Following 4 days of hard trekking we could have done with a lie in, sadly this was not to be the case and on the final day, the day we would finally ascend Machu Picchu we were awoken at 3.30am in order to leave the hostel at 4.00am. Why so early? We wanted to climb to Huayna Picchu, the prominent peak that overlooks Machu Picchu. Only 200 tickets are available for the (better) 10am slot (there is a 7am slot too) which go to the first 200 souls at the entrance when it opens at 6.00am.

There are two ways of getting to the entrance, firstly a bus, the first of which arrives at 5.45am or secondly to walk up the 400m of mountainside from the park gate which opens at 4.40am. If you walk up you are almost certain to get the Huayna Picchu tickets you want, as long as you arrive before the throng on the first bus. Our group arrived at the park gate around 4.20am, still in the darkness of night. We joined a queue that had already formed, but we were comfortably within the first 200. When the gates opened then the rush began as those at the front strove to maintain their positions and those at the back sought to better theirs. The route is 400m up steep steps lit by flashlights and took us around 42 minutes. People were jostling for position and others dropped by the wayside, out of breath. There was a tamgible sense of urgency to beat the buses. We also dashed up the mountain, not stopping once despite wanting to rest towards the end of the climb. The end came quite abruptly, just when we were seriously thinking about taking a break. We were really relieved to have made it and well within the first 200, indeed our entire Salkantay group made it in good time. After the race up we waited patiently for half an hour as dawn broke and the ticket office opened. Our tickets got the 10am Huayna Picchu stamp and we were allowed into the Machu Picchu site.

Our group met just inside the site where we met up with our guide Marko who took us on a very brief tour around the ruins and took the obligatory photos. Apparently Machu Picchu was not completed by the Incas before the arrival of the Spanish. The ruins that remain are stunning, breathtaking, everything that you would expect them to be. Believe the hype it is that good!! Our one regret is that after the early morning hike and the previous 4 days of hiking we were really tired and weary and would have benefited from a second day at the site, taking the bus and just exploring the ruins. At 9.30 we went to the entrance to Huayna Picchu, but disaster struck when, at the entrance, Gemma realised that she had lost her ticket permitting her to climb the peak. Gemma was in a panic and could not believe that she had lost her ticket, whilst Craig was cross as two sticks, but at the same time upset for Gemma, that she had gotten up so early and would not be rewarded by being able to do the ascent.

After 20 minutes of frantic searching by Gemma and stropping by Craig, we went to the entrance where to our amazement someone had handed in Gemma´s ticket! She was astounded and hugely relieved. Eager to catch up with the rest of our group who had set off without us we bombed up the 200m climb to the top of Huayna Picchu in 40 minutes. The path is narrow, steep, treacherous and difficult to navigate. At the top we caught up with everyone else and after explaining our delay, we were treated to the spectacular and clear view of the entire Machu Picchu site, suspended between the mountains among stupendous forested Andean scenery.

After Huayna Picchu we were near exhaustion and had little appetite for exploring the ruins further, especially as we had the hour long walk back down the mountain to Aguas Calientes to do. It was no mean feat walking back, made worse by the fact that we hadn´t eaten anything since dinner the previous night. On arrival in Aguas Calientes our group hit the nearest restaurant and gorged on our first proper meal since before we started the 5 days of the Salkantay trek. Both Gemma and Craig had two main courses, we were so hungry! After lunch we had a couple hours of free time to meander around the town itself, but there is little to see of real interest.

Around 6pm we boarded a train to take us part of the way back to Cusco. On the train, hilarity once again ensued as our group decided to give presents to each other in brown paper bags. We were relieved not to be the recipients of the tea-soaked tampon or the tablet marked simply ´E`. The train journey over we were herded onto a bus for a couple of hours and arrived back in Cusco at 11pm completely exhausted, zombified almost, but so happy with ourselves that we had made it!