Another night bus and I arrive in Cuzco at 7am. Not much sleep this time so I check into Loki hostel, which is a massive old Viceroy´s pad, and gain some much needed sleep. This travelling business takes it out of you. Cuzco is an amazing city to walk around. Old Inca foundations and walls hold up existing builidings and kids will kindly point this out to you for a Sole (35 cents). It´s more great Colonial architcture and with the sun out I proceed to get a sun burnt cranium whilst admiring all the cities delights.

To get to Machu Picchu one must go via the touristy town of Aguas Calientes and so this is where I stayed on the night before the big day to MP. En-route to Aguas I stop for a few hours in the village of Ollantaytambo to inspect the local ruins there. I dídn´t have big expectations and was pleasantly surprised by the size and location of the ruins, with some being built into the cliffs. The ruins date back some 800 years I am told and recent theory is that the Inca mearly finished off some other people´s handy work.

My left knee is a bit wonky after my hiking in Huaraz so I decide to climb up Machu Picchu in the early hours of the morning as opposed to doing the Inca Trail (4 days) or any alternative treks. I bump into a russian and some swiss trouble makers and our plan is to climb up at 3.30am. However, even basic plans get thrown out the window. One Swiss girl has a fever, the other a sore foot and lets just say that I ate some contaminated food in Cuzco to give me the worst food poisoning I thing I´v ever had. Alas, feeling rather poorly we opt for the 5.30am bus to the top, with all the other lazy and sick people.

Our first vision of Machu Picchu is white, as the site is covered by clouds. None the less we walk around and can still sense what an impressive ruin this site is. With clouds clearing here and there we get quick glimpses the rest of the site but it´s not until we make the 1 hour summit of Wayna Picchu at 11am that the clouds finally lift and from our high vantage point we can see below us the entire site, which slightly resembles the shape of a condor.

Not feeling the greatest I make the descent back to the main site and hike up to the other view point, which is where all the post card shots are taken. What an amazing site this is and you can clearly see why the Inca planning chaps chose this spot. The site itself is in pretty good nic and although roofs are long gone many walls still stand in full and again the stone masons did a superflous job here.

Following my pharmacist´s advice its chicken and veg soup for the next few days with no Inca Cola, coffee or chinese food (which was potentially the culprit anyway) After bus, train, collectivo and taxi I arrive in one piece at the hostel and crash for some serious sleeping.

I´m pretty much all ruined out now and figure any more sites will fall into the category of Another Pile of Rocks. The next few days in Cuzco are really chilled so that I am well enough to head to Lake Titicaca, Bolivia. I´m looking forward to the night bus tonight.......peace