At 4.30 am we set off in the dark with torches for the long awaited hike up to Machu Picchu; I was so so excited. After crossing the bridge over the Urubamba River it was time to begin our 1 hour ascent to the top of the mountain. We were not prepared for it to be quite so physically demanding as the climb consisted of about a million non-stop super steep uneven stairs all the way to the top for over an hour. A thigh workout and a half!!!

After just over an hour of climbing rocky stairs up the side of a mountain and dripping with sweat we made it to the top and were met by our guide for the day, Roberto. Reaching the top of the mountain was one thing, looking around and seeing a full circle of Andean mountains surrounding me up in the clouds, but entering Machu Picchu was something else and an experience I will never ever forget for the rest of my life.

The sight was indescribable and the Incas were truly incredible architects; one of the first things Liv said to me was imagine discovering this and that was just it - I had never seen anything like it and stumbling across this site must have seemed like a dream. The ruins were so vast and how the Incas managed to build this city up there literally in a mountain is beyond my scope of imagination. We just so happened to be at Machu Picchu on Winter Solstice, the celebration of the season of Winter and the one day of the year that as the sun rises above the mountains its rays align exactly with a window in the Temple of the Sun at the Machu Picchu ruins to light up a ceremonial stone - a spectacle that many locals come to observe! What were the chances! There were so many people waiting at dawn to watch this phenomenon and I felt very lucky to have been there.

Roberto told us such an enormous amount of information about Machu Picchu, it's history, it's discovery by Hiram Bingham, theories about its purpose, and the way in which it was used when once inhabited by the Inca people. With numerous temples and astronomical observatories it was clear that the Incas were an extraordinarily intelligent and philosophical collection of people with interesting beliefs and practices. The most amazing aspect of course was their ability to build such stable structures that have survived until now with minimal tools and basic mathematical knowledge.

Stood in the ruins you are fully encircled and surrounded by Andean mountains and clouds, an almost fairytale like setting and I definitely felt like I could have lived happily up there. The views were outstanding. Liv and I went to explore and visited the Guard House with views over the ruins which were awe inspiring, and continued to walk along a path that trailed along the cliff edge thousands of metres from the valley below, which was absolutely beautiful. I reached the old Inca Bridge which again proved how incredible the Incas were at building their paths and achieving a settled living up in the mountains. I could have stared out at the surrounding scenery forever and it honestly didn't feel like real life anymore. Looking down into the valley it registered with me just how far we had hiked up that morning and I felt a massive sense of achievement - it was so high and so steep, and completely and utterly worth every step.

Liv and I got the bus back down the winding mountain roads to Aguas Calientes and treated ourself to a well deserved feast Italian lunch and Pisco Sours, the famous alcoholic beverage consumed all over Peru. It was delicious! It was nice to have a bit of time in Aguas Calientes before leaving back to Cusco. We had a long train journey back to Cusco through such pretty landscape but we were both so tired it was hard to take it all in, and I fell asleep for a while. The past few days had been some of the most unforgettable I have had thus far and such great experiences that were made even better having shared it all with Liv. We said goodbye to Lynn and Kev back in Cusco and checked in at Pariwana Hostel very ready for hot showers, comfortable beds and clean clothes! I now know why Machu Picchu is a wonder of the world and it really was wonderful.