#its 1:30am and i have to wake up at 6am to house sit for someone

[dragons-and-yellow-roses]

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[adityatodi]

Salkantay Trek: Day 4

May 25, 2018 Trek Day 4 Peru Rail

The day starts early with a wake up at 3:30am. Again did not get much sleep last night: after dinner got a bus ticket for Machu Picchu Inca Base and headed to hotel Rio Donero. Take a hot shower and off to bed. The hotel is located on a loud street next to a Futsal Arena, its noisy for a long part of the night. Someone crying, friends loudly chatting and I am extremely irritated. At some point I get some sleep but wake up at 3:30am. We queue up for the bus starting at 4am and already around 75 people are ahead of us. At 5am the first buses come through as we load up. It's still dark outside. The bus goes up the mountain through the winding road and after 30 minutes we make it. A short queue and we get in at 6am, one of the first to get in. The sun is slowly rising, taking its time. Our eyes meet the majestic Inca site: the stone structures and the bright green gardens . In some ways it's like the Victorian palace of Windsor in its use of elements. Photographs are taken and we sit down as our guide Freddy tells us the history of this place.

Built by the 9th of the 12th Inca king, Pancacutay, it's an engineering marvel. Like Vaastu, movement of the sun is taken into account in building each detail of the houses, religious area, irrigation and farming. It was not until 1912 that Machu Picchu was rediscovered by the American Hiram Bingham since the entire site was covered in vegetation by the time the Spanish arrived. Imagine there may still be places in the world that is undiscovered. Unfortunately before he came some person knew of the place and looted many of the artifacts. Even Bingham took some artifacts with him which have still not been returned. There is a mystery to this place. No one exactly knows why it was built, what happened here, why it was abandoned. Imagine thousands of stories and lives unfolded here. Imagine in moments having to abandon what has been home (like Fukushima). To have built such a structure at such astounding heights with nothing around is a marvel in itself. Yes if we set out minds to something we can do it. We walk around the site, the houses, the holy area, the main square. The sun is rising from behind the mountains and it's beautiful how this sleeping place comes to life and few Llama's go into hiding. The few moments of quiet we had quickly ends as more tourists filter in.

Most of us in the group had bought tickets earlier to climb the actual Machu Picchu mountain. Standing over 3000 meters, i.e. 650 meters above the Inca site, it is supposed to be a 2 hour hike up. At 9am we start. Stairs upon stairs greet you. In most places the stairs are super steep perhaps at a 60 or 70 degree incline. The trail was built by the Incas back in the day and the stairs themselves are narrow meant for much smaller feet. Every few minutes the body tires, it's sweating and muscles are feeling the heat. The runny nose continues. It seems like a never ending vertical uphill climb---might as well rock climb. In some places it is so steep that you literally need to crawl. It's the hardest hike I think I have ever been on in my entire life. The group: Chris, Mel, Nicky, Satomi, Ceylan, Abe, Emily are all very supportive along the way. Pushing me to keep going. After a grueling 1 hours 40 minutes we finally make it to the top. Mountains covered by lush green trees surround you. The mountains are steep and gorgeous. They are dome shaped with curves instead of lines. Far in the distance you can see the Inca ruins. From this height they don't look so big, but still something special. The Inca site is belittled though in front of the majestic mountains. Nature's own answer standing rock solid for millions of years. No humans are visible. All around you are green mountains and in the distance some snow covered ones. We spend 20 minutes taking in the sight before heading down. The downhill is even tougher. Extreme concentration is required, one misstep and you will be falling all the way down the steep cliff-no return, as simple as that. One walks slowly and carefully holding on to the rocks on the side for support. There are those coming up and a quiet non-verbal negotiation is had on who will take mountain side and who the cliff side. Chris is keeping a watching turning back every so often to make sure I am fine. His encouragement, motivation and support is so helpful. Out joints, muscle, bodies have taken huge hits and pains over the last 4 days. This is the final descent. Enjoy this view and beauty and the pain for now. One step at a time-keep going step by step and we arrive. People can be seen in the distance and a final look is had at this majestic site. Who knows when life will bring us here or if it ever will.

Queue up to take the bus down, Indian food is being craved by me-find the only Indian restaurant in Cusco: Govinda Restaurant which has something resembling Kofta but best of all have warm roti. Ah! The bliss. I am so happy. Head to hotel, pick up luggage, head to station, seated in the beautiful Peru Rail with great scenery outside. The four hardest days of physical challenge I've had comes to an end. Much to be proud about, much to ponder, life is beautiful.