It felt like we had hardly slept a wink when the alarm went at 4:15am. Breakfast was already being served on the top floor of the building. It probably had awesome views during the day but it was still dark outside. For a few minutes a glowing full moon popped out from behind the clouds lighting up the sky and siloueting the steep sided mountains either side.

We ate our breakfast of eggs and bread rolls quickly so we could check out and join the queue for the bus to Machu Picchu. We arrived at the bus stop just before 5am for 5.30am bus and there was already a long queue. Fortunately there were many buses waiting and we made it onto perhaps the sixth about 5:45am.

The bus took us down the valley, following the river, for about 5 or 10 minutes before crossing a rickety old bridge and starting the steep, winding climb up the mountainside. There were some nice views on the way up but not so great that we were inclined to walk back down and take in the view at a slower pace.

We arrived at the entrance for 6am opening, which was also about the same time as the people walking up arrived. David was keen on idea of walking up purely to make sure he arrived at opening time. He relented though and took the bus as Maria wanted and on hindsight admitted that taking the bus was way better. The walk up from Aguas Calientes is a gruelling two hour challenge, mostly in the dark, up steep steps and everyone looked knackered when they arrived.

It didn't take too long for the queue to make its way through the entrance. Some were held back because their backpacks were too big or they were obviously taking in food or walking poles. We followed the majority of the crowd up the high trail. This is the path that people take to get to the picture postcard spot that most photographs of Machu Picchu are taken from.

We have to consider ourselves very lucky because by the time we arrived at the spot where you get your first glimpse of the 'Secret Inca City', there were not many people and the light was amazing. We had seen the scene a thousand times in pictures and photos, but it looked all the more stunning in real life.

After taking the obligatory 'postcard shot' photos, we headed further up the mountainside to the Caretaker's Hut and then further round the mountain to the Inca Bridge. The path round to the bridge is set on a steep, if not sheer in places, cliff and is a definite test for anyone with a fear of heights. You can't continue across the bridge nowadays, probably because it's in a bit of disrepair and looked highly dangerous regardless. Very few people walked round to the bridge so it was really peaceful. There were views down into the village of Santa Teresa and the hydroelectric station.

Back at the main site we had fun watching the resident llamas trying to steal snacks from people. Interestingly, the people thought it was cute at first to get so close to a llama but when the llama wasn't interested in the photo shoot and started pushing people, sometimes toward the terraced vertical drop, they were no longer so cute.

We walked round the remainder of the ruins in about 3.5 hours. The tourists were beginning to flood in and because they weren't going off to the Inca Bridge first, they were being rushed through the route we were taking. Sometimes we could glean a snippet of information from a guide but generally it was jostling for position, with the tour groups, on the narrow paths and small viewpoints.

Having seen the walking path from the bus trip up, we decided that taking the bus back down again was the best option. We had already seen the view and stairs seemed like they would be a bit hard for our old knees. The plan was to sit in a cafe in Aguas Calientes until our train was due to leave but we thought to first check where the trains depart from.

It didn't take long to walk through the maze in the market to get to the train station and we decided to ask if we could change our ticket for an earlier train. There was a train in 20 minutes at 10.55am which still had seats left and for only $2 USD each we changed our tickets. We boarded the train within minutes and were pleased to note that it was a better class of service too, the Vistadome.

The Vistadome service doesn't appear to cram passengers in like a coach, the seats are grouped in fours with a table in the middle. Instead of a plastic wrapped snack and plastic cup of soda, we were given a sandwich on a proper plate and drinks served in proper mugs and glasses. David was even able to buy a couple of cold beers.

After we had eaten, the train staff put on a dance performance to entertain the passengers. It was so entertaining that Maria even agreed to be dragged up and dance with the 'wolfman'. The staff still try to sell Peruvian made clothes to the tourists and on this train they had a fashion show of their alpaca products using the aisle of the train as their runway.

When we arrived in Ollantaytambo there were heaps of taxi drivers offering transport back to Cusco. We pushed our way through the throng and found a driver already waiting with 2 people who offered us a price of S/.15 each to join him. He had a normal, and relatively new, car and at the price, we couldn't refuse.

It only took us 1.5 hours to get to Cusco and we were dropped off a 1 minute walk from our hostel. We quickly checked back in to Hostel Mallqui, got our bags from storage and were settled back into Room 203. It was like coming home in a way, everything was familiar.

We went out to change some money into Bolivianos for our upcoming trip across the border. The money changers were giving really good rates, better than the bank, in fact. For dinner we decided to give the local fast food restaurant, Bembos, a try. Bad move, we should have gone to Mc Donalds.

To console ourselves, we headed across the Plaza for a drink or two at Paddy's before heading back to the hostel to pack for our early morning bus ride to Puno.