Ok,so what i did'nt say is that a few days before heading to Machu Picchu i met a crazy guy that had just done a mission up there,jumped the fence's and snuck in for free.
This story totally appealed to my adventurous side and also my bank account.
This place was a friggen tourist scam and quite the expense i told myself.
Anyway i buy the guy a beer,have a chat then get a good ol map scribbled out on paper and the complete lowdown on jumping,only to be even more keen on seeing the place.
I also had another member of Australia keen for the fun.Big Al from Perth i met months ago and had reunited with him and his lovely girl Bron(the quite girl who once let out is a party fiend).So we left cusco by bus to Ollyantambo,thats half way through the sacred valley to the ruins.There is also some cool ruins at that town and rather than been boring and paying we thought we might go aroung the side and see if we could pass for free here too.We did well,walked through the local farmers feilds,meeting a couple on the way,climbing,skirting,getting wet then to the side of the ruins.There we encountered peruvian secuirity.Now peruvian security differ greatly from any other,they would happily take a chocolate bar as a bribe.
Anyway he asked for tickets, "ahhh we got none", he say's we need them,we say "nup,got none senor",
Then the true colors come out,He says we can pass for a tip.We give him about $1:50 ozzie between the three of us,it cost about 20 each at the gate.
He was then so happy he gave us a quick run down (tour guide style) on where and how to get around the ruins.We did'nt hang around long and bailed straight in there,too easy.The ruins were good too,they boulders it was built with had come 10kms from another mountain and even accross a river that they apparntly damned off in sections.Smart cookies these inca's,nearly as smart as us seeing it all for $1:50.
Anyway,back to the main event.
We then took a train through the sacred valley.It was beautifull.a river at the bottom wich the train track hugs and huge beautiful steep mountains at either side.Felt like a place out of Lord Of The Rings,very ancient and very spiritual land.
We then got to Aguas Callientes (hot water) and thats the town at the base of the mountain.It was soooo touristy,felt like i had just stepped out of peru.Got some accomodation,had a beer then slept in anticipation to wake at 4am,start walking at 4:30am and sneak under the radar at sun-up.
Up early we were off,walking in the dark and the freezing cold.A guide with two guy's from serbia passed us and asked us to join with them walking.The walk was to take an hour and a half straight up a mountain by staircase.(the real hardcore tourists catc a bus).It was nice and quite,birds chirping and light slowly revealing the majesty of the surrounding mountains.The bush was fresh,rainforest like coverage,green and moist.It was a pretty hard walk due to the constant climb and also the high altitude,there were many puffed stops,many puffed stops but we were getting there none-the-less.
Once near the top the light was out and it occured to me i was in the clouds at an amazing place,but before i could think too much i saw the track,blocked out with three logs just like my mate had told me.Me and Al burst into action,we sepperated mischeiviously from the three others and Bronny joined them as she was paying and would'nt think about joining us delinquents.
So there gone,we had to be quite,not talk and not tread on too many sticks army style.It was full on bush bashing on a hardly noticible track,not to mention i was knackered allready and the hill was extremely steep.If we rolled down we probably would have ended up in china (or whatever country is accross the globe from peru).
After 15 minute's of bush bashing we spotted the walls of Machu Picchu.But also we spotted the track where those who had tickets entered,it was right beside us.
I could hardly control my excitement and i felt like a lil kid again,a priceless feeling.
Anyway we were in full veiw as soon as we stood up,Al went for it,scailing a wall via a tree while none the wider tourists watched him,he looked sooo funny,i have no idea what they were thinking other than "what the hell is that scruffy looking guy doing down there".By scruffy i mean we were dirty,wet and raggy from the bush bash.Next,he was gone,in without a problem.
I was hiding in under shrubbery,awaiting my moment.It tiook age's as there were loads of people rocking up.I could see all of them but no-one could see me.Then i had a break,i jumped up,ran towards the wall,got about ten metres from it then saw people coming.I then busted out my camera and calmly pretended to be a pro photographer,down on one knee and all that.People thought nothing of it.Then again i calmly walked uphill through the remaining scrub,jumped up the ancient wall,only to be greeted by the group we had walked in with.
I thought i was gone,my heart was in my throat,but then the guide,Bron and the two serbs all pissed themselves laughing and congratulated me on my great effort.All they wanted was for me to take a foto of THEM.Then they asked us once again to join their group for an instructed guide of the ruins,"what great people".
Of course i declined,went in with Bron to a hidden area and changed my cloths,plus we had to go find Al.
Then i relaxed and watched the sun light up the surrounding hills and the ancient ruins.It was an image i will never forget,sooo amazing and the best thing was there were hardly any people there at that stage.
We then spotted Al,joined up and marvelled the morning away at one of the most amazing place's on the planet.All for free,the way it should be.
