Day 4 and early AM of day 5 - Our final trekking day. The incredible lost city in the jungle / Wonder of the World, Machu Picchu and the realisation that we had all survived and made the 50km at altitude of the Inca Trail!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A 3.45am wake up call (nice!) saw us all dragging ourselves out of our tents and walking in the pitch black to the breakfast area. Then after a short briefing we were, donned with head torches, hiking through the jungle toward the checkpoint for Machu Picchu. Queuing in the forest in the dark seemed quite bizarre at first, then at 5.30am the gates were opened and soon we were on the off, trekking the last 6km of our journey to the 'Gate of the Sun' to view the infamous Machu Picchu! I would say that despite being knackered, 'going at your own pace' went out the window this morning and hurriedly with excitement we all hiked in a line like an army through the jungle in anticipation of making the end and finding the lost city. Unfortunately this excitement was somewhat spoiled by some European hikers from Norway who, lacking any sense of what a queue system is, barged through our group, one large guy totally walking through Adam as if he didn't exist! No worries though Tom was there to tell them what we all thought in no uncertain words but they still thought that we were the rude ones, just shocking, they definitely needed some lessons in manners!! Anyway the sun had started to rise and we could now see the mountain ridges in the beautiful morning mist as we undertook the last uphill of our long 4 day journey. Then after 90 minutes we were there at Inti Punku - 'The Gate of the Sun,' also known as the official entry to the ancient city and a famous view point for seeing the sun rise over the surrounding mountains illuminating Machu Picchu down in the valley ahead of us.....well if only that were the case! Instead all we could see was cloud/morning mist with a visibility of zero b*****, but we still celebrated getting there with a shared bottle of Pisco and Coke!!! Slowly other gringos gave up and continued on realising that the picture perfect sunrise vista was 'not appenin!' we waited and cheered all our group in, then on guidance of Rubin who also said the cloud mist would not clear, we all together trekked the last 30 minutes to the lost city led by Aggy whose transport of being on the back of Pedro for the morning had now been changed to a bright orange stretcher to transport her for the last stretch! Along the ridge we started to slowly see some parts of Machu Picchu and excitedly took lots of pictures of mainly mist just in case this was the only glimpse we got....... then finally we were there. The cloud had lifted slightly and ahead we could see parts of the city but unfortunately not the famous mountain peak, Huayna Picchu behind as you see in all the famous pictures. I think for the group at this point it was a slight anti-climax, we had finally reached the end of our trail and it was all over yet the city was somewhat lost still in a mist making the phrase 'lost city' very appropriate! Our guide then took us down to the main gate so we could all get the famous 'exit' passport stamp for the Inca Trail, wow what a feeling that was, then it was a celebration chicken sandwich and much needed coffee to mark the end, our guide promising us that in an hour the city would materialise, fingers crossed! By now the bus loads had started to arrive which as a group we all said you shouldn't get to see it unless you hiked the 4 days so they were met with a grimace, they all looked so pristine and clean in their smart clothes and makeup where as we looked dirty, sweaty and wrecked, but migh how worth it it had been. Rubin then took us back to the city ready for our 2 hour city tour. The valley now was starting to clear and the lush green mountain range around us was beautiful, it reminded me and Ads abit of Mitre Peak in NZ, the same sort of looming peaked shape with a vast valley drop below..............Then as we turned the corner the sight in front of us was just incredible, at last the mist had lifted and there it was in full form, Machu Picchu, the famous lost city straddling the saddle of the 2380m high mountain of Huayna Picchu, a sight we had all dreamed of and now it was for real! I know most of us gasped in shock at the awe of this unbelievable place, words and pictures can't do justice what you see and how you feel, and although we have seen the famous picture so many times, I never expected the city to be so vast and majestic in stature within the valley, it was out of this world! The feeling that Hiram Bingham in 1911 must have felt when he stumbled across Machu Picchu, which was then hidden deep within jungle must have been unbelievable and to think that it had taken 400 people a year to clear it so it is what we see today is pretty spectacular.... Many, many pictures were taken, just in case this view disappeared as quickly as it had come and we all now realised that we had reached the end, a wonderful feeling! The next 2 hours saw us exploring the many staircases, terraces, temples, fountains and the famous 'Temple of the Sun.' The