Day 4 - The Inka Trail - At Machu Picchu We were woken up at 4.30am grabbed some porridge and scrambled egg and set off to the final check point which opened at 5.30 am to let us onto the final part of the trail leading to Machu Picchu itself. The treck up to the sun gate was really quick but we were determined to get there for sunrise. We got to the sun gate afetr 45 mins (should have taken 90 mins) where we were immediately struck by the spectacular sight of Machu Picchu (except Ian who had to have it pointed out.duh) Unfortunatley behind us Katherine had badly sprained her ankle but thankfully made it in time for sunrise. Most of the other rushed down to the site itself but we stayed about half way down to view the amazing site of the sun rising over the ruins and mountains behind. This was truly breathtaking. At sun up we strolled down to the site which was still fairly deserted and a truly magnificent sight. We had our obligatory team photo and then oddly enough went out of the site for some snacks. After a break we headed back in, still before the lazy train tourists had arrived. Juan took us on a guided tour of the site (with Claire hobbling along with two sticks). It was a beautiful morning so part way through the tour the Matt's, Bernie, James Paul and Arthur decided they hadn't trecked enough and head off to race up WaniPicchu (see large peak behind us). Us, Andreya, Kendall and Micheal continued to tour to the Temple of the Condor. This is when we met Juans family (Claire again wanted to steal his peruvian little boy) who had come for the day trip. While Juan was talking we noticed smoke rising from part of the ruins. We went to investigate, and there was loopy La Paz, dressing in a long white hooded gown, burning letters. It turns out she was burning 300 wishes that had been sent to her before she set off. A lucky escape for Evan. Mad as a box of frogs. She was escorted off the premises after spending 4 days trecking there. When the tour was over, Andreya and ourselves settled in the ground for some well earned sun worshipping and chilling out. After a couple of hours we caught the bus down to Aguas Callientes to meet up with everyone else and to say our goodbyes. Some caught the train back that day while we stayed with the Matts, Bernie and Andreya to go to the hot springs. These were lovely for our muscles, however very murky and stinky (and nott too good for Matt's manky eye). The view was great though, as we were in a rainforest valley next to the river. With the best off intentions we all ended up crashing early to catch the early train back to Ollantaytambo and then shared a taxi back to Cusco with Matt and Bernie. We checked into a hostal, slept for several hours, uploaded our photos themn met up with some of the others in Los Perros pub for a huge burger and several beers.