9-24 )Wed
They told us breakfast didn´t open until 5 a.m. but when we arrived some people head already eaten. This was the best )breakfast included) of the whole trip but we didn´t get to enjoy it because we were supposed to be in the bus line at 5Ñ10. By the time we arrived there must have been at least 100 people already in line.

People want to arrive at Machu Picchu to see the sun come up and also to try to get a ticket to climb Waynapiccu, a very tall straight up mountain to the side of the lost city. They only allow 400 to climb a day. 200 at 8Ñ00 and 200 at 10Ñ00.

After we had our ticket punched we entered Machu Picchu. It was an awesome sight. We´ve all seen pictures but they don´t do it justice. It was incredible. Thankfully it is lower than Cuzco so we didn´t have to worry about altitude. The first thing we did was walk to the other side of the complex to try to get our ticket to climb Waynapiccu.
There was already a line when we arrived. We got so mad because people kept butting in line. Barbara told one guy off. We did manage to got a ticket for the 10:00 climb.

We walked around until 8:20 when we met our guide. There were about 10 people in our English speaking group. The guide was excellent and very funny. We finished the tour around 10:30. We went back to the main gate and got our passport stamped with a Machu Picchu stamp.

We made our way over to Wayanapiccu and signed in for the climb at 11:25. We could go anytime between 10 and 1:00. You have to sign in and include your passport number. That way they can account for everyone being off the mountain. Barbara walked about 5-8 minutes and decided it wasn´t for her so she went back. I pressed on. A few people signed in after I did but they soon passed me. It was a hard steep climb. In some places there was a cable to hold onto but they were few and far between. In some places you had to raise your leg almost to your chest to step up onto the next rock. Thank goodness I had my trekking pole with me. I needed if for balance and to push myself up. The people coming down would encourage me. They´d say, you can do it, go slowly, only 15 to 20 minutes to the top. After I´d gone another 20 minutes someone else would say, only 20 more minutes to the top. In some places the trail was very narrow and in other places it was a sheer drop. Naturally there were no guard rails. Near the top was a large flat area to stand and look out, the drop was straight down. The view from the top was magnificent. You could look down on the lost city of MP, see the bus road winding up the mountain, the train station in Aguas Calientes and the river far below. It usually takes an hour to climb but it took me and hour and a half.

As I got ready to start down a few drops of rain began to fall. This really scared me because I knew how slippery the rocks would be and how dangerous but it didn´t last long.

It appeared that I was the only one left on the mountain. I couldn´t hear anyone like I had previously. The trail wasn´t well marked. At one point I had to make a decision to go right or left. I chose right because it looked steeper down the direction I was trying to go. I had to crawl over a log stairway which I knew I hadn´t done on the way up but I thought this must just be another way down. As I continued I noticed there was a lot of yellow moss growing all over the side of the mountain. I knew I hadn´t seen that on the way up. I came to a place where I could see through the jungle and realized I could no longer see MP, my goal. I didn´t know whether to go back up or continue down. I realized I was lost. I knew I need to be at the entrance to MP by 3:00 in order to catch the 5:00 train. I wasn´t scared about being left on the mountain because I had registered but I was terrified of missing the train. I sat down on a rock right where I was and started yelling HELP. After yelling several times I heard some yell, where are you? If I knew I wouldn`´t be yelling HELP. After that I didn´t hear anything else. I began yelling again. Finally walking towards me was a Chinese guy )from Chendu= who now lives in Canada and some Preuvian guy who didn´t speak any English. You can´t imagine how happy I was to see them. I told them I was lost. They said I was n the other side of the muntain. They were on their way out so the three f us went together. We wnet back to the place where I had turned right instead of left. If I had gone about 20 feet that way I would have seen MP and known I was on the correct path. I was so happy when I got to the registration booth and signed myself off the mountain. I was filty from head to tow. My hands were a combination of black and amber color from grabbing onto rocks and the cable. After washing in the bathroom at the entrance and thanking Chris, from Chendu, profussely I got on a bus 3¨;00 down the mountain to Aguas Calientes. I met Barbara in the hotel. We went for a quick pizza before walking down to the train station.

We pulled out at 5¨_03 due to arrive back in Cuzco at 9;00. Sitting with me were the mother and daughter from Alaska. They were both sick. Next to me was a black girl from Paris traveling by herself. The four seats faced eaqch other so we were knee to knee with no way to stretch out our legs. As we progressed on down the track the light began to flicker then they went out and the train was at a complete stop for about 25 mintues. They said they were having mechanical problems. Fianlly wieth a lot of jerking and bumping we got going. We arrived at a station with thing still not under control It was more with the lights and banging. We asked how much lnger till Cuzco - an hour and a half. Out the window on the platform was a woman holding a sign saying to take the bus to Cuzco for 6 soles and arrive in 15 mintues at the town square. More than half the train jumped off and got on the bus. That´s exactly what we wanted to do but we had a van and driver waiting for us at the train station with no way to contact him. We had no choice but to stay on the train.

After leaving the station we went about 5 minutes and stopped out in the middle of a field. They said they were going to bring in a new engine. Everyone was so mad. The Spanish women were really giving the workers an ear full. We finally got going again - we would go forward and then backwards traversing the switch backs. Barbara was scared we didn´t have any breaks and that we would be a backwards runaway train.

We arrived in Cuzco at 11;00. Our driver was there and took us to our hotel. We had to wake the girl to let us in. This time our room was on the 3rd floor with no lift. We had to shower and get packed to go to Puno in the morning.