Machu Picchu

DAY 4:

3am wake up call. We walked to the checkpoint about three minutes away where all the group were waiting in a queue under the shelter. Apparently you get up this early because the porters get the first 5:30am train back from Machu Picchu to Ollantaytambo. If they miss it they have to wait another 12 hours to get the next one. The one hour fifteen minute wait for the checkpoint to open was spent playing cards on the dusty ground getting even more dirty. Once the checkpoint opened we sped through and went single file along the narrow path all the way for an hour and a half to the Sun Gate. From there we could see a great view of Machu Picchu in the distance. The clouds were covering it so it wasn't the clearest view. We hung around for a while and began to make our way down to the ruins. As we got closer, the more we were able to see. Some visitors were walking up to the Sun Gate and passing us. It was nice to know we were the ones  descending from the Sun Gate and not walking up to it! The ruins looked exactly like a postcard picture- it was amazing and so big and impressive! We had a group picture and a few individual ones. It was amazing there and felt so worth the four day hike! We then went around with Fernando and he gave a us a bit of a guided tour, then left us to all walk around, which we did as one big happy 'family', as we became known as. We all felt knackered and our legs were giving in. We did our best and made our way around the site and saw the temples, a tomb, a garden growing loads of different plants including coco leaves. 'Machu Picchu' means old mountain and 'Waynapicchu' (the other peak) means young mountain. The Inca's water source came from a stream in the mountain up by the Sun Gate. Roughly 400 people lived there and their high position on the mountain made it easy to see around all sides of the valley below. After exploring for a while we got the bus (with amazingly comfy seats) down to Agua Calientes, a town near Machu Picchu where we ate lunch with the guides and picked up our duffle bags. We caught the train at 2:30pm and travelled for two hours to Ollantaytambo. The journey went by pretty quickly as we played 'Hearts'. I won! Woop woop! We're on the bus now and heading back to Cusco for a final night in Hotel Prisma. I can't wait for a shower! I think we're gonna go for a few drinks to celebrate our trek and give Fernando and Berto a tip to say thank you.