On-the-Road Tales

My calm demenour wore off quickly in the morning when my stupid hotel decided they were ont going to provide the breakfast I paid for. I decided to get out of there before I started raving like a lunatic and headed out at 0800 with my luggage and a 1600 train to look forward to. THe train station decided their left luggage room really is not and the only place in town to watch the bag was, yup at the top of the mountain, so I headed again towards the heavens. Fortunetly it was a stroke of good luck as the day was much better. I was able to see the city in its entiriety and after a few overall pics decided to climb Wayna Picchu, the mountain in the background of all the classic post card snaps shots. There is a 400 person limit each day so I headed that direction.

I soon became aware of why there was a limit. While the summit is only about 300 meters above the city, it is all climbing, no gradual slopes here. I do not consider myself a quitter, but hey twice on the way up I seriously contemplated turning back. Between the altitude, the sun, the heat, and the silly halfstep you were required to navigate, i was questioning the wisdom of the decision since noone would notice for a while if I passed out and fell off the side. I guess that is why they make you sign in and come looking if you do not sign out by nightfall.

After an hours climb, the first tunnel presented a problem as I had to choose if either me or my backpack would go through because the two of us were not going to fit. Fortunately there were somejapanese fellows on the other side in the same predicament and we made a chain and everyone and thing made it through. I ascented the last ladder to the tippy top of the mountain and the views were incredible. There were a hundred butterflies up there just frolicking about at breakneck speeds, not stopping long enough for even one photos but everyone was a different colour and size. Peru has the most species of mariposas after Brasil.

I chatted with a worker up there who fixes the stone paths the tourists are constantly unsettling. I decided never to complain about my commute again since his commute every day consists of a hellish, slippery, 45 minute scramble in all kinds of weather to the top of a 2700 meter precipice. I wanted to give up again on the way down but that was not so much an option and I finally got to the bottom, collected my thing and headed tot he train station. Drank 5 liters of water while chatting with a Canadian couple on the 4 hour ride back.

Tags: Travel

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 7th, 2007 at 6:37 pm and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.