machu picchu
- Thread starter Matt H
- Start date
I would love to see that stuff. I've read plenty of books that use the Peru forests and landmarks as places in their stories and it sounds amazing.
I wouldn't however, be taking any tools to build DH tracks because it looks a little bit steep in those pics.......
I wouldn't however, be taking any tools to build DH tracks because it looks a little bit steep in those pics.......
scotty beefs
Likes Dirt
I walked the inca trail last year - getting to the sun gate just in time to see the sun rise over machu picchu. You can also climb Wayna Picchu which is the conical shape hill behind it. Bit of a mission, totally freaky in parts actually cause its so steep, but at the top its an amazing view back over machu picchu that you rarely see photos of. Defintely suggest walking the trail to get there (4 days) rather than the train/bus option...get a bit more of an appreciation about the inca culture plus see some other amazing ruins.
If you make the the trip to South America make sure you get to Bolivia and the Galapagos Islands as well. Oh yeah, and argentina and the south of chile Is a very cool place.
Attached a pic showing approximately where the track up wayna picchu goes...the last thing you want to do after walking the trail for 4 days but i figured i'd only be there once!
If you make the the trip to South America make sure you get to Bolivia and the Galapagos Islands as well. Oh yeah, and argentina and the south of chile
Is a very cool place. Attached a pic showing approximately where the track up wayna picchu goes...the last thing you want to do after walking the trail for 4 days but i figured i'd only be there once!
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ja_har
Likes Dirt
Macchu Pichu
Yeah, I walked the Inca trail to Macchu Picchu about three years ago, but for me it was not the highlight of my trip, a great sight and you have to see it.. but.... By the time you get there you have see in pictures and heard all about it that there is no mystery or sense of adventure left. Especially hiking it with all the other tourists.
I much more enjoyed my 'random' days when everything went wrong or you discovered some weird arse place you have never heard of, and blown away by. In South America those type of experiencs are around every corner. Of my years of backpacking round the world South America takes the cake for adventure, awesome scenery and crazy locals that hiking to Macchu Picchu was just a very small part of that wonderful experience. My memores of spending a night in gaol, or waking up in the middle of a burning bus alone in the desert, doing nudie runs across the salt plains at -15 degrees or spending a week doing the most AWESOME downhill runs on an old Stinky that took dropped over 3000m vertical in each 20 minute run was what I really remember. I wore thru 2 sets of hayes pads in that week alone...that DH track still rates as my best ever, 3 times longer than Whistler will ever be, a hot tub and hot South Amercia Chicka's at the end of the day
...the memores are flooding back.
Dont limit yourself to Macchu Picchu, take on the whole continent and you will never forget it!
Yeah, I walked the Inca trail to Macchu Picchu about three years ago, but for me it was not the highlight of my trip, a great sight and you have to see it.. but.... By the time you get there you have see in pictures and heard all about it that there is no mystery or sense of adventure left. Especially hiking it with all the other tourists.
I much more enjoyed my 'random' days when everything went wrong or you discovered some weird arse place you have never heard of, and blown away by. In South America those type of experiencs are around every corner. Of my years of backpacking round the world South America takes the cake for adventure, awesome scenery and crazy locals that hiking to Macchu Picchu was just a very small part of that wonderful experience. My memores of spending a night in gaol, or waking up in the middle of a burning bus alone in the desert, doing nudie runs across the salt plains at -15 degrees or spending a week doing the most AWESOME downhill runs on an old Stinky that took dropped over 3000m vertical in each 20 minute run was what I really remember. I wore thru 2 sets of hayes pads in that week alone...that DH track still rates as my best ever, 3 times longer than Whistler will ever be, a hot tub and hot South Amercia Chicka's at the end of the day
...the memores are flooding back.
Dont limit yourself to Macchu Picchu, take on the whole continent and you will never forget it!
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scotty beefs
Likes Dirt
you didnt get to spend the night in san pedro jail did you?? THAT would have been an experience. Agree with you to some extent on machu picchu - wasnt THE highlight but the tourist hype is justified - cool place.
