Machu Picchu

Well, on our last day we woke up at 3:30am to get ready and begin walking in the dark and rain to Machu Picchu. It at first seemed that the whole town had the same idea. It then dawned on us that that it was good Friday and that the towns people were actually walking through town with candles for Holy Easter Week.

We walked for an hour up and Incan trail of stairs which was a bit hard going. We got to the ruins at around 6am, however we were not able to see the sun come up because there was so many clouds.

We had a two hour tour of the ruins which was a little dissapointing as it was difficult to take photos and see due to the cloud cover and the fact our guide spoke so fast and it seems a little rehearsed. After the tour we exited the site to go to the bathroom and get some food. Just out side the ruins there are various shops and a $700 US dollar a night hotel!

We then went back in and the sun had finally come out, the clouds gone and it looked amazing. We hiked around the ruins and took some photos. There are so many people there even more than I expected it feels a little ridiculous at times, you seem to be following people everywhere. There are lots of senior citz tours as well.

A group of us hiked up WaynaPicchu, which is the mountain seen in all classic Machu Picchu photos (it is the mountain behind me in the photo where I am standing, the other photos is the view from the top). It is extremely steep and a difficult climb at points you have to crawl up stairs. But at the top the views were spectacular it felt as if you are on top of the world. It was simply amazing. As it was a difficult climb not many people do it and you are able to escape the hords of people and I finally had that special feeling of fulfilling a dream of being at Machu Picchu.

It felt bad to leave but we had to catch the train back to Cusco which was long and tiring. Especially when I had to find a new hostel when I got back that night, but one of the guys and I decied to splash out and get nice rooms for a night to have a well deserved rest.