Machu Picchu magic

Easter magic. There's nothing better to describe my visit to Machu Picchu.

(the pictures that go along with this post are in the gallery on your right hand side)

4am. I walk up to the sanctuary's entrance - this way I would have my fair share of an Inca trail. It promised to be a hell of hike, constantly climbing steep staircases in the lush bushes of the mountain. A day earlier people had witnessed the sunrise at Machu Picchu, so expectations were high. The higher I got, the less optimistic I became (and not only because of a sudden lack of air in my lungs) - drizzling clouds were surrounding us, and they didn't look like giving up soon.

5.30am. At the top I discover that apparently I wasn't the only one that nuts to wake up so early and hike all the way up. "Line up please, three lines," the security guards told us. A bit later a park guard came to ask whether we wanted to get on the 7am or the 10am hike up Huayna Picchu, the bigger one of the two mountains behind the sanctuary. Still looking for my breath, it was an easy choice.

6am. Finally they let us in! Off I go, into the mist. Once I got at the famous lookout point, there was literally nothing I could see. Not a single ruin. What a disaster, I thought! All this effort for nothing.

It was perfect to regain some strength, though, and to let my shirt dry. Little by little, the misty clouds started clearing up. Yes, I could even see the two tops of the mountains behind the sanctuary! That's when the magic started. Flares of the mist disappeared and revealed parts of the ruins, to close them in minutes later. Hordes of tourists were exploring the sanctuary nonetheless, but I was good, sitting at the guardian's shelter.

7.30am. Amazing! Mist is clearing up, rising from below upwards. Part of the Machu Picchu magic is revealing itself: the 2000 ft cliffs on both sides of the sanctuary, which you never see on the pictures. Believe me, it's all the way down, not a terrace on your way. This makes the place even more mystical and surreal than it already was!

8.30am. The whole site's clear! Huayna Picchu was still covered in some clouds (I knew I was right in not picking the 7am shift!), but at least I was dry and could oversee the whole site. Indescribable. It's just amazing. For some reason, pictures just cannot reveal how it is to be there and see it, for real, in real life.

11am. I'm on top of Huayna Picchu! What a view... It's just you and the sky - and a whole army of mosquitos and other bugs. Fortunately there was a quieter place a bit more down, just atop another sanctuary, looking down on Machu Picchu. It still doesn't get to me why they would build such a place in the middle of this stunning nature, with no other signs of human presence in miles.

3pm. I finally get back at the sanctuary after a 'small' detour on my way back - I am completely exhausted, thirsty as hell and lacking one shoe sole. Where do I get my heavily overpriced bottle of water? At the entrance... Just about a hundred more stairs up and down!

4pm. I'm closing my day with a few more moments at the guardian's hut. Still can't believe it. Still heavily impressed. Utterly happy to have made it. Life is beautiful!

I leave you with this intriguing shot of Peruvian men about to embark on the Inca trail, taken in a collectivo bus on the way to the train station in Piscacucho...

Inca hopes, expectations and wanderings (c) Tom Van den Steen