You need a special ticket (bought in advance!) to climb Wayna Picchu. 200 hikers at 7am, 200 at 10am, and that's all they let in per day. The point? To get an incredible view of the city, and, to my surprise, visit a huge look-out post that clings to the side of the mountain. Incredible.
The first half of the climb to the top was fine. Steep, but fine. Stone stairs, after stairs, after stairs. Up, up, up. Did I mention that it was raining? The second half was nearly straight up, and the stairs narrowed so that just over half my foot's length would fit, and at times there were drop offs over the edge of the cliff (with no safety guard rails, and only the occasional cable to grab on to). It got steeper and steeper as I reached the top. It was scary (and yes, unsafe), but going up was not nearly as bad as coming down. Did I mention I have issues with heights??? (yes, that really is the staircase on the right and it really is as steep as it looks)
When I reached the top (it took about an hour), the rain had stopped but clouds frequently obscured the view. Every once in a while I'd catch a bird's eye view on the city. Unbelievable. This was the one time I really wish I had a good camera with me as my iPhone camera certainly does not do the view justice.
When people started standing near the edge for pictures, I couldn't bear watching them so close to the edge, and so it was time to make my way down, starting with the steepest and narrowest of all the stairways! And no cables to hold on to! The first half of the way down was terrifying, and I had to take several breaks to recenter myself, calm down, and then proceed. I could only look at the next step ahead or I got extremely nervous & dizzy, and went down on my butt a good portion of the way. There were many self-pep talks necessary (out loud, and I really didn't care who heard me!)! But I made it! That was definitely one of the top 3 scariest & most dangerous outings of my life (maybe #1).
After the climb I headed back to town, cleaned up, had lunch, and took the train back to Ollantaytambo to get my big pack. From there I flagged down a combi (an extended van) and asked if they were going to Cusco (according to Lonely Planet, this is what you do to get back to Cusco). From what I gathered, they were.... and from what I could understand (everyone was speaking Spanish) it was a tour group and I tried to understand the 20 minutes of fun trivia they were playing as we drove along. Everyone was pretty much my age & were travelers like myself, which made me a bit more comfortable. We weren't on the same road that I had traveled from Cusco to Ollantaytambo, and in fact we were driving on a nearly washed out dirt road along a river. I think I asked something like 3 more times if we were really going to Cusco as I was getting nervous that we weren't. I was assured we were, and that this way was faster. We passed many old Peruvians with donkeys, sheep, & llamas. It was a beautiful drive back across the Sacred Valley........ And I was very happy when I safely arrived back in Cusco!
It was an unbelievably adventurous day and I was stretched WAY outside my comfort zone...... And survived! : )
I had a nice morning today in Cusco.... I skyped with Jeana for a bit, and met Agnes & Thomas for coffee (friends from the Galapagos who arrived into Cusco yesterday).
I've run out of things to do here (the Sacred Valley didn't offer as much as I had hoped), and explored my options. Manu National Park (somewhat nearby) is very rainy this time of year & I could never find a reservation as most places close for Jan & Feb there (and I just found out there are MANY poisonous snakes everywhere there and so there's no way I'm going there!!!).... Lima didn't look like my kind of place when I had a stop-over there (and heard from other travelers it isn't so great). I looked at other tourist destinations in Peru and nothing really grabbed my attention. Easter Island seemed a bit too far away. And so....... on to Santiago, Chile tomorrow!
This day was Clarence's birthday. Happy Birthday, Clarry!
Location:Aguas Calientes, Cuzco, Peru
Ahh! Sounds so freaking scary! I am so happy you did it though. Loving the blog!
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