Ollantaytambo is a town in the Sacred Valley in the Andes Mountains of Peru. We went here on our way to Machu Picchu. Ollantaytambo was mostly old cobblestone, skinny streets created by the Incas. Each street had a little canal that channeled water from the mountains through the town and lots of dogs. When we climbed up to the top floor of the hotel, you could see Incan ruins and mountains covered with trees and some with snow.

We took a train from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes, the town right next to Machu Picchu. Along the ride we followed the Urubamaba River and viewed beautiful mountains. Aguas Calientes was a small town split by two rivers.

We woke up really early (4 am) to get in line for the bus up to Machu Picchu. We got to the line and it was very long. But luckily we got on bus number 13 and I sat in seat number 13 :-). Once we got on the road to Machu Picchu it climbed like a zigzag up the side of the mountain. We could see a little of the side of Machu Picchu as we climbed.

When the bus stopped we got out and there was a long line of people in front of the gates to Machu Picchu. Since we were climbing Wauyna Picchu, a steep mountain behind Machu Picchu, at 7 am, we walked straight to there once the gates opened.

Wauyna Picchu was very hard to climb. At first you go downhill, and then you start going up…up over 2000 stairs! The stairs are very narrow and very tall so just the ball of your foot touches. We were climbing on a misty day so the stairs were wet and very slippery and there is a steep drop. Once we got to the top you couldn’t see anything because it was so misty. There were more stairs going up to the ruins at the top. We walked around the peak and there were so many people up there catching their breath, laying down, looking at the view (Even one guy was sleeping!), we decided to go down right away. Once we started heading down the clouds opened up and there was the perfect view of Machu Picchu and no one else was around. The climb down was much faster and easier, but you still had to make sure you didn’t slip and fall down the cliff. We were told, after the climb, that 20 people have died climbing Wauyna Picchu in the last 10 years 🙁. We hope this is not true!

After the climb we toured Machu Picchu with a guide and a Dutch couple we climbed Wauyna Picchu with. Machu Picchu is thought to be an Incan summer home or spiritual place for a king. A few people think it may have been the burial place of Pachahutec and people walked there as a pilgrimage. It has houses, temples that celebrate Pachamama (Quechua for Mother Earth), the sun and the moon, and terraces to grow food. My favorite part of Machu Picchu was the view of the mountains and the llamas. My mom liked the huge, granite  intihuatana (sun dial) at the top of the ruins.