Machu Picchu is for sissies, real men go to Huayna Picchu

Hello from Cusco, Peru. It has been a bit while since updating this blog. I was busy whoring around the sacred valley of the Incas. Everything went according to plan, or something like that.

Instead of staying in Cusco before visiting what tourists come here to do, I went straight from the airport to Ollantaytambo, one of the gateways to the sacred valley. It was a good thing too, because it was at a lower altitude and with beautiful views of the countryside. Well worth the trip.

Anyway, all trips are not adventures unless adventures happen. In my case, one of the side adventures happened when my companion and I went to the ruins of Pisaq. The taxi driver took us all the way to the top of the ruins (actually a mountain range). The idea being that we’ll walk a short distance down and he’ll be waiting us at the gateway half down. Obviously, we got lost. We kept walking down, and down, and down. An hour and half later, we ended up in the market of Pisaq town. Obviusly, our driver was not there and we had to find a taxi to drive us all the way up to meet our driver, who was already desperaretly waiting.

Ok, so much for that day. Next day is the jewel trip, that is, Machu Picchu. I already read from the guidebook that it is possible to go up to a nearby hill from Machu Picchu. It is called Huayna Picchu. Once you reach to the top of the hill, you have an eagle’s view of everything. Having had the misfortune of walking down Pisaq hill, I was not going to do that. But guess what. I met some other hotel guests while moving around Machu Picchu. They were a couple from San Salvador. They said, lets go there, it should be fine. Well, being the fool who I am, I followed them. Half way up this Peruvian El Capitan, they chicken out and decided to turn back. Me, being the foolish brave guy, decided to keep going. Vertigo or not. All I can say is that I did it. But being all the way up on the sky with nothing to hold you is something that will never leave my brain. Worse, once I was up there, there were no signs to go down. Thankfully, a met a couple of guys…yes gay guys…yes from San Francisco. They had a great guide, took pity of me and allowed me to follow them. Thinking about it makes my heart leap.

Ok, that’s it. Going to a bar called Fallen Angel now. Lets see if I have fallen enough