Machu Picchu, babay

We got back from Machu Picchu about an hour and a half ago. Immediately afterward, we HAD to eat some cooked food. The sandwiches and fruit were fine, but hell, it was time to treat ourselves. Last night, the journey to get to Aguas Calientes at the base of the MP mountain was arduous and prolonged. We caught an early bus from Cuzco to Santa María, which was actually the most beautiful bus trip I've taken so far. It ranged from lowland valleys and tranquil agricultural landscapes to intense switchbacks at super high elevations and bad roads and utter rivers flowing across the road. Scenic and interesting, even for 5 hours. That dropped us off at the tiny town of Santa María, where we hitched a ride with this crude guy named Chino to Santa Teresa. Over the two hour car trip, he played awful Peruvian love music, crashed recklessly around tight curves overlooking deadly and nearly vertical inclines, forged three small rivers that crossed the road in his '92 Corolla, and stopped almost every half hour to go socialize with friends he knew along the trail. At one point, I put my foot down and said, in Spanish, "so, we paid you to drive us to Santa Teresa and we're in kind of a hurry to get set up and go to sleep. Quit screwing off and drive us." Anyhow, he drove us through Santa Teresa and up to a hydroelectric power plant with some railroad tracks that led all the way to Aguas Calientes. The 7 mile trek up the tracks included monstrous land spiders all over, glowing worms, fireflies, a raging river alongside us, and countless pitfalls over which to cross. However, no train came, which actually bummed us out. Hugging the canyon walls to avoid a sticky death sounded fun after two hours of trudging with our 60 pound backpacks. No matter.
Arriving in A.C. at about 11:00, we wandered friutlessly around looking for a decent map or sign to point us to the free campsite we'd heard about. Eventually, tired and achy, we just walked toward where the city was supposed to be and found it. As we set up camp, the rain started to fall, so unfortunately the sleep was a bit damp last night.
In the morning, we got up at 7:00, ate a bit, packed up our stuff, and left it at a depósito de equipaje, or a baggage check place. It took about an hour and a half to get up the steeeep rock staircases and winding road to the entrance gates for Machu Picchu, and it nearly killed us to do it. I've never climbed so many stairs in one sitting, nor stairs that were so dangerous and steep.
At long last, we stamped our passports, bought tickets, and got in for S./124, or about $40. The old city is SO much bigger than I thought! It has ingenius engineering, clean surfaces, open plazas, agricultural terraces, and grazing llamas. I don't really need to go into it, it was a beautiful, and incredibly HIGH, old city. When possible, I'll post my M.P. photos to my FaceBook albums. Even with low picture quality, you'll see just how huge everything is. Massive precipices, steep rock slabs everywhere, and treacherous, certain-death-type drops all over the place, but surrounded by a mystical, silent and moist rain forest. Humbling and spectacular.
The trip back down was quicker, but nearly as hard, as the way up since we descended the staircases on achy legs in the rain. Now back in town, we want some beers and some chairs, and then it's off to an early night of sleep. Tomorrow, back to Cuzco.
I'm finished. Happy Birthday, Conrad! Chau, fans.