We left Arequipa on the 8pm bus to Cusco which got us there, after a fairly decent nights sleep at 6am, after a little bit of faffing around we jumped on a collectivo to Ollantaytambo from where we were able to get the train to Machu Picchu Pueblo (also known as Aquas Calientes) where we arrived at about 2.30pm.

We spent the next couple of hours finding a hostel and preparing for our trip to the ruins of Machu Picchu the following morning. We had to decide whether to get the bus or to climb the fairly steep hill, it was going to be an early start either way as we wanted to be in the first 400 people so we could climb the Huayna Picchu access to which is restricted to help its preservation. Having decided we would walk it, we are expert climbers now, we were tucked up in bed by 8pm and sprang out of bed when our alarm went off at 3.10pm.

We set off, passing the queue for the buses that had already started and were the 2nd and 3rd people to arrive at the gate at the bottom of the hill. Here we had to wait until 5am and as the queue grew it was alittle like the start of a race with different groups eyeing each other up, trying to determine if they could beat each other in the 1 hour climb. If it had just been the walkers we would have been fine but you also have to beat the buses which leave at 5.30 and were supposed to take 20mins.

The gate opened and we started really shifting, it was a steep climb up big steps and before long Steve was peeling off the layers down to his vest. It soon became clear that we were going to stay ahead of most of the other walkers but the pressure of not knowing how much further we had to go, it was pitch black, and where the buses were drove us on. After a mere 45 minutes we reached the entrance delighted to see no buses and only 15 people before us in the queue.

It really was worth the effort. Firstly we were able to enter Machu Picchu when there was hardly anyone else there and climbing up to vantage point in the photo above we just sat and gazed at what is a really spectaular sight, it really is amazing to look down on this Inca city that was only rediscovered by Europeans in 1911 and had been lost to most of the world for 400 years before that. We then headed over to climb Huayna Picchu (which is the mountain in the background in the photo). This was pretty hard going up some crazily steep steps (although it was much scarier coming down) but again this was well worth it. From Huayna Picchu you get a much better perspective of a the scale of the ruins and particulalrly the extensive terracing that the Inca`s used for farming. We stayed here for a couple of hours before heading outside for an early and extortionate lunch. We then returned to the site and wandered round the main ruins and temples etc before returning to the spot where we had sat in the morning for one final view of the site. It`s a place that we had obviously seen in photos etc but being here, especially first thing in the morning, was yet another unforgetable experience and well worth the effort of getting here.

We are now sat waiting for our train to take us back down to Ollantaytambo where we will probably jump in a collectivo to Cusco before heading on towards Lake Titicaca tomorrow.