Aguas Calientes is a small town. It seems mainly made up of tourists and any locals who run shops and restaurants to serve them. Machu Picchu is just on the other side of one of the neighboring mountains, but cannot be seen from the town. Upon arrival by train, we checked into our hostel, which was only down the street. I was staying in my own room that was big enough to hold at least 5 people comfortably. Josh and Rita were in there own.
After dropping our day packs off, we went to a tourist center. In our guide book we read about a mountain that when you climb it to the top, you can see Machu Picchu on the other side. We asked more details about it and the lady told us where it was and for us to be careful of snakes.
I decided I wanted to check out this mountain called Putukusi. After lunch, we headed back to the hostel. I packed up a few things for the hike and Josh came along to. Rita wasn't feeling well and stayed behind.
The walk wasn't too long. We followed the train tracks and then a trail into the woods, along the side of the mountain. They had made a nice trail with some scattered stone steps along the way. After about 20 Min's of walking we came to an area where other tourists like us were standing next to a wooden ladder going straight up the mountain about 30 ft. They were a group of about 6-8 friends visiting from England and were on a 2-3 month tour of South America. At that point they were all standing around and debating whether to go up the ladder or to just head back. A couple of their friends had already tried going up, but we soon saw them coming back down. They told us that the one ladder would stop at a ledge and another would be there and they seemed to go on and on.
At that point I wasn't sure if I wanted to go up anymore. I had never climbed anything like this and Josh didn't want to go because he was a bit fearful of heights. Then as it seemed everyone was going to leave, an older man in probably his 60's was walking up with a cane in one hand and his grandaughter, who was probably about 13, along with him. We told them what we just learned and the man looked at his granddaughter and asked what she thought. She said it didn't matter, so he said OK then we are going up. At that he folded up his cane and started climbing the ladders with his daughter. The rest of us just looked at each other with surprised looks.
After a few minutes, I decided I was going to at least try going up one of the ladders. So I told Josh I'd be right back. As I was climbing the ladder, I didn't find it scary at all. I got to the top of the first ladder about 20' up and decided to try the next one and then the next one, until I climbed about 4 or 5 of them. By that point there was no turning back. So the first people I saw coming down, I asked them if they could tell my friend that he could leave and that I was going to the top.
The whole hike up took me about 2 hours. I didn't pass too many people who were coming back down, maybe 5 or 6 people, and I seemed to be one of the last going up. The ladders only lasted about 15 minutes. The rest of the way was just a trail that went along the sides of the mountain. There were times I could see Aguas Calientes. The whole time I had no idea where the top of the mountain was and how much longer I had. I asked 1 or 2 of the few people coming back down and they couldn't give me a good estimate either. Since I didn't know how long this was going to take me, I had to conserve the food and water I had. Unfortunately, I only brought one Incan Gold bar(their version of an energy bar) and a bottle of water that was about 3/4 full. So I needed to ration, hoping I had enough to keep me going.
The hike was very enjoyable. As I mentioned I only passed a handful of people who were on their way down. The trail was very clear, but the vegetation on the side was thick. There were times where I could see a couple of hundred feet down the mountain at the town and river. I tried to make that clear in some pictures but they don't really give the real feel of the height.
After about an hour and a half (I didn't have the time, so wasn't too sure), I caught up to the old man and his granddaughter. We ended up talking and I hiked with them for a few minutes. The guys name was Tim and the granddaughter I can't recall at the moment. They were both visiting with his wife, from Oregon. We took some pictures of each other, that you can see below and after about 10 mins, decided to go ahead of them and said I would see them later on the top or on the way down.
It might have taken another 30 minutes or another hour, but I finally made it to the top. And as soon as I got there I could see Machu Picchu clearly resting at the top of the mountain directly facing me. It was a beautiful site and one of the most rewarding climbs I have ever taken. I sat there for about 20 minutes just taking it in and taking pictures of it and myself used my cameras automatic timer to get me and Machu Picchu in the picture. Using my binoculars, I could see tourists walking within the ancient structure and the winding road to the left of it, that the tour buses used to shuttle people up and down. I knew that tomorrow I would be one of them.
