nail polish and paint: Cloud Forest

We're going to the clouds

The reason we went to Peru was to see Machu Picchu. We took the train instead of doing the 2+ day hike on the Inca trail since I probably wouldn't survive the hike.

start of the inca trail

When you get your train ticket, they warn you to pack a small bag. Someone didn't get the memo.

El Stupido

I've never ridden a train so the 45 minute ride was fun. At times a little scary since there was only a foot between the train tracks and the cliff to the river. We had a guide on our first day to give us the history and explain the significance of each pile of rocks.

Obligatory picture with the mountain in the back

Original entrance to the main sanctuary

restored houses

Since we were young and fit, our guide suggested that we come back the next day to watch the beautiful sunrise and see the wonderful views from Wayna Picchu. What is Wayna Picchu? See the peak of the mountain? That's Wayna Picchu. Can you believe the Incans brought all of those rocks to the top?

So we woke up at 4:00am the next morning to get in line at 4:30am to catch the 5:00am bus to get to the top by 5:30am to watch the 6:00am sunrise. Our guide forgot to tell us that the fog doesn't burn off until 10am. They don't call it a cloud forest for nothing. Oh well, we had to get there early to get 2 of the 400 tickets they give out to hike up to Wayna Picchu. We got 230 and 231 at 5:45am.

still no sun?

Since we had time to kill before we could climb WP, we decided to hike to the south side to the Sun Gate. Fun fact: during the winter solstice, the sun will peak through this point and cast a shadow onto an alter in the main sanctuary.

hiking on the inca trail

view from the top of the valley

At 10am we started our hike to the top of the WP. It was HARD. The steps were steep, wet, muddy and mossy. But we made it to the top. Our guide was right. The risk of slipping to the bottom were rewarded by the spectacular views.