We got picked up at 8am on Saturday morning to do a tour of The Sacred Valley. This is a valley between Cuzco and Machu Picchu which encomappses alot of the Inca Empire. Our first stop was Pisac market where we browsed the usual alpacha garments of socks, gloves, hats, jumpers, the lot! We then headed off to the ruins which were pretty breathtaking and thankfully our guide was able to explain the landscape very well in English and Spanish so we were able to get a full aprreciation of the place. As we moved onto Ollyantambo after lunch the day just got better and better as the sun continued to shine and we were even more impressed with the ruins in this original little village. Im sure you can tell from the pictures, the place was pretty magical and got us even more excited about what was to come the following day! Our tour group left us in Ollyantambo around 4pm and we were more than happy to hang around until our train left for Aguas Calientes at 7.30pm. We grabbed some food and sat around the square people watching and on arriving at the train station, Ash couldnt resist in trying one of the huuuge corn on the cobs the locals were selling. After a great train ride we settled into our beds around 11pm eagerly awaiting our trip to Machu Picchu the following morning; something we had both been looking forward to for a very long time!

The alarm went off at 3.30am. We had had hardly any sleep due to noisy locals in the street but we were determined to get a ticket to climb Wyna Picchu. For those that dont know, only 400 tickets are released per day to climb the mountain and we were advised to start queing to get the bus around 4am to guarentee one of the tickets. Unfortunately the rain was pouring down when we woke up but this was no deterent and we headed off in the pouring rain to the bus stop. We were hopeful when we could only see a queue of around 30 people in front of us. The buses didnt leave until 5:30am so we had a long wait in the rain but thankfully found some shelter and the time passed quicker once we got chatting to some German guys. They had left their camera at the hostel and after trying to wake the manager, they had no luck so smashed the window to get in!! The lengths some people go to...Machu Picchu really is that special.

We climbed on the 2nd bus at 5.30am so were pretty certain we had got a ticket and yes, on arriving and a few push and shoves later we got a stamp to climb at 10am. They let 200 climb at 7am and 200 at 10am but due to the weather the 10am option was definately the best as we had more chance of the cloud clearing. The rain slowed and our spirits were still high as we waited for our guide at 7.30am. As we wandered around the sights of Machu Picchu and learnt about how the Incas used the sight we were both totally mesmerised by the whole place. The cloud gave it a mystical edge and it was something we would definately not forget in a hurry.

Around 10.30am we went to the gate of Wyna Picchu and signed in with 2 guys we had met and headed off to climb. It certianly wasnt for the feint hearted as it was a steep slippy uphill climb for about an hour but the views from the top over Machu Picchu were certianly worth it. Ah heaven on earth. A must do in your lifetime.