January 8th, Machu Picchu & Thermal Baths

On January 8th, the alarm was set for 4:30 AM, neither Karina nor I got up before 5: 00 AM; we were heading back to Machu Picchu to see the sunrise but we had to be at the lobby, done with breakfast, no later than 5:10 AM. Only problem, we were already late and by the time Karina and I got downstairs, it was 5:20AM so breakfast was out of the question…or at least that what I thought. Luckily we had a few minutes; I packed up some fruit, grab a cup of juice and a piece of bread that I left behind because everybody was leaving and my hands were full.

We waited in line for the bus, and at 5:30 am we caught one of the first buses up to Machu Picchu. We arrived to the starting point, but there was no sun. The city was covered with fog and clouds. We still planned to hike for our sunrise.

At the end only Elisa and I climbed the mountain of Machu Picchu (altitude 9, 500ft above sea level). Due to the fog and quick showers that covered the mountain, our climbing was quiet and mysterious. I couldn’t believe my self; I was walking a 500 year old trail and had the perfect view of Wayna Picchu.

Although it was a cloudy morning and the fog was dense, when we arrived at the peak of the mountain the sun came out. The landscape was beautiful; it had a breath taking view of the other mountains. Sadly I only saw some orchids that were in full bloom and they were beautiful.

On the way down, we stopped for a brake and we had a quick snack. We continued and soon stopped for a breath taking view of a bright and colorful rainbow. I could have stayed there forever.

Finally, we got back down, we took some pictures of the llamas that were by the starting point and walked the city for the last time.

Check Elisa’s website, for more details, the Blooper video and the video to the top of the Mountain of Machu Picchu.

We took the bus down back. Again we another boy that raced the bus down the mountain. After the workout we had, the bus was just perfect. We saw our group and we decided to get off. We head to the restaurant, had lunch and then we were off to the “Baños Termales” (Thermal Baths). This natural baths were at different temperatures, the place had several pools and a small, but high decorated snack bar.

After that we headed to the train station, all hopped on to the train for our ride back to Ollantaytambo. At Ollantaytambo our bus was waiting for us. We drove back to the hotel in Cuzco and for dinner we had pizza.

It was a long day, but the experience was worth it.