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Who would have thought I would have ever been here in Aguascaliente preparing myself to climb MachuPichu. At around 3:30am I got up did my exercises and along with Cris ate a quick breakfast ready to leave the hostel at 4:30am. We were both feeling great and spirits were high as we were about to take on one of the 7 wonders of the world. The track was pitch dark but luckily Cris had brought a small torch that gave us some light. After about a 25 minute walk we found the checkpoint and started the 1.5 hour climb up to the MachuPichu entrance. It was mostly stairs the whole way and the track was full of people young and old. The stairs up were difficult and it wasn't long before people really began to suffer - going up has never been a problem for me it is the going down that hurts my knees. After just under an hour I made it to the ticket point and joined the cue which bye this time 6am had about 500 people in line. There are two options to get to the ticket point - an expensive 10 minute bus ride or a very steep 1.5 hour stair climb - mind you take nothing away from those using the bus as just climbing MachuPichu mountain is a feet in itself. About 30 minutes late Cris arrived and we started to advance in the line - we were both feeling really good and ready to see what MachuPichu is all about. After about 30 minutes we made it to the front of the line, had our tickets verified and made our way up to MachuPichu city. What a site it is - honestly taking your breath away, we stood in awe of the sheer size and complexity of the remnants of this lost city. The city is incredibly well preserved and to add some Peruvian touch about 10 Alpacas were grazing in between the walled terraces. We walked and took some photos - not really believing what we were seeing - turns out the city was only discovered in 1905 - just imagine the look on the explorers face when at 2400 meters he discovers one of the most preserved lost cities known to man. As it was still super early and we had paid the extra to climb MachuPichu mountain we headed to the ticket office just above the city - signed in and started the epic hike up this incredible mountain. MachuPichu mountain towers over 3000m and the climb was incredibly steep and difficult with thousands of stairs cut from stone. The hike up was to take 1.5 hours but I pushed and pushed and made it in just 50 minutes but it was 50 minutes of mental battle - arriving at the top I discovered just 3 other people. Wow what an incredible site looking over the city and high up in the clouds with all the snow-capped peaks. Looking down at the town of MachuPichu I realized what I had achieved in just the beginning of the morning and made a note to myself the possibilities we all have if we can conquer our minds. Another realization was that; that we must suffer in order to enjoy moments of elation - what made this mountain, view so spectacular and rewarding was that we all had to suffer a little or a lot to reach the summit. I chatted with some American guys and waited for Cris to arrive, after an hour of so more Cris made it to the top with 6 or so new friends. We had a blast chatting about travels, the climb, different cultures and took loads of photos, sharing in the incredible scenery and moment. We made two Peruvian friends who we hung out with for the remainder of the day with. I had to do my handstand shot up ontop of MachuPichu mountain but unfortunately there was no level ground, I did it anyway much to Cris's dismay and ended up chin-butting the ground and taking a small chunk out of my chin, ohwell I got the shot. After a few hours we decided to make our way down- a much easier hike followed and when we reached the city we were all once again knackered. We decided to sit and have lunch and wow what a place to picnic, there were 100s of people just sitting around smiling, laughing and enjoying the beautiful scenery - it's one of those places you can't help but be in awe and have a big smile on your face. We wondered around some more looking at the various ruins and being truly amazed by the Inca architecture, from the astrological observatory to terrain models and the most interest the condor sacrifice platform. All the terraces contained an elaborate irrigation system that fed the whole city - using the clouds and condensation from MachuPichu mountain. After wondering around in amazement for a few more hours we decided we would head down as the heat was taking its toll on all of us and we were exhausted. The hike down was hard but nowhere near as hard as the climb up, we chatted, laughed and were all still on a high about our achievements from the day. We made it back to the town and headed straight for the market to buy a few things for dinner. We stopped and had a drink out on the street with our new Peruvian friends before heading back to the Hostal. I showered, packed my things and then went for a bit of a wonder around the town. MachuPichu town has been designed solely to cater for the tourism that the mountain attracts, it is still quite beautiful and very unique with some interesting architecture and amenities. In the evening I cooked up a huge feed of fried sausages, onions, peppers and an avocado, egg and tomato salad to try and get some protein/energy back into my body. We have a 3 hour hike in the morning along the train tracks so another early night is in order.
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