huyana picchu (in which i am not a hero)
The really big, pointy mountain that looms over Machu Picchu is Huyana (or Wayna) Picchu, the "new" mountain to Machu's "old." When we bought our tickets to Machu Picchu using the Peruvian Mininstry of Culture's labyrinthine website (possibly the only thing more difficult than climbing this mountain was buying tickets to do so), we were offered a choice of tickets to just plain Machu Picchu, or else tickets to both Picchus. Not knowing what it was, it seemed like a good idea at the time.
Though anyone who knows me knows I'm not much of a hiker (or a _____ fill in the athletic pursuit of your choice here), but I was somewhat encouraged by the way the guidebook made it sound totally do-able (only an hour!); the sign at the entry to the mountain said the same thing. It turns out both lied - to climb the mountain, you have to sign in and out, and we checked on the way back out - no one did it in anything resembling an hour. Also what the guidebooks didn't mention is that the climb is @$*&!ing terrifying and dangerous, particularly if you're bad with heights: there are times when the path is just a scramble of steep rocks with a sheer drop into nothingness on the side, with an occasional metal rope to cling to. I developed a very unhealthy relationship with the many metal ropes - it was nice having something to hold on to, but seeing one inevitably meant the path was going to get much worse.
I kept flashing back to this sign the higher we got.
This is the path while it was still humane. After that, I didn't take any photos because I am a big baby and was honestly too freaked out to do anything but climb, so you'll just have to take my word for it that it's scary (also steep and pretty hard work - we took a lot of breaks, and passed a lot of people taking breaks, my favorite being the woman who was muttering stupid Incas as we went by).
This is where I stopped; there was a bit further, but it looked scrambly, and the sharp gusts of wind combined with my intense fear of heights were doing my head in. So I didn't make it to the top, which I feel lame about. But I got to a part where I could see sky (and, terrifyingly, nothing else except an insane plunge down), so I think it qualifies as *basically* the top, right? Right??
Or not - Iain is probably just as bad with heights as I am, but he made it to the unequivocal top.
This is the view down - that tiny pile of rocks to the left there is Machu Picchu! I love this view in photo form, but at the time all I wanted to do was get back onto solid ground. In retrospect - safely on the ground a week later - of course I'm glad we did the hike, but it definitely wasn't a fun experience while it was happening, and not something I might have chosen to do had I known what it would be like. Oh well. At least I'm not alone?