The downhill runs you did - was that with gravity bolivia outside La Paz? Even if its not - I did a very similar thing and yeah - awesome! We managed 20000ft descending in one day (multiple runs). Tight switchback to smooth single track downhill past llamas and through mountain villages...was awesome.
Salar de uyuni (the saltflats) was an amazing place hey - a must if you're in south america. Did you get to stay in the hotel made from salt? The bus trip from la paz to there is craziness.
ja_har
Likes Dirt
Yeah, you pretty much guessed them all right. Dont think I have ever been so scared that night in the gaol, but cool to look back upon.. Wtf was I thinking!
The DH runs was with Gravity, the guide I had was a mad singlespeeder and now works for Truvativ in R&D. I even had a crack in the local Bolivian National Titles with the gravity boys, only time I will ever crack the top 5 in a DH elite field, can safely say that was my first ever DH race and my results have got worse since then
The DH runs was with Gravity, the guide I had was a mad singlespeeder and now works for Truvativ in R&D. I even had a crack in the local Bolivian National Titles with the gravity boys, only time I will ever crack the top 5 in a DH elite field, can safely say that was my first ever DH race and my results have got worse since then
extreme_ride
Likes Bikes
Is that the picture on the back wall of our BP class it looks like a really nice place to visit we can both visit it when we're rich haha
ajay
^Once punched Jeff Kennett. Don't pick an e-fight
I traveled a fair bit around south america, however I didnt make it to machu picchu because of the weather (rainy seasons sucks balls for trekking).
We did meet a fair few people who said it was a little over rated though, especially if you have been through the ankor region in Cambodia, which I have. So I wasnt dissapointed to have missed it. Also, if you do trek in Peru, head north east as apparently that is where the good shit is - no tourists, well not many, and massive spectacular treks. when i return ill do that and probably just catch the train to machu picchu.
YOU MUST go to bolivia, the terrain in the country is absolutely gobsmaking!
Just a sample:
We did meet a fair few people who said it was a little over rated though, especially if you have been through the ankor region in Cambodia, which I have. So I wasnt dissapointed to have missed it. Also, if you do trek in Peru, head north east as apparently that is where the good shit is - no tourists, well not many, and massive spectacular treks. when i return ill do that and probably just catch the train to machu picchu.
YOU MUST go to bolivia, the terrain in the country is absolutely gobsmaking!
Just a sample:
shirtz
Likes Bikes and Dirt
i did a 3 day bike/hike to machu earlier this year. seriously one of the highlights of my life. couldnt do the inca trail cause it was booked out and due to a landslide you couldnt go through the sungate.
i was literally first in in the morning and first up Wayna Picchu.
here is my entry on it taken from my travel site http://www.travelpod.com/members/shirtz
"Cusco, ahhh what a top place...that is if every kid on the street would stop trying to sell me finger puppets!!!
Anyway, lets begin.
I arrived here with ray and marina (our new sweed travel companion) on fri 21st April. We booked into a nice hostel up the hill from the very European central plaza. We headed out to dinner then decided to head out to check out a few clubs. We ended up in some one that looked like a volcano. The place was rockin and we were the only gringos in there for hours. We certainly got some attention (only blonde and only 2 guys over 6 foot in the place) but we had a top time. Sat night we decided to go out properly. We heard that al the clubs give out free drinks to entice the gringos in so we went hunting. It didnt take us long to find the free booze and a good night was had by all. Somehow i still ended up spending a fortune, but hey, thus is life.
On monday we booked ourselves into some white water rafting. We had the option of doing class 2 rapids or going upstream and hitting 3+ to 4 rapids. being boys we decided to do the hard ones and poor old marina had to tag along.
I was a bit nervous at first as i have never done rafting, but after a few minutes we all got the drift and headed for the hard stuff.
