The last few weeks here have been really busy with friends coming, going, and adventuring. Two weekends ago I went to Moray with Kate, Haley, and Thomas. We saw the famous tiered rings that the incas used to for agricultural experiments and we also saw the salt mines that are still in use today. The salt there is all natural and is exported all over the world. That was a bit of an adventure because we did it with out a guide, we just took a bus and then found a taxi to take us around once we got there.
The bigger adventure however was Machu Picchu which was absolutely beautiful. However, getting there, and getting started was a trial. The travel agency was more than 30 minutes late picking me up and when I finally got to Aguas Calientes (the town below Machu where everyone stays) there was no one from the hostal to pick me up. This wouldn't have been a problem except that my friends were arriving later that day from a five day trek and Kate was the one who had organized everything. Naturally I had also forgotten my Peruvian cell at the house. So I just figured out where they were supposed to come down from the mountains and I waited for them.
As the luck of the day would have it I missed them and they, not realizing that I was already there, assumed that I would arrive later that afternoon. The agency told me that they wouldn't arrive until sometime between 4-5 so I thought nothing of it until it started getting late. By this time I had made friends with a man who had a shop right by where the trekkers come off the trail and a waitress at a restaurant where I ate dinner. The waitress, Edith, introduced me to another tour guide who knew of a hostel where large trek groups often stayed and after I had eaten he walked me down to the hostel. By this point my friends had realized that something obviously was not right and were frantically searching for me at the places I had indicated in my facebook messages. We were reunited and everything worked out great.
The next morning we got up at 3:30 to get on one of the first busses to Machu because I had a cold and the hike up is takes about an hour and is more than 2000 stairs. We ate our breakfast and on the bus ride up, I thought it would be smart to take some IB profen because I hadn't gotten much sleep and I knew the sun would be bright and I didn't want to get a headache and ruin the day. I was being careful, I had used both my inhalers, the preventative and the regular one and been taking my claratin. I wanted this to be a great day. What I didn't think about was the fact that ever since I had some stomach issues a few weeks ago my stomach hasn't handled pills very well.
So we arrived at the gates of Machu Picchu and hiked up the steep steps to a beautiful view of the ancient city. I needed to use my inhaler once more on the steps up, but other than that I was feeling good. We took some pictures and kept wandering around when my stomach started to cramp and feel weird. After wandering around like that for a few minutes, certain that I could walk it off I sat down and threw up. I was sure that the day was ruined and my money, time and stress had all be a waste. I walked around a bit more and had to sit down again for about 15 minutes. I just kept thinking that I was going to miss everything. Then I felt better, found my tour group and friends, Kate, Levin and Haley and enjoyed the rest of the day. I'm not sure that could really be described as anything less than a miracle.
I did decide not to hike Wayna or Huayna Picchu since even though I was feeling much better I didn't feel like scrambling up the steepest stairway ever. Apparently at least 24 people, including a few guides familiar with the trail, have plummeted to their deaths. I wasn't willing to press my luck. So I waited at the entrance chatting with the many Brazilians who were there that day and even one of my English students, Mario, who is a tour guide. He is fluent in French and since there aren't very many guides who are, I suspect he does pretty well for himself. He offered to show us around Cusco in November.
I mentioned that I wasn't sure if Dad would like Machu Picchu because of the heights and Mario assured me that there were things to see even if you had to skip some things in order to avoid the parts near the cliffs. I didn't take any pictures on the bus ride up but even that seemed like it would be asking a lot.
The bus ride is 24 soles each way, so we decided to walk down. Everything in the town, and everything on the trek along the way had been very expensive. Since there was nowhere else to go everything along the way to Machu is possibly the biggest tourist trap I have ever experienced. The steps were intense and about half way down (since I essentially hadn't eaten all day) I got a bit wobbly and we walked the normal road down hill the rest of the way. When we finally got back to Aguas Calientes we stopped for lunch at the pizza place where Edith worked and I put lunch and snacks for the train on the credit card. We were all broke, dehydrated and starving. We mostly ordered liquids, two jars of limeade, 2.5 liters of water and a sprite to make some of the limeade fizzy. We also had a tomato salad and two pizzas. We were just about as happy to be sitting there and drinking cool water as when I finally arrived at the Marriott in Zurich. My friends were profusely grateful and tonight plan to email Mom and Dad and thank them personally for saving their lives.
We wandered around a little bit but were so tired we ended up going to the waiting room at the train station early and waiting. We slept for most of the train and bus rides back to Cusco, but since it was dark there wasn't much to see anyway. It was an amazing trip, even though the beginning was a little rough.
I'll try to get more pictures up this week, but sometimes the internet is soooo slow!
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