Top of the mountain: A hike to Machu Picchu (Part 7)

By Simon J. Lau

Day 7 in Peru. We finally made it to Machu Picchu! We woke up at 4:30 AM to get ready and spent the whole morning exploring the ruins. It was pretty amazing to see for myself just how breathtaking the views were from the top of this mountain. Also, as I mentioned in my previous posts, the weather is very dynamic and changes quickly here. There were instances where I would look out into the distance and I could watch the clouds and fog cover swallow the canyons below me and just as quickly dissipate. These ever-changing weather patterns and high mountaintops provide some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever encountered. Below are my pictures from today.

No trip to Peru would be complete without an iconic photo in front of Machu Picchu. Without further ado, here is our iconic photo in front of “Machu Picchu.” I place this in quotes because Machu Picchu is actually the name of the mountain next to us (not pictured), whereas the large mountain behind us is called Wayna Picchu. However, people generally do not distinguish this. Regardless, I would say that we did a great job of making it here together!

The Temple of Three Windows is one of the three main structures in Machu Picchu. These windows face out into the mountains, and based on research, this area is believed to have been an important place of worship for the Incas.

This is another view of the mountains from the ruins. As you can see from here, the cloud cover is sometimes scattered throughout the mountains, other times it completely consumes the area.

This is a more complete view of Machu Picchu and one of the last photos I took here.

Finally, we took the 7 PM train as the first leg of our multi-leg trip back to Cuzco. After a bumpy train ride, we rode another hour by car before we were finally dropped off at our hostel. Overall, I would say hiking to Machu Picchu was well worth it. There is something amazing about visiting an ancient city nestled high up in the mountains that is made more satisfying knowing that you hiked your way there.

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