Our guide was tops and lead us though without incident. Near the end, there was the biggest rapids in the trip and he warned us there was a big rock in the middle which threw up a massive wall of water which we needed to avoid otherwise we would capsize. Well of course, our lack of skills finally caught up with us and we ended up going straight at it. The guide yelled "everyone in the boat" but i didn't hear him and stayed paddling on the edge. some how we made it over this wall of water (imagine the movie "the perfect storm" with me as George clooney, but we didnt die) and u will get a picture of how it was. We also have a video of the event which is classic to see the guide after it shaking his head at the camera!
After surviving that we had a few days rest and tried to figure out how we were going to get to Machupichu. The weather report kept telling us it was going to rain, but we bit the bullet and booked a 4 day hike/bike starting on thurs 27th.
DAY 1
We met at the office at 7:30am and met our guide Antonio, a 24 year old tourism student. Ray and I were the only 2 on the tour so it was goin to be close quarters for a few days. We headed off to a dodgy tour bus for a 4 hour bus ride to our starting point with the bikes at 4700m. The bus ride was sooo scary. Up top i t was raining and all dirt. Many parts were only single lane with a vertical drop off the edge. I was hoping these drivers were well trained! We made it to the start point at about 1pm and unloaded the bikes. The road was very muddy due to roadworks and rain and we got covered in mud instantly and continuously for the next 4 hours. Just as we would dry off we would hit a river crossing and get soaked again!
We made it to Santa Marina, 1700m (our first of several one horse towns) at about 5pm and headed straight for the (cold) showers. The ride was sweet and had some amazing views. After dinner we hit the sack to prepare for the big hike the next day.
DAY 2
Up and on the road by 6.30am with a 9 hour hike in front of us. The scenery was amazing and we got to walk through some dodgy coca plantations which was cool to see. We also had to climb a massive mountain which was damn hard..especially at 9am!!
At about 11am we stopped at some ladies farm for a break. She had a monkey named "Hacento" which was heaps fun to play with. He seemed to like me until i stepped on him and he went crying to his mummy. What a wuss. The lady also had a pig which was a cack. i have a heaps funny video of it i will try to post when i get a chance.
After the break we walked a few more hours and had to cross a river using this dodgy dolly thing. Im not sure how often they are serviced, but im sure they are safe (not!)
We survived that and were rewarded about an hour later with a dip in the hot springs. We spent the night in another crappy town "Santa Teresa" where the mozzies were big enough to carry us away.
Day 3
Another dolly even more dodgy than the day before were the start of day 3. The hike to Aguas Calenete (pardon my spelling) wasn't as fun as the other days but passed by a crazy river which was used for hydro electricity, no rafting here!
Lots more nice views though and a few hours of train track walking (much like Chinese water torture) and we were in Aguas Calenete, just a stone throw from machupicchu. I broke out my victory skittles and had a top feed and well deserved beer.
Day 4 Machu:
Up and on the road at 4.30am. We decided to walk to machu instead of catch the bus with all the lazy tourists. It was a big acheviement, but damn it was hard work! It took a bit less than an hour of hardcore vertical stair walking to get to the machu gate. Probably the hardest climbing i have done, but well worth it to be the first there (even beat the bus!). Unfortunately we were destroyed to find out the gates didnt open til 6am!
As soon as the gates open i bolted up to Machu. It was amazing to finally be here, after dreaming about it for so long. It was awesome to have a few minute by myself too before the hordes of tourists came up. After some happy snaps and a look around the top of machu we headed across to the face our next task, climbing wanapichu. Machu itself is amazing. all the hype is correct. i recommend you should go because i have been told that it is sinking and its only a matter of time before it is closed to the public.
We reached the walkway to wana at 6.30am only to find the gate was closed and wouldn't open till 7am...screwed over again!