It was nearing evening and I had to start back down the mountain. About 10 minutes down, I ran into Tim and his granddaughter. They asked for me to relay a message to his wife at the hotel Presidente that they were all staying at and to let her know they'd be back later than they thought. I wished them luck and again headed back down. The hike down was of course quicker, with the only other difference that I didn't run into any other tourists. As I got to the bottom and was climbing down the ladders, it was starting to get dark quick. I felt bad that I left Tim and her there. As I started back into the well lit town, it was already pitch black behind me. I also couldn't find the hotel Presidente.
I headed back to the main square and ran into Rita and Josh, who happened to run into the couple from NY who were in tour bus with us to Colca Canyon. Turns out the guy got really sick too while they were visiting Lake Titicaca and he had to go see a doctor. He didn't have food poisoning like I had, but came down with a really high fever, that the doctor couldn't explain. He seemed ok when I saw him, but said he was still feeling sick.
I was still thinking about trying to find the hotel Presidente, so I headed back to where it was supposed to be. I did end up finding it and am not sure how I missed it, because it was on my way back from the trail. I went in and told them receptionist to let Tim's wife know that they were ok and that they'd be back later. The receptionist seemed happy that I brought the message and I think she told me the wife was concerned.
I went back to the town square and we met up with Grant , Natasha, Jane, Oliver, Andrea and Francesca, who had just come in on the Trek, with the rest of their group. They were all very tired and were staying at a campsite on the outskirts of town, but closer to the road that led to Machu Picchu. We went with them for a group meeting they had and then Josh and I made plans to meet Grant at the foot of the mountain in the morning, where we would hike to Machu Picchu. Some of the other people, including Rita were going to take the bus up.
For the rest of the night, Rita, Josh and I ate dinner at a Pizza place. I'm not sure at what time this happened, but both of them started complaining of having stomach problems, similar to the food poisoning I had a few days earlier. Rita seemed to have been getting it earlier in the day and Josh started feeling symptoms later on. At this point in the trip I was feeling healthy and didn't have any of the symptoms as before. After the trek up Putukusi, I knew my strength had fully returned.
Before going to bed, Josh and I still made the plans to meet Grant at 5am and too hike our way up the mountain to Machu Picchu. We heard it would take us about an hour and 20 mins for the whole hike starting from our hotel, with 20 mins to get to the foot of the mountain..
After dropping our day packs off, we went to a tourist center. In our guide book we read about a mountain that when you climb it to the top, you can see Machu Picchu on the other side. We asked more details about it and the lady told us where it was and for us to be careful of snakes.
I decided I wanted to check out this mountain called Putukusi. After lunch, we headed back to the hostel. I packed up a few things for the hike and Josh came along to. Rita wasn't feeling well and stayed behind.
The walk wasn't too long. We followed the train tracks and then a trail into the woods, along the side of the mountain. They had made a nice trail with some scattered stone steps along the way. After about 20 Min's of walking we came to an area where other tourists like us were standing next to a wooden ladder going straight up the mountain about 30 ft. They were a group of about 6-8 friends visiting from England and were on a 2-3 month tour of South America. At that point they were all standing around and debating whether to go up the ladder or to just head back. A couple of their friends had already tried going up, but we soon saw them coming back down. They told us that the one ladder would stop at a ledge and another would be there and they seemed to go on and on.
At that point I wasn't sure if I wanted to go up anymore. I had never climbed anything like this and Josh didn't want to go because he was a bit fearful of heights. Then as it seemed everyone was going to leave, an older man in probably his 60's was walking up with a cane in one hand and his grandaughter, who was probably about 13, along with him. We told them what we just learned and the man looked at his granddaughter and asked what she thought. She said it didn't matter, so he said OK then we are going up. At that he folded up his cane and started climbing the ladders with his daughter. The rest of us just looked at each other with surprised looks.
After a few minutes, I decided I was going to at least try going up one of the ladders. So I told Josh I'd be right back. As I was climbing the ladder, I didn't find it scary at all. I got to the top of the first ladder about 20' up and decided to try the next one and then the next one, until I climbed about 4 or 5 of them. By that point there was no turning back. So the first people I saw coming down, I asked them if they could tell my friend that he could leave and that I was going to the top.