architecture and the way in which the Incas built this city deep into the steep valley along with such precision/ detailed irrigation/water flow was staggering, so weird to think though that in just 100 years the Inca population vanished into the jungle never to be seen again. A few of us were hoping to climb the rather steep mountain behind but unfortunately the 400 permits only a day on first come first served had already gone although I think my legs and lungs were secretly quite chuffed! By now all of the cloud had lifted and the view was perfect so we all huffing and puffing climbed the steep terraces for one last time to the top of the city for that ultimate picture postcard! What an incredible 4 days it had been and to have completed the trail with mum and Ian and such a fantastic group of people made this a real highlight of our trip, we felt so lucky, the pain had definitely been worth it!!! Soon it was time to head down the valley to Aguas Calientes for our celebratory buffet lunch. The bus down was the main method of transport or you could walk.... Myself, Ads, Mal, Tom and Luiza being the idiots we are decided to walk to the bitter end and took the latter option, aaaah! This meant for me and Ads that we had more money to tip our guides and also celebrate with more beers that eve so the final 90 minutes of downward pain and MORE steps was worth it, sort of! It was great to walk deeper into the jungle valley though and the animal noises around actually heightened within the greenery the further down we got. At the bottom we crossed the fast flowing Urubamba River where we had our picture taken under the Inca Trail Sign adding even more to taking the *************. Then we followed the mountain edge round finally making the town as we were clapped in, the last to arrive, to the restaurant where Ian greeted us both with a cold beer, just tops! Tom then delivered a good speech to our guides followed then by very large platefuls of even more top fodder! Mum and I then left the boys to beer it up while we explored the small valley town markets and attempted to barter for a cool wall hanging for mum. Finally the last stretch of our 4 days saw us catching the famous Peru Train around the valley floor back to the start of the Inca Trail. Tired at the prospect a valium was needed for me and then all I can say is that what lay ahead was a stunning and beautiful ride through looming rocky mountains, Inca Terraces and snow capped peaks captured through the glass roof of the train as the sun came down, just amazing. Rather bizarre and probably another random moment marked in our trip saw, after an unexpected sandwich they provided in a posh Peru Rail Box followed by one of the staff dressed in local traditional jester style costume coming out of the loos then dancing along the carriage grabbing travellers as he went....... then the unexpected 'fashion show' began. It was hilarious, the poor 2 young staff who had served us earlier, one male and female, now how to undertake a fashion show down the carriage of the latest Alpaca jumpers for sale!!!! As it was so unexpected we couldn't stop laughing especially when the young Peruvian lad came out with large shades on and his chest hair showing, it was so so funny and one of the most bizarre unexpected things we had ever encountered! Lots of whooping and clapping later saw the fashion show come to an end and then the journey finished. Off the train saw about 40 of us trying to get on a 28 seater, the final c*** up by SAS unfortunately, after it getting sorted in true Luiza style, go Brazilian girl!, we were soon on the last leg back to Cuzco, which for me meant a valium hazed sleep! Arriving back wearily but chuffed with all of us we updated Beliynda on the many goings on then after a MUCH needed shower it was off to the Irish pub to celebrate with beers and 2 for 1 happy hour spirits plus the cranberry and grapefruit vodka miniatures Ads and I had bought to down and celebrate at Machu Picchu but had totally forgotten! Then for most it was many beers in the numerous bars and clubs which unexpectedly exist within Cuzco, abit like an underworld in the day they are right in front of you but you don't even notice them! Carrol, myself and Ads managed to do beers in most of them whilst trying to find the others which when we finally we did were pretty hammered and ended up dancing on the tables in a club to celebrate our achievements! It was quite funny too to recognise many others that we had seen on the trail, celebrating too with to many shots, spirits and beers, wahhoo! Not actually remembering leaving the club, we managed to complete the 24 hour challenge that had been set by Bilynda to stay up and crashed into bed at 4am, 24 hours from when we had woken up....... Good night fellow Inca drinkers and a big congrats again to our wicked Kamuka Group, it was a privilege to have conquered the Inca trail with ya all and especially my mum and Ian!!! Day 14 saw us suffering a tad from a slight altitude (ha ha!) hangover so we didn't awake till 3pm! After another hangover breakfast at the infamous Jacks Café, saw us packing mainly and early to bed feeling rather rough to say the least...