Woo loo loo, I'm the shaman (Machu Picchu Day 5) - 20 March 2009

A big part of the reason we decided to go back to Machu Picchu today was so that we could climb Huayna Picchu. This is another mountain that towers over Machu Picchu proper and has additional ruins on it. Unfortunately they only let 400 people per day climb Huayna Picchu (2 groups of 200 people each), so there's a mad rush to get there early and get your spot in line.

Here's a shot of Huayna Picchu, taken from Machu Picchu:

We got up around 4 a.m., left our bags at the hotel, and headed down to the bus depot to try and catch the first bus. Instead, we ended up on the second bus but still got there in plenty of time to be among the lucky 400.

It's a strenuous climb to the ruins on top and you have to pass through some tunnels. I actually smacked my head going through one tunnel and said some, well let's just say, inappropriate things. Actually, I shouted some inappropriate things - Jen told me later that some of the folks waiting to go through the tunnel were giggling. I was not.

We climbed the Inca's crazy idea of stairs:

And here's pictures of us on top, just to give you an idea of the climb involved.

Yep, that's Machu Picchu in the background.

Once you make it to the top there are a couple of options. You can either go back down the way you came, or you can continue around on a loop trail and visit the Temple of the Moon. We chose the temple route. We found the temple itself to be a bit of a let down (and the additional trekking it involved to be a whip), but we did enjoy getting to do some fun things on the trail:

Jeremy described it as a "playland for people like me."

Here's a shot of Jeremy at the Temple - you can feel the enthusiasm:

I would post a picture of Jen and me at the temple, but due to some white balance issues the top of my head fades into the background and it's kinda creepy looking.

We finished the loop in relatively high spirits and headed back to Aguas Calientes to catch our train back to civilization. We took the tourist train, which was interesting because they did both a fashion show and a culture show. We weren't expecting it and I have no idea what's going on in this picture, but hey it entertains me:

We made it back to Cusco pretty late, and settled on the traditional food of Americans everywhere:

I was too hungry for just a Happy Meal, so I didn't get the Star Wars toy. Oh well.