The whole hike up took me about 2 hours. I didn't pass too many people who were coming back down, maybe 5 or 6 people, and I seemed to be one of the last going up. The ladders only lasted about 15 minutes. The rest of the way was just a trail that went along the sides of the mountain. There were times I could see Aguas Calientes. The whole time I had no idea where the top of the mountain was and how much longer I had. I asked 1 or 2 of the few people coming back down and they couldn't give me a good estimate either. Since I didn't know how long this was going to take me, I had to conserve the food and water I had. Unfortunately, I only brought one Incan Gold bar(their version of an energy bar) and a bottle of water that was about 3/4 full. So I needed to ration, hoping I had enough to keep me going.
The hike was very enjoyable. As I mentioned I only passed a handful of people who were on their way down. The trail was very clear, but the vegetation on the side was thick. There were times where I could see a couple of hundred feet down the mountain at the town and river. I tried to make that clear in some pictures but they don't really give the real feel of the height.
After about an hour and a half (I didn't have the time, so wasn't too sure), I caught up to the old man and his granddaughter. We ended up talking and I hiked with them for a few minutes. The guys name was Tim and the granddaughter I can't recall at the moment. They were both visiting with his wife, from Oregon. We took some pictures of each other, that you can see below and after about 10 mins, decided to go ahead of them and said I would see them later on the top or on the way down.
It might have taken another 30 minutes or another hour, but I finally made it to the top. And as soon as I got there I could see Machu Picchu clearly resting at the top of the mountain directly facing me. It was a beautiful site and one of the most rewarding climbs I have ever taken. I sat there for about 20 minutes just taking it in and taking pictures of it and myself used my cameras automatic timer to get me and Machu Picchu in the picture. Using my binoculars, I could see tourists walking within the ancient structure and the winding road to the left of it, that the tour buses used to shuttle people up and down. I knew that tomorrow I would be one of them.
It was nearing evening and I had to start back down the mountain. About 10 minutes down, I ran into Tim and his granddaughter. They asked for me to relay a message to his wife at the hotel Presidente that they were all staying at and to let her know they'd be back later than they thought. I wished them luck and again headed back down. The hike down was of course quicker, with the only other difference that I didn't run into any other tourists. As I got to the bottom and was climbing down the ladders, it was starting to get dark quick. I felt bad that I left Tim and her there. As I started back into the well lit town, it was already pitch black behind me. I also couldn't find the hotel Presidente.
I headed back to the main square and ran into Rita and Josh, who happened to run into the couple from NY who were in tour bus with us to Colca Canyon. Turns out the guy got really sick too while they were visiting Lake Titicaca and he had to go see a doctor. He didn't have food poisoning like I had, but came down with a really high fever, that the doctor couldn't explain. He seemed ok when I saw him, but said he was still feeling sick.
I was still thinking about trying to find the hotel Presidente, so I headed back to where it was supposed to be. I did end up finding it and am not sure how I missed it, because it was on my way back from the trail. I went in and told them receptionist to let Tim's wife know that they were ok and that they'd be back later. The receptionist seemed happy that I brought the message and I think she told me the wife was concerned.
I went back to the town square and we met up with Grant , Natasha, Jane, Oliver, Andrea and Francesca, who had just come in on the Trek, with the rest of their group. They were all very tired and were staying at a campsite on the outskirts of town, but closer to the road that led to Machu Picchu. We went with them for a group meeting they had and then Josh and I made plans to meet Grant at the foot of the mountain in the morning, where we would hike to Machu Picchu. Some of the other people, including Rita were going to take the bus up.
For the rest of the night, Rita, Josh and I ate dinner at a Pizza place. I'm not sure at what time this happened, but both of them started complaining of having stomach problems, similar to the food poisoning I had a few days earlier. Rita seemed to have been getting it earlier in the day and Josh started feeling symptoms later on. At this point in the trip I was feeling healthy and didn't have any of the symptoms as before. After the trek up Putukusi, I knew my strength had fully returned.
Before going to bed, Josh and I still made the plans to meet Grant at 5am and too hike our way up the mountain to Machu Picchu. We heard it would take us about an hour and 20 mins for the whole hike starting from our hotel, with 20 mins to get to the foot of the mountain..
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