#scaryhike

[worldwidexplorer]

Hiking Huayna Picchu - is it worthwhile?

Last week, I told you about and showed you some of the remarkable beauty at the ancient Inca citadel of Machu Picchu in the Andes Mountains of Peru. When you visit Machu Picchu, did you know that it's also possible to hike even higher and visit Huayna Picchu (also spelled Wayna Picchu)? Huayna Picchu is the tip of the background mountain when you view the citadel:

The first question you should ask is: SHOULD I hike Huayna Picchu? When I visited with my husband and our two friends, we relied on the advice of several local people who said it would take maybe 2 hours up and 1.5 hours to come back down and that it wasn't too difficult. It sounded easy enough and the view sounded like it would be worthwhile. When we first started hiking, it wasn't too bad. The initial slope and steps were quite gradual. However, once we started really gaining altitude, it gradually became more difficult.

Initial part of the Huayna Picchu climb

By the time we were about 1.5 hours into the hike, it became a lot more difficult. It had rained that morning, and the steps were getting wet and slippery. There were also times when two of the steps might be 3 feet (1 meter) apart on a very steep slope! And there were no ropes or safety equipment of any kind to grab if you started to slip; we were surrounded by steep mountains on every side! The only reason we persevered is because we figured that we must be close since we'd been climbing for close to 2 hours at that point. Boy were we wrong! It took another 1.5 miserable hours of grueling hiking to finally reach the top!

Dreamy view from the top of Huayna Picchu looking down at Machu Picchu

When we did finally reach the top, after the most dangerous and scary part of the hike, we were certainly relieved and rewarded with an amazing view. It looked like we were viewing Machu Picchu and the surrounding area from a plane! However, we were seated on a makeshift ledge, literally 5 feet (less than 2 meters) from the cliff's edge. One wrong move off the edge, and we'd fall thousands of feet below. I sat on that ledge, literally terrified, for more than half an hour before I could even bring myself to take out my camera and take the photo above! And it took another half an hour before I was willing to stand up long enough to have my photo taken with my husband in this photo below!

Marisa and Sarat, somehow still alive after a truly terrifying hike

I kept saying that I would stay up there until a helicopter could be sent to rescue me! Knowing that I had to take the exact hike back down that I had to take on the way up didn't help calm my nerves. Somehow, we did make it down and clearly, we survived. But, SHOULD we have done the hike? Knowing what I know now, I would not do it again. Unless they fix the terrifyingly dangerous conditions, it is simply not worth risking your life. We climbed up the original steps used by the Inca people - 600 years ago - and it seemed none of the steps had been repaired or replaced since those times! Before you hike up, park rangers have you sign a guest log (and sign again when you come back down). I'm sure they do this so they know how many people they lose per day. And those statistics are not published anywhere. The point of my story is this: I've traveled to all of these places that I tell you about each week. I experience as much as I can on each journey so that I can advise you not just about things that "sound" interesting, but things that I've experienced myself. I will always be honest about my experiences because I want to guide you to make the right choice for yourself. When you work with WorldwideXplorer, you work directly with me. You simply can't get that kind of advice or information from most travel companies or most travel agents.

Until next week,

Marisa

[heyitsmejamsus]

Zion Park, Utah - Few years back with my budz. #Utah #nationalpark #zion #view #scaryhike #prints #trail #zigzack #razorbacks #goodtimes #campn #high #meditation