That peak on the left? That's Huayna.
Buses still start at 5:30 am, and the park opens at 6 am.
A train is incoming as we make our way to the buses.
A line of people await the gate being opened.
Not long ago, only the first 400 people to reach the gate of Huayna were allowed in. Now, tickets can be bought in advanced for either the morning hike or the afternoon. The gate opens for the morning hike at 7 am.
In the meantime we walk around the ruins as the sun climbs from behind the mountains.
The sun begins to peer into the Room of the Three Windows.
And onto the Sun Dial. The Sun Dial was extremely crowded in the afternoon. Now it is just us and a park employee.
Welcoming the new day:
It is nearing time to head to Huayna Picchu.
Looking from here, it is hard to imagine that a trail can possibly exists that scales alongside the peak.
We reach the gate a bit early, and stand around with a small crowd of people (not shown).
I have mentioned that Peru will have various spellings for words. The sign below spells "Huayna" as "Wayna." It's pronounced the same though.
They open the gate, and we sign a ledger with the time we enter: 7:05.
The ascent begins...
By going down...
And then up...
And down some more...
We actually have to get *to* Huayna before we can start climbing it.
From here we can see down into the Urumbaba Valley
And also see that there actually is a trail that goes up the mountain.
We are already far above the ruins.
Near the top, buildings and terraces appear.
After more stairs, there is a small cave to pass through. It is quickly clear that the Incas were not large people. (Yes, the only passable trail goes through here.)
After a bit more climbing, we reach the peak.
The mountain across the way is Machu Picchu (the ruins are named after the mountain).
The zig zags are the bus road that travels up the mountain.
When we start to leave, we notice there is one sign that says "Return," and that there is another trail that goes in the opposite direction.
Photo courtesy of Stephen Waugh
We head off on the unknown trail, resting at a landing for our snack of fruit, nuts, tuna, and these tasty Peruvian grain/fruit/nut energy bars that are rather tasty. Food is not allowed on Huayna (shh..), but we had some anyway, and leave no trash behind.
We come to a natural sort of porch with a couch carved into the stone. Well! This would have been a good place for our snack break.
We continue on this myster trail. There is a sign with an arrow that says "Gran Caverna." I'm not sure what that is, but it sounds like a big cavern. It's still early and we have time to explore. Off we go!
And lots of incredible views.
We start to get into flatter terrain (but still down hill) and more "jungly" looking vegetation.
This ladder is sturdier than it might look.
Mosquitoes really were not a problem. But there are definitely some sorts of bugs everywhere. That is the buzzing sound in this next video, which shows off this part of the trail a bit better than some of the pictures.
And to get an idea from an outside perspective of what the trail during this video looked like from below (and what I mean by "flatter" section of trail).
Photo courtesy of Christopher Chergi
After perhaps an hour of walking without knowing where we are going or how far the trail goes, we come to an opening, and something I was not expecting at all...
It felt like I had made a discovery of our own, not knowing what was at the end of this ancient trail through the dense vegetation, suddenly and unexpectedly emerging into an opening with ancient ruins.
This was the first I came to
Next is what is called the "Temple of the Moon," which is basically a building bit in interior of a small cave.
Inside the cave.
In the very back corner of the cave:
Here you can also see another carved sitting area.
View from inside the cave looking out. Lots of people stop here to rest.
Photo courtesy of Christopher Chergi
There is another sign leading towards the exit of the trail, off to the left.
And again, a mysterious trail that leads to the right that few people seem to be taking advantage of.
The first passage on this mystery trail goes through this building. The structure doorway signifies that this was a room of importance (see how it is like a doorway inside a doorway?).
And here is the Gran Caverna itself. Like the Temple of the Moon, it is a modified cave.
Inside the cave:
Inside the building above the cave:
Now it's back to the main trail, which means back up as many steps as we have come down.
And sometimes going down
Which sometimes requires ducking
Did I mention there were some amazing views up here? This is the Urumbaba River below.
Back at the main trail that loops between the Machu Picchu ruins and the Huayna peak, I look at some of the smaller life forms on the mountain.
And one last stop before leaving the trail: Huchuy Picchu.
Huchuy Picchu is the shortest peak, but it still has some fun steps.
It doesn't take long to get to the landing at the top.
On the back side I climb down a bit onto some untended terraces, where I finish the last of my snacks.
I sign out at the gate at 12:05. Five full hours.
It's back go Aguas Calientes to eat and catch the train.
We have a late lunch during the afternoon shower and some pisco sour on an patio while the same band from the previous night plays down in the street.
I mostly try to sleep on the train, despite the train activities.
Photo courtesy of Stephen Waugh
It has been a long day.
Tonight we drive back to our hotel in Cusco, then fly out to Puerto Maldonado in the morning.
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