The greatest thing I have seen in my entire life

4 am: It feels like Christmas morning. I can´t sleep. I can´t sit straight. I woke up so much during the night, and now it feels like I´m waiting for mom and dad to make coffee so we can just open the damn presents alerady. So excited.

5:30 am: We hiked up to MC for the sunrise, i.e. under only moonlight. The hike was so exhausting, but amazing. We followed a railroad track first, having to run out of a tunnel when a train car rolled by, then hiked up stairs after stairs after stairs. But the view was gorgeous, with Orion peaking up over one mountain, the moon looking down on us and the sky turning from a dark black to a navy blue, then bluer and bluer. Once we got to the entrance gate, we sat on the steps with 75 others who had done the same thing, waiting for the gates to open at 6. When the first bus showed up with other travelers, we even booed them and their laziness. Hiking made it all so much more enjoyable.

6 am: When the gates opened at 6, everyone immediately ran all over the place and I just had the biggest smile on my face. It was incredible. I have been looking forward to this moment for months, and it exceeded every expectation. After checking out the main viewing spot, we ran in line for Wayna Picchu, a 2 hour hike of the mountain behind MP, but they only let 400 people do it a day. After seeing a Trojan and talking a little trash with him, we had a nice chat with a couple of Bruin alums. Go Bruins.

8 am: We finally started the hike at 8, after an hour and a half in line. The hike was amazing. Very steep, lots of steps, but absolutely amazing views. Like, incredibly. Speechless. Indescribeable. You get the idea. There were even some ruins at the top (how they were built, I have no idea. The Incans were impressive).

10 am: We started to head back down to MP, then took a detour for another short hike to a hidden Temple of the Moon and a huge cavern. It was all downhill (meaning the hike up was excruciatingly tough), but there was a really cool, well preserved temple at the bottom. A hidden temple next to a hidden city. How cool is that. Of course, my shirt was absolutely drenched with sweat at this point, and my hands were caked with dirt, but it was so worth it.

12 pm: By noon we finally started to explore the ruins themselves. They are so well preserved, it is so awesome to see. Just absolutely gorgeous. We took so many pictures of the same thing because we couldnt NOT take a picture of something so pretty. Hands down the most amazing thing I have seen in my life.

And now, my stab at Spanish poetry, written on the train back:

Subi la montana en las ultimas sombras de la noche,

en las primeras rayas del dia,

en el espacio en medi de negro y blanco.

y alla, enfrente de mis ojos, fue la cosa mas increible que he visto,

una civilizacion perdida y encontrada,

un espiritu muerto, con mas vivencia de cualquier ser humano.

Canine por las calles destruidas a los edificios incompletos,

y senti un sentido incomprensible, una idea sin logica

como los Incas todavia sobrevivia y vivia.

Pero fue imposible, fue una ciudad perdida y muerta,

con mas guias que anos desde la caida tragica

y turistas obedientes como vacas.

Que yo daria por un minuto, una vista,

un segundo, una foto

de Machu Picchu antes de la caida,

antes del ataque del consumerismo,

antes de que la civilizacion fue vendido.

Pero todavia el espiritu sobrevive

y vive en las cabezas y corazones de cada turista

para que los Incas nunca se murieron,

la ciudad nunca cayo

ellos, su civilizacion, su ciudad,

su espiritu vive en una manera increible

en las alturas de Machu Picchu.