This is how big Ray's smile was when we first saw one of the wonders of the modern world....

Well another tick off the list !! We arrived to Macchu Picchu by the Vistadome train which took about 90 minutes from Ollantaytambo station. The train was brilliant. Great seats with huge windows and windows above that allowed you to see the beautiful mountain ranges that enclosed around us as we travelled through them down through the valley. Imposing mountains capped with snow we could see through the roof of this train!.

After the train arrives at the MP station you line up to take a bus that hold about 50 people to go up and up and up to the top of the mist shrouded mountaintop hundreds of feet above the AUrubamba river gorge. I reckon just surviving the bus trip up with out loosing your breakfast is a feat in itself. lol.... Pretty hair raising because the track is only wide enough in most places for one way but they run buses up and down at the same time so have to stop and backup or snuggle up to a mountain rock side to allow the other bus to pass. and no there are no guard rails either!!

Bus gets to top and we all pile out thankful for a very experienced driver. We pass through the entrance were we show our ticket and get it and our passports stamped. Yep passports stamped if you want, yes we want... Our guide starts immediatly with in depth information and it's a pleasure to listen to her explain all the different areas. Funny at times too especially when she talks about the "impotent" places... what she was saying was 'important' ahh the accent is beautiful spanish.

MP rises to an altitude of 2400 mtr above sea level so is actually about 400 mtr lower than were we where the day before. But I have to tell you that once you start climbing all over the mountain going up and down the "stairs" you start to huff and puff. The weather we had on both days was brilliant but hot. Yep it was aboutt 22c ... yeah I know that's not hot but at higher altitude it is more intense and you burn much easier.

The breathtaking views from the mountain top citadel and its well preserved ruins are a photographers dream. You really do feel quite small on this mountain. It took our guide about 2.5 hours to show us around and give us the lay of the land. From there we were on our own. The group of people with us were from different parts of the world. Some Americans, some Germans etc. We got chatting with an 'older' couple from New York. There names where Joe and Mirriam. He is 89 and she a young 69 !! We gave them a hand on the more uneven and high rocks going up and down. But all up they did great and were staying for two nights to do another two days there !!

On day 1 after the tour we went and had lunch and a little rest. After that it was back to it. We decided to take the trail to the Inka Bridge. It's not a bridge that goes over water it was actually used to walk across from one side to another on a part of the mountain that was vertical. It took us about an hour to reach it and many parts of the trail took us through jungle areas where we got some relief from the sun. The Inka Bridge is completely closed off because it's no longer usable, and just as well because there is not way I would have gone across it. After a long day we took the scary ride back down the mountain in the bus and rested our poor feet and legs in a nearby hotel.

Day 2 and we decide that we don't need to get up and catch the 6am bus to see the sun rise so we get there at about 9.30. This time we decided to take the longer and harder trail to the "Sun Gate" . The Sun Gate is original entrance to MP. This is where you come in if you have done the full Inca Trail Walk that takes 4 days.. It's a hard climb/trek up and I must admit that about 3/4 way there I didn't think I'd go all the way, but Ray just keep saying 'Oh it's just up ahead, nearly there'... yeah right but we made it and it was worth it. The view was even better. The climb passed through small caverns carved from the rocky walls. To greet us at the top was miniature terraces scattered about. The sweeping panorama that we could see of all MP was something to remember. We sat in the shade and soaked up the view while we ate our fruit for lunch.

Then it was the long and sometimes dangerous hike back down. My ankles and feet started to ache because of all the downward pressure. But once down we had another short break before having one last walk around for about another hour before heading back to the bus area.

Safe and sound at the bottom of the mountain we headed to the train station to wait for our Vistadome train ride back to the station we started at. We were then picked up by our travel company and with another couple from New York State we took the long drive, about 2 hours, up the winding roads to Cuzco...altitude 3,500 mtrs. Ahh finally got into our hotel in cuzco at about 8.30pm and absolutely stuffed. Goodnight peeps.

Well that's one long entry and enough for tonight, it's past 10pm here and we had another busy day....but thats another blog post to come