to Machu Picchu, one of the 7 wonders of the world, and its pouring. ok im not a total princess, i can handle the rain, its just the thick fog and clouds that are covering the "awe-inspiring" views that i cant handle!people said "oh the moment you get to machu picchu, youll want to cry it is so beautfiul"
..well sh*t, im crying but not why im supposed to. *deep breath* its fine. itll clear up! We have a few hours till our tour starts. look i see some blue sky.[just a few lies that nadia and i kept telling ourselves while we were waiting for our tour to start at 11:30.]we met a few travelers from Isreal that were disappointed because when you’re at the top at the iconic view point, they could barely see past their hands because of the clouds.... and that right there, crushed. our. souls. we did our best to keep the hope alive. we waited at the Restaurant/Bar on the top of the mountain and ordered a few Pisco Sours to make the time pass and help with the depression. however, we were reminded of the weather every few minutes when other travelers; drenched, disappointed and defeated came up to the bar and ordered themselves a round. 11:30 and by some miracle the rain stopped just as our tour started. we walked along the huge rocks and grass steps to different view points. our tour guide told us all about the history of the Incas and the meaning behind the different houses. the Incas were very religious people and they lived in huge communities that were ranked (1-5) based on their level of religion in their society. They were also very in tune with nature, the sun and the moon. Much of the way they designed their communities was based on the the sun and solar system.
Some highlights of the tour: we climbed to the top and saw the huge stone sun dial, saw their temple where they had a stone creation of the candor bird and their houses where dozens of people would sleep in one large room! well we enjoyed our slice of heaven while it lasted..the rain returned violently accompanied by strong gusts of winds. Within the Inca civilization, the Incas built a drainage system and constructed 130 working drainage spouts...which unfortunately I saw did in fact work. Nadia and I were completely drenched getting whipped by rain from every angle. thankful for my rain jacket, poncho and waterproof go pro--i can only assume the footage is nothing less than humorous. however, all jokes aside we were definitely careful to watch our steps, given one wrong step on the slippery rocks, id be nose diving off the cliff to my left. 1:45: our tour finished and Nadia and I took shelter to regroup & attempt to dry off. obviously as flattering as a poncho is, it wasnt exactly instagram worthy. but it was about more than that now--ive seen a million pictures of machu picchu, i could pick up a post card--but all i wanted was the clouds to clear just enough to be able to look down with my own eyes and see this 7 wonder of the world.2pm: nadia and i hiked up to the iconic view point (nadia struggled a bit) and our prayers were answered--the rain stopped! nadia and i ripped off ponchos faster than you could say Machu Picchu. We started snapping, taking turns posing and taking pictures! the five minutes of cease fire was all god granted me, because the rain resumed in full force leaving us absolutely drenched. nonetheless, i got what i prayed for and it was nothing short of breathtaking. machu picchu truly is one of the most incredible places ill ever see in my life. i am so beyond blessed to have the clouds part just enough for me to see it AND get that instagram worthy shot... and im pretty sure that deserves a beer!