We sat and waited and shot though the gate as soon as it opened. Seeing i was goin well with "firsts" that morning i decided i wanted to be the first up wanapichu too so i put on the pace and ended up getting up there in 25ish minutes (its meant to take an hour!). It was a very steep climb and not for the faint-hearted. I have no idea how i got up there so quick, but the view was worth it. A few minutes later i was joined by a native Peruvian who did some blessings and played a song on his wood flute. it was so amazing i cant imagine to tell you what it was like. By far the highlight of my trip so far. We sat at the top of the world overlooking machu for about an hour before the masses showed up and ray and i decided to go explore Machu better.
At 11.30am we decided to head down the stairs to Aguas we had struggled up in the dark that morning..they were even hard to go down so i dont know how we made it up!
Back in aquas we had a top feed and another well earned beer and reflected over an amazing morning.
So after 4 days of wearing the same clothes, having no soap or deodorant, we hoped the train back to cusco.
So thats it, one of the big things of SA off the list. i plan to spend another day or so in cusco then head west to the beach and finally get below 3000m for a while!
ciao for now
matt
PS. if you read all that, then your obviously keen to do it, SO DO IT
i was literally first in in the morning and first up Wayna Picchu.
here is my entry on it taken from my travel site http://www.travelpod.com/members/shirtz
"Cusco, ahhh what a top place...that is if every kid on the street would stop trying to sell me finger puppets!!!
Anyway, lets begin.
I arrived here with ray and marina (our new sweed travel companion) on fri 21st April. We booked into a nice hostel up the hill from the very European central plaza. We headed out to dinner then decided to head out to check out a few clubs. We ended up in some one that looked like a volcano. The place was rockin and we were the only gringos in there for hours. We certainly got some attention (only blonde and only 2 guys over 6 foot in the place) but we had a top time. Sat night we decided to go out properly. We heard that al the clubs give out free drinks to entice the gringos in so we went hunting. It didnt take us long to find the free booze and a good night was had by all. Somehow i still ended up spending a fortune, but hey, thus is life.
On monday we booked ourselves into some white water rafting. We had the option of doing class 2 rapids or going upstream and hitting 3+ to 4 rapids. being boys we decided to do the hard ones and poor old marina had to tag along.
I was a bit nervous at first as i have never done rafting, but after a few minutes we all got the drift and headed for the hard stuff.
Our guide was tops and lead us though without incident. Near the end, there was the biggest rapids in the trip and he warned us there was a big rock in the middle which threw up a massive wall of water which we needed to avoid otherwise we would capsize. Well of course, our lack of skills finally caught up with us and we ended up going straight at it. The guide yelled "everyone in the boat" but i didn't hear him and stayed paddling on the edge. some how we made it over this wall of water (imagine the movie "the perfect storm" with me as George clooney, but we didnt die) and u will get a picture of how it was. We also have a video of the event which is classic to see the guide after it shaking his head at the camera!
After surviving that we had a few days rest and tried to figure out how we were going to get to Machupichu. The weather report kept telling us it was going to rain, but we bit the bullet and booked a 4 day hike/bike starting on thurs 27th.
DAY 1
We met at the office at 7:30am and met our guide Antonio, a 24 year old tourism student. Ray and I were the only 2 on the tour so it was goin to be close quarters for a few days. We headed off to a dodgy tour bus for a 4 hour bus ride to our starting point with the bikes at 4700m. The bus ride was sooo scary. Up top i t was raining and all dirt. Many parts were only single lane with a vertical drop off the edge. I was hoping these drivers were well trained! We made it to the start point at about 1pm and unloaded the bikes. The road was very muddy due to roadworks and rain and we got covered in mud instantly and continuously for the next 4 hours. Just as we would dry off we would hit a river crossing and get soaked again!
We made it to Santa Marina, 1700m (our first of several one horse towns) at about 5pm and headed straight for the (cold) showers. The ride was sweet and had some amazing views. After dinner we hit the sack to prepare for the big hike the next day.
DAY 2
Up and on the road by 6.30am with a 9 hour hike in front of us. The scenery was amazing and we got to walk through some dodgy coca plantations which was cool to see. We also had to climb a massive mountain which was damn hard..especially at 9am!!
