Machu pichu

Because it is the dry season and the 100th anniversary of the discovery of Machu Picchu it was hard to get train tickets. I could have booked a multiple day trek and hiked in instead, but I have been incredibly laid back and lazy and decided not to. I took a morning train into the horrible tourist city of Angeles cantleis. The city itself is beautiful. Buried in mountains, with a river cutting it in two. No cars are allowed so it free of the horrible exhaust that plagued Lima and Cuzco. Unfortunately, everything else about it screams horrible Inca Disney land. Cheesy souvenirs and expensive gross tourist food. I found a Harri Krishna restaurants that was ok (and a little amusing) but that was about. They do have hot springs, but they were disgusting and not very hot. Hopefully I don't bring back any weird diseases from bathing in the visibly funky and stinky water.

The plan was to wake up a 5am, eat breakfast ( the hostel gets up and makes pancakes when ever you tell them too! Very cool) and go climb Huayna picchu. Huayna picchu is a steep mountain/hill behind then ruins. Unfortunately, what woke me up was pounding rain on the roof at 3 am. The reason so many people come to Machu Picchu in july ( 2000+ a day) is that it doesn't rain! Unless i have tickets, in which case it pours. Because I'm insane I bought two different ponchos on the way to the bus and stole some little plastic bags that i turned into a water proof uniform. In think I was literally the only person to not get soaked and miserable. I decided not to don the climb because slipping down a soaking mountain and dying in Peru is never a good idea. I did spend about five hours wandering around ruins. The plus side of the terrible weather was that it added an unearthly air to the ruins. Clouds float past covering everything only to part a reveal astounding views. It was like being on some strange fantasy film set. The ruins and the view really are epic in scope and I haven't seen anything quite like it. Well worth the trip even it didn't quite go as I planned.