Inca Trail: Day 4

So today was the big day!!

We were woken at 3am!!! The reason for this is because the porters have to get the 6am train back to Cuzco or they have to wait 12 hrs for the next one!

We had pancakes for breakfast and started off in the dark with our torches! We only walked about 5 mins when we reached passport control...which didn't open until 5.30am! So we had a 1 hr wait but we did get there just I'm the nix of time to be the last group to get seats on the bench. It was a cold, dark hour!

At 5.30 the sun had started to rise and there was a bustle of activity! We were ready! Ruben told us to keep to the left in single file at all times and to be careful as there were some crazy tourists who would run to get to the Sun Gate first!

Somehow I was at the start so tried to set the pace high for everyone else. I was pretty sleepy and missed the sun coming up as I was too busy keeping an eye on my footing!

It was a quick hour and a half around the edge of the mountain, so were a few ups and downs. it was jungley on the left but there were frequent gigantic death drops to our right. It must have been a few thousand meters from the path straight down to the river. We saw a few bits with yellow tape and evidence of land slides but I didn't think about it and pushed on.

We got to one bit where the steps were so steep we had to crawl up using our hands! Only at the top did we realise it was what the guides called 'the gringo killer' lol! I took the opportunity to do a quick wee Behind a rock whilst everyone recovered.

We eventually got to the Sun Gate which is where you can see Machu Picchu and begin the descent.

It was a feeling of reload and triumph! As Gregor, Garth and I were first there do managed to get a few photos before a huge cloud moved over so none of the rest of our group managed to get a photo.

We then descended as a group and I held up the back with Brian and Grant. We were starting to pass tourists coming from Machu Picchu climbing up to see the view from the Sun Gate.

We arrived at Machu Picchu to the famous view point But it was cloudy lol!! We tried to get a few group photos but failed every time lol!

Before we started the 2hr tour we went to a REAL TOILET and walked down FLAT STEPS!!!! :O

Ruben then fessed up about the yellow tape on the last section of the trail and told me that they often have fatalities on that stretch and that an American girl fell off where the yellow tape was in January and rolled the whole way down into the river....so horrible. I was so glad I didn't know that before!!! Ruben also told me how his best friend had died last year in a land slide on the Inca Trail during the rainy season. And he told me how his 2 little girls worry about him when he treks during the rainy season.

Ruben showed us around Machu Picchu showing us all the various temples. We were so tired. At 10.30 everyone else had paid 130 soles to climb up Wayna Picchu which was VERY HIGH!! Garth and I were beyond glad that we didn't pay to climb it as it may have killed us! We bid farewell and good luck to the rest of our group and made our way back up to the famous view point as the weather had cleared.

Walking up was hard, but worth it. We sat for half an hour just soaking up Tge view. We took some silly photos and made our way down to the bus at midday to Aguas Calientes. We had a coke by the train station and got some post cards before meeting Ruben at the restaurant Paccha mumma!

We were there 1.5 hrs before the rest of the group so used the free wifi to catch up on reality!

The group finally joined us and we ate. A few of us enjoyed an alcoholic beverage as a reward! Grant fell asleep on the sofa and Gregor and a few others fell into hysterical fits of laughter due to the fatigue!

We then got the train back to Ollantaytambo which was rather posh (cost $65) and quite fun as it had a glass roof and we got a complementary drink. I felt dizzy with awe looking up at the mountains I'd walked.

The train journey was 1.5 hours back to our starting point (crazy) where we got a mini bus back to Cuzco where I slept.

I don't think I need to say how quickly we fell asleep that night.