Walking the tracks

As an angsty suburban teen I walked a lot of train tracks. So, when I found out you could get to Machu Picchu, for free, by walking the tracks, I lept at the chance and yeah, I've been to Machu Picchu.

I didn't hike the Incan Trail, take a train, a bus or fly in on a helicopter. I walked for 9 hours along the train tracks from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes.

Irregularly sized steps across varying degrees of gravel is tough terrain but I found a stride and enjoyed it. Walking through slowly changing scenery and listening to the soundscape change along with it.

Dodging tourist trains and waving at the people who are staring, slack jawed, at us as we scamper around the rocks alongside the tracks.

We left mid-morning and arrived well after dark with jello legs and went hotel hunting. I felt powerful after having completed that walk, in the way you feel after exercising the limits of your body and not your mind.

Aguas Calients is a shit hole. It feels like Costa Rica. Empty. Fake. Dirty. Used. A gaping hole where a culture once was. I wanted to ascend Machu Picchu and leave STAT.

Machu Picchu was amazing but boring? A place that doesn't feel special anymore. Just a line item to initial and move on from. What is up next? Ankor Wat? The pyramids?

Ariela ate a pot brownie and got stupid sick. We had to hospitalize her, give her an IV and spend 6 hours in a clinic while she rehydrated. She pushed the limits of my frustration in ways that I had not known were possible. Lesson learned: Never hike 8 hours with someone you don't trust on a gut level. Just don't do it.