At about 11am we stopped at some ladies farm for a break. She had a monkey named "Hacento" which was heaps fun to play with. He seemed to like me until i stepped on him and he went crying to his mummy. What a wuss. The lady also had a pig which was a cack. i have a heaps funny video of it i will try to post when i get a chance.
After the break we walked a few more hours and had to cross a river using this dodgy dolly thing. Im not sure how often they are serviced, but im sure they are safe (not!)
We survived that and were rewarded about an hour later with a dip in the hot springs. We spent the night in another crappy town "Santa Teresa" where the mozzies were big enough to carry us away.
Day 3
Another dolly even more dodgy than the day before were the start of day 3. The hike to Aguas Calenete (pardon my spelling) wasn't as fun as the other days but passed by a crazy river which was used for hydro electricity, no rafting here!
Lots more nice views though and a few hours of train track walking (much like Chinese water torture) and we were in Aguas Calenete, just a stone throw from machupicchu. I broke out my victory skittles and had a top feed and well deserved beer.
Day 4 Machu:
Up and on the road at 4.30am. We decided to walk to machu instead of catch the bus with all the lazy tourists. It was a big acheviement, but damn it was hard work! It took a bit less than an hour of hardcore vertical stair walking to get to the machu gate. Probably the hardest climbing i have done, but well worth it to be the first there (even beat the bus!). Unfortunately we were destroyed to find out the gates didnt open til 6am!
As soon as the gates open i bolted up to Machu. It was amazing to finally be here, after dreaming about it for so long. It was awesome to have a few minute by myself too before the hordes of tourists came up. After some happy snaps and a look around the top of machu we headed across to the face our next task, climbing wanapichu. Machu itself is amazing. all the hype is correct. i recommend you should go because i have been told that it is sinking and its only a matter of time before it is closed to the public.
We reached the walkway to wana at 6.30am only to find the gate was closed and wouldn't open till 7am...screwed over again!
We sat and waited and shot though the gate as soon as it opened. Seeing i was goin well with "firsts" that morning i decided i wanted to be the first up wanapichu too so i put on the pace and ended up getting up there in 25ish minutes (its meant to take an hour!). It was a very steep climb and not for the faint-hearted. I have no idea how i got up there so quick, but the view was worth it. A few minutes later i was joined by a native Peruvian who did some blessings and played a song on his wood flute. it was so amazing i cant imagine to tell you what it was like. By far the highlight of my trip so far. We sat at the top of the world overlooking machu for about an hour before the masses showed up and ray and i decided to go explore Machu better.
At 11.30am we decided to head down the stairs to Aguas we had struggled up in the dark that morning..they were even hard to go down so i dont know how we made it up!
Back in aquas we had a top feed and another well earned beer and reflected over an amazing morning.
So after 4 days of wearing the same clothes, having no soap or deodorant, we hoped the train back to cusco.
So thats it, one of the big things of SA off the list. i plan to spend another day or so in cusco then head west to the beach and finally get below 3000m for a while!
ciao for now
matt
PS. if you read all that, then your obviously keen to do it, SO DO IT
scotty beefs
Likes Dirt
Loved the Salar de Uyuni Ajay - spectacular place. You go for a swim at the thermal pools? We got there and the whole lake was frozen except the thermal pools (not to mention its up at around 5000m) so all in all it was bloody freezing...has to go for a swim though and it was so good. Have shown the photo below before but its an appropriate thread to whip it out again. Mountain biking just outside La Paz, Bolivia. The single track finishes way down there in the valley next to the river.
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Binaural
Eats Squid
Planning a MTB road trip to south america sometime in the next couple of years with a friend of mine. Reckon you could post up some details of what the riding is like around there? More pics would also be great!
Having been to Angkor and MP, I can say that both are worth visiting and you can't really compare them. Angkor was a city of millions, and as such what is left is spectacular, but spread out. The beauty of MP is the setting, the fact you can hike through the Andes to it and the history of it never being discovered by the Spanish, the fact you can take in the entire site from a high vantage point....
