Friday, 9 November 2012

Mount Machu Picchu.....



Wow!! Talk about pure torture and adrenalin rolled into one!!! After a 90 minute hike...or should I say race, with oxygen pumps in hand and struggling with a little altitude sickness we finally reached the top of Mt. Machu Picchu, it was a 
race to touch the Argentinian flag, which is kind of bizarre, considering the fact that you are in Peru???


On top of the world...


The Machu Picchu citadel is bookended by two sacred peaks. Mt. Huayna Picchu marks the north end of the site and to the south stands Mt. Machu Picchu. Both offer spectacular views but while Mt. Huayna Picchu turns away would-be visitors, the summit of Mt. Machu Picchu nearly always stands empty.


Looking towards the 'Famous' Mt Huayna Picchu, on our way to the top....
The reason may in fact be the difference in height. At 1,640ft, Mt Machu Picchu is more than twice as tall as its sister peak, but trust me...the reward for the 90 minute plus climb up flights of ancient stone stairs is the most incredible view that can be achieved...once the clouds lift, that is.




A quick pitstop, for us girls who had been setting the pace....



Waiting for the clouds to lift, to capture that kodak moment on the way up...



Was it worth it??? Our partners would say that there was a little whinging involved on the girls behalf to begin with, but we smashed it and the end result was the girls hitting the top first and racing to the end.... the fact that I did it in my good old Brazillian hiking boots..otherwise known as Havianas was the icing on the cake.


Our good old hiking boots....






So it turned out that I wasn't the only 'LOCO' one climbing Montana Machupicchu in thongs!! Once we reached the summit we ran into a sweedish guy who also had top quality hiking boots on, but his were not by choice. The poor guy had his shoes stolen the previous day, and that was all that he could purchase!! Too funny, we had to capture the moment.



We did it!!!




What an amazing experience....xxx


2 comments:

  1. Hi,
    Your pictures are incredible and it looks like you had a great time. I am planning my own trip to Machu Picchu and would like to know what agency you booked with and any other useful info you can share.

    Thank you.

    Ginna

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  2. Hi there Ginna,

    Sorry, I just found your message. We booked through our local travel agent in Australia, Jetset, but they outsourse to a company in Peru called condor travel, they were fabulous and always waiting to transfer you at the airport. I would highly recommend them. Let me know how your trip goes. Its an amazing country. http://www.condortravel.com/ecommerce/semcampaign/ENG-Lima-Cusco-and-Machu-Picchu.htm?gclid=CO31wqn657QCFedKpgodSjQAZw

    ReplyDelete