3 days after my last beautiful experience, I did Machu Picchu and yes, it was beautiful, a perfect end to my hike. I did it slightly more unconventionally and had the place to myself. It was perfect. I dont know how to explain the experience, other than, imagine sitting totally alone on a mountain top surrounded by clound in the morning light, patches of distant hills appearing and dissappearing through the silent mist. It begins to rain and you wandered down 2000 steps to mingle with ancient stone walls and buildings, the edge of this world dropping hundreds of meters to cloud forest and a twisting river that encircles this peninsular. The first place you come to is a huge carved funeral rock, with a top flat surface that would have held the dead bodies of kings as they were mumified. A few meters more and an eerie sentinel house, the hut of the care taker of this rock, looms over the whole complex, narrow and tall, vague in the mist.
More wanderings amoungst the un-prepaired, cheap poncho clad tourists brings you to beautifully aranged buildings with intricate stone work, temples for wind and sun and moon and water. Perfect channels taking a trickle of water under, through, down and around rocks and paths and walls.
I exhausted the sights at mid day and headed back down the 400 meters of spets and paths to the river below, pack up my life again in to my backpack and set off walking down the train tracks to Cusco, to save me the insanely expensive train ride. The following day i complete the journey on buses and arrive at the belly button of the world, to stalk the fusion of inca and spanish streets, neetly cleaned and de-personed for the tourists.
Now I am on my 15 day excurtion to Santiago in Chile to meet up with a frind there for 2 and a half months, my route takes my to the Isla de la Sol on Lake Titicaca, down through the Bolivial Salt Flats, in to Argentina, desserts, mountains and wine growing country, before crossing west to Santiago. Hopefully all hitch hiking. A bit faster paced traveling now! x
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