Machu Picchu
-=[ DAY TEN - Mon 19th June ]=-
Okay, so all those previous early mornings had nothing on this one. Wakeup call came at 4am to get us up in time to beat the rush to the checkpoint 500m from camp. We were the first to arrive at 4:30am, and by 5:30am when the gate was supposed to open there were another 200 trekkers behind us. The guard arrived at 5:50, just in time to stop a collective effort by some of the guides to break the chain between us and Machu Picchu.
At around 7am we climbed the last 80 steps toward Intipunku, or the Sun Gate, and found ourselves looking down on the ruins of Machu Picchu below. Nursing aching knees and calves we waited with the crowds of trekkers for the sun to clear the mountains and hit the ruins.
It was an awesome sight when the entire Incan village was lit by sunshine, and the surrounding area still in shadow. Walking around the sight was definitely an amazing experience, even after it started crawling with people when the day buses started arriving. But to look down on it from the Sun Gate definitely made the four days of agony worthwhile.
A bus trip to Aguas Calientes followed by a 90 minute train ride to Ollantaytambo and then another 90 minutes on a bus took us back to our hotel in Cusco for a good night sleep on a comfy bed.
