Like a Boss

     On Tuesday morning we woke up at 4am once again so that we could catch the bus to Machu Picchu at 5:30 in order to make it to our hike for Huyanapicchu at 7. Once we got into the park, we made our way towards the gate to Huyanapicchu, but not before stopping to hang out and have a photo op with some llamas. Chels and I like creatures, what can I say? We arrived at the gate at about 6:30 and we were just behind a couple of girls from Nebraska who were really nice. One had hiked it last year and gave us some ideas for what to expect. We signed into the log at 7 and started our trek.
     We were told that it was a pretty intense hike and that it should take about 45 minutes to an hour. Our guide fom the day before dared us to beat his 45 minute record since we were young and in shape. It was intense with the altitude, but once we made it to the top we realized that we beasted it in just over 30 minutes. Needless to say we felt pretty accomplished. The view from the top is positively stunning. Huyanapicchu is situated so that you can see all of the ruins from the view, and since we were the first three at the top we had about 15-20 minutes to ourselves just to enjoy the view and take it all in. It was super majestic that morning because we were literally in a cloud and it made the whole experience super surreal.
     After more people started to arrive at the peak and we had gotten all of the desired pictures, we decided to hike to the Grand Cavern at the bottom of the mountain since we had plenty of time to explore. Our legs were pretty tired after our long hike and the downhill was pretty rough on our joints but it was cool to be able to see the cavern once we finally made it down. I´m more and more impressed by these Incas the more I see let me tell you. We hung out at the bottom for awhile to recover a bit once we realized that it was a 90 minute hike back up the mountain to Machu Picchu. It was a rough go since our legs were quite jello-y  at that point but we made it back to the main ruins in about 40 minutes. Our main motivation at that point was food since after three hours of intense hiking we did not have near enough in our systems.
     After some seriously overpriced sandwiches, we headed back to the ruins to get some more pictures that we had wanted and just take it all in for a little longer. Around 1:00, we said our goodbyes to Machu Picchu and loaded the bus back to Aguas Calientes. We picked up our stuff from the hostel, went to a cafe to read and hang out for a bit, and then did some browsing in the markets before heading back to the train station for our return to Cusco.
     After our 4 hour journey to Cusco, we arrived back at about 9pm and showered and got ready for bed after a couple of long, exhausting days. It was beyond worth it though. We all agreed that Huyanapicchu was the best hike we´ve ever done in our lives and don´t know when or where we could top it at this point. Overall, our two days at Machu Picchu were some of the most rewarding and fulfilling days we´ve ever experienced. I still can´t believe that we actually did it, so good thing there´s proof in pictures to affirm it for myself. We´re some lucky ladies to say the least.