So this was the day we had been waiting for - and the main reason we had chosen this part of the world for the current trip. Our visit to the Inca City Macchu Picchu.
We arose at 5:00 to walk to the top , though a noisy neighbour (obviously happy with her roommate's performance) had interupted our sleep. I had overloaded a bit with water and snacks etc so the walk up seemed a lot harder than the day before. There was still a fog around when we first went through, but the plan had always been to spend most of the day there so we weren't too worried about that.
We got an English speaking guide who (although very expensive on our budget) was interesting and informative and added to our understanding of the theories around the usage of the various parts of the complex. After the tour we spend several hours revisiting the places and taking plenty of photo's once the fog had cleared.
Later in the afternoon we took a walk out to the "gate of the sun" which is an outpost (possibly a security lookout) from Macchu Picchu from where we got a great distance view of the whole complex and the road leading up to it. We met a group of jolly American men - probably in their early 60's who seemed to be having the time of their life laughing and smiling and joking with each other. They created a very pleasant atmosphere.
There are much better descriptions of Macchu Picchu and its history than I could write that I leave the reader to investigate at their leisure :)
Getting back to Cusco via the afternoon train seemed to take forever. A New Zealand guy behind us just wouldn't stop talking the whole way. The train had to zig zag down the mountain through a series of switch backs so the trip just went on and on.
It had a been a wonderful day though. Macchu Picchu lived up to our expectations and was as awe and wonder inspiring as its reputation, the postcards and pictures had promised. It is very full of tourists of course and very expensive, by why wouldn't it be? They seem to be really making an effort to protect it and keep it clean now and it really is a must see attraction.
