Inca Trail - Day 4, Machu Picchu!

We were woken up at 4:30 am this morning, had a quick breakfast, and raced to stand in line (in the dark!) at the checkpoint at 5 am letting us onto the final two hours of trail. Four of us were in the bathroom when our guide lead the other four to the checkpoint to save a spot in the line for us, and another guide got pretty mad at him when he led us to where the rest of our group was waiting for us! His group ended up RUNNING to Machu Picchu so they passed us pretty quickly. At 5:30 am the checkpoint opened and the "race" to the Sun Gate began.

The hike took us across a steep mountainside through lush, humid cloud-forest of giant ferns and broad-leaf vegetation. Suddenly we crossed the stone threshold of Intipunku (Sun Gate) and encountered an unforgettable sweep of natural beauty and human artistry – a backdrop of twisting gorge and forested peaks framing the magical city of Machu Picchu. It was amazing to see it - I think it helped that we had put so much effort into getting there!

The Sun Gate was crowded with people waiting for the sun rise. It was pretty misty though, so it was hard to get pictures without some clouds in the way. We stood there for a few minutes, then took off down the trail again. We completed the final leg down the royal flagstone walkway, past outlying shrines and buildings and into the heart of Machu Picchu, where we spent the rest of the morning exploring Machu Picchu. It was a much different atmosphere once we got through the gate, probably because we started meeting people coming up the trail towards us ... people who didn't have four days of dirt, sweat, and bug spray on them! A few times I heard their guides tell them that we (the dirty people carrying backpacks and using hiking poles) had just hiked for the last four days - most of them looked suitably impressed.

V met us as we entered the city (K, L and H were already on a tour of the site) and took our pictures with Machu Picchu in the background - the picture every tourist takes. I was amazed that that picture is actually taken in the middle of the ruins! I always thought that they were standing on an over look and the whole site was behind them.

After exiting the city, getting a final stamp in our passports, and giving our poles to V to deal with (they aren't allowed on the site), we rejoined our guide for a tour of the city. It was interesting to learn about how they constructed the buildings (splitting stones, attaching grass roofs, etc.) and see all the temples and alters to the various gods. After two hours with him, we took off on our own to meander through the area a bit more.

C, D and I were pretty exhausted (day 4 is the hardest!), so soon took a bus down to Agua Calientes. There wasn't much to see in the town, so we found a coffee shop, relaxed, and checked our emails. We were supposed to meet the rest of the group at 1 pm for lunch, but by 1:30, no one had shown up! We finally called V and figured out that they were just getting on the bus heading down from Machu Picchu. Lunch was in a chifa (Chinese restaurant), then it was to a different restaurant to collect our duffels and onto the train back to Ollantaytambo. The train ride was impressive, rolling through the Urubamba valley with great views of the rapids. We were met in Ollantaytambo by our bus driver who brought us back to our hotel where we could finally scrub off some of the grime - those showers always feel fantastic!