Have you ever been on top of the world? Well, yours truly - Papa Mono - has scaled these exalted heights when he hiked to the top of Wayna Picchu, the rugged mastiff which towers over the famous Inca ruins of Machu Picchu. What made the climb “to the top of the world” so memorable was the bonding which took place between Papa Mono and the two young Peruvian gentlemen - Edward and Armando - who accompanied him on the rather arduous hike.

After completing a 3 hour early morning walking tour of Machu Picchu, I lulled around the cafe located near the entrance of the archaeological park trying to see if I could recruit somebody from the tour group to join me on the hike to the top of Wayna Picchu. I was disappointed that I couldn’t find any takers, and as I wasn’t really gung-ho about hiking by myself, I was resigned to forgo the hike. Fortuitously I ran into Edward and Armando, two young Peruvian guys in their early 30’s that I met at the night before at the thermal hot springs complex in nearby Aguas Calientes. Upon learning that they were going on the hike to the top of Wayna Picchu, I asked if I could join them. No Problema, they both said in unison. So “the three amigos” set out to conquer the mountain - we followed a footpath that was carved into the mountainside by the Incas. Much of the trail consisted of very steep and narrow steps.

During the ascent up the mountain, we sang some songs, cracked jokes and “shot the shit” stopping periodically to take photographs of the magnificent panoramas. About 2 hours later, we finally made it to the very top. The views of the archaeological park, Urubamba River Valley and the winding highway which snakes its way up the mountainside to the ruins located some 1000 feet below were absolutely breathtaking. After resting a bit and marveling at the scenic views, we assumed our Andean condor poses with our wings (arms) outstretched and proclaiming loudly to everybody far and wide that we were the Kings of the World. Our voices echoed and reverberated against the canyon walls.

After an hour at the top, we began the long descent down to the archaeological park. Papa Mono was a little apprehensive about the return trip because the rather steep steps might play havoc with his arthritic right hip, but he managed the return journey without too much discomfort. After completing this momentous hike, we joked among ourselves that the hike was “a piece of cake” or a walk in the park on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Was the hike difficult? To be honest with you - it wasn’t that difficult and it wasn’t that easy - I would rate it as being of medium difficulty. Then again, I would not have been able to complete the hike without my Peruvian amigos - Edward and Armando - pulling me along.

Factoid: The Three Kings of the World-Papa Mono, Armando and Edward-were later seen later that afternoon at a small restaurant in the village of Aguas Calientes, downing several pitchers of beers to the accompaniment of a large pizza pie.

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 16th, 2007 at 10:53 am and is filed under Peru, travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.