Day Three: Optional Extras

Having taken another “options” vote over dinner the night before, it was not such an early rise on our third morning, with another bus set to speed us through our first leg for the day. I am not sure if this was the reason why we ended up at Santa Theresa’s only club, drinking surprisingly good, but strong, cocktails until the early hours, or if it was the two for one cuba libres (rum and coke) at the restaurant before that egged us on, but I had to admit that my gashed knee and ripped pants enjoyed the momentary rest.

Heading , we got out to follow the train tracks all the way to Aguas Calientes, at the foot of Machu Picchu. Again it was an easy flat stroll through the selpa, and we arrived well ahead of schedule. Not much more than a final destination/resting point for hikers and tourists alike, Aguas Calientes is a reasonably charming town, with its chalet-style restaurants and hotels and train running through the middle. Unfortunately though, it is also filled with expensive food and drink and an inordinate amount of framed dead insects (butterflies and tarantulas).

Again, I blame the “options” voting system here, when I say that either wisely or unwisely, I forwent a siesta and instead followed some of the boys up Putucusi mountain for an early side-view of Machu Picchu. Eder had already warned us that it might not be such a good idea – not only after last night’s festivities, but also after a patch of rain came through during lunch to wet the many wooden log ladders on the climb. But stupidly, none of us were deterred from the 1900 or so stairs (so the Israeli guy ahead of us counted), which came in the form of an extremely slippery, seriously rotting, 25m-at-its-longest stair – conveniently missing several rungs along the way.

It’s no wonder, with my relatively petite legs, that I almost didn’t make it up. But with Eder adamant that he would hold my foot as I heaved the extra bit over gaps, there was no turning back. Besides, I didn’t come all this way just to shop for preserved animals. Little by little, we eventually made it up the unrelenting stairs to have our first taste of what we would see tomorrow morning. The impressive, but not-so-ancient remains of the Incan city lay open in front of us, clouded over by the passing storm.