Angkor was in it's own right a lost city, and is incredibly extensive and beautiful... getting around Cambodia overland is an experience in itself as well...
But yeah, anyone who compared Angkor Wat to Macchu Picchu is a bit slow in the head tbh.
Angkor was in it's own right a lost city, and is incredibly extensive and beautiful... getting around Cambodia overland is an experience in itself as well...
But yeah, anyone who compared Angkor Wat to Macchu Picchu is a bit slow in the head tbh.
scotty beefs
Likes Dirt
the people you want to talk to is Alistair from Gravity Bolivia -> www.gravitybolivia.com/
Planning a MTB road trip to south america sometime in the next couple of years with a friend of mine. Reckon you could post up some details of what the riding is like around there? More pics would also be great!
Thats who we did our trips through and its also who took the guys around for New World Disorder 6... even more highly reccomended now that they have their own hostel with a brewery in it
Not much to say except the riding was great. Alistair and his crew can organise anything from half day to extended tours around the bolivian countryside. Didn't do any other riding in south america besides in Bolivia so can't help with anything else sorry.
PS look through that site and you'll see the photo section, somewhere in there is a folder called Debbie Does Bolivia (or similar) - full of photos and little videos from the filming of the NWD6 Bolivia section
ajay
^Once punched Jeff Kennett. Don't pick an e-fight
Ok I guess I didnt really explain myself...
Id love to go and see Macchu Picchu, but id much prefer to go on a good trek too, im not really interested in doing an average 5day trek to see it. Especially considering the vast array of trekking in Peru (and how under rated and expensive THE inca trail is), Ill go and find a more epic trek (a short search the net will uncover dozens of much more highly regarded treks around that region) for alot less cash.
I dont know, maybe im just a little jaded from extreme tourism ruining amazing places. I will see MP, but just to say, I wasnt going to cry about missing it that time.
Speaking of extreme tourism though, and yeah this is a little O.T. Out of all the temples etc I saw in Egypt, the Pyramids had the LEAST tourists... weird or what!
South America rocks - do it!
The comment wasn't directed at you at all, but if met someone who told me "Oh Machhu Picchu is dissappointing if you've seen Angkor." I"d think they were either a bit stupid/ignorant or trying to brag about their trip to Cambodia...
Yeah the Inca Trail was a bit.... yeah. I mean I'd never done any high altitude trekking before and was 16, and loved it, but it was literally like a footpath on a busy street.
Yeah the Inca Trail was a bit.... yeah. I mean I'd never done any high altitude trekking before and was 16, and loved it, but it was literally like a footpath on a busy street.
ajay
^Once punched Jeff Kennett. Don't pick an e-fight
Ah fair enough.
Yeah they are very different places and amazing for different reasons...
BTW - did you get to (excuse my spelling on this one) Waccacchina just outside of Ica in the mid/west of Peru while you were there? A backpackers oasis (literally) set in the middle of 200m sand dunes...
Yeah they are very different places and amazing for different reasons...
BTW - did you get to (excuse my spelling on this one) Waccacchina just outside of Ica in the mid/west of Peru while you were there? A backpackers oasis (literally) set in the middle of 200m sand dunes...
ja_har
Likes Dirt
Haha scotty beefs, I have the exact photo from the same trail (at least it looks exactly the same and your desc matches mine).
Twas a good couple days punching out about 8 runs in a day on that one, havent worked out the vertical for that day but it must have been massive.
Was a good day considering it was my first ride in 4 years and made me realise what I was missing.
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shirtz
Likes Bikes and Dirt
Ah fair enough.
Yeah they are very different places and amazing for different reasons...
BTW - did you get to (excuse my spelling on this one) Waccacchina just outside of Ica in the mid/west of Peru while you were there? A backpackers oasis (literally) set in the middle of 200m sand dunes...
i stayed there for a few days. sand boarding is pretty hard work. dune buggies were top fun though!
anyone been to mangos in medagin (sp) in colombia? dear GOD