Getting There - Aneel's Travelogue

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Machu Picchu, Cuzco, Peru, Friday, 25 March 2005 9:30am

That last entry was truncated because I was so tired that I was falling asleep as I wrote.

They make you sign in when you start hiking to Huayna Picchyu/The Temple of the Moon, and they close the gate at 1pm. All hikers are supposed to be out by 4pm so they can make it back to the main entrance before the last of the minibusses leave.

After reaching the Temple of the Moon, we realized that we'd have to hike really quickly to make it out of the checkpoint by 4.

Since it was downhill to get to the temple, it was a punishing (for me) trip back up. This trip has made me realize just how much I prefer hiking down to hiking up. I don't know why my muscles are so much better adapted to downhill. Maybe I'll have to put in some time on a Stairmaster before I hike again.

We made it to the checkpoint by 4:10, but the guard marked us as having arrived at 3:30.

Comments

hiking down	chuxor (Anonymously) Tuesday, 29 March 2005 10:51am
Do you have problems with your muscles hiking up? I only have problems breathing hiking uphill at altitude (which can result in extra fire in the muscles requiring oxygen), and then hiking down, I'm fine, except for the fact that I'm usually overtired, and I worry that I will end up twisting my ankle because I'm not being careful enough.

	aneel Friday, 01 April 2005 4:33pm
I get winded really quickly, but I don't get the lactic acid muscle burn. My muscles get very tired, but not like I'm lifting heavy weight, just like I've been walking for a much longer period.