Inca Trail Day 4/Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu Day!

We started with a 3am wake up call (no that’s not a typo!) for a light breakfast before commencing our walk to the checkpoint. The reason the day starts so early is to allow our porters time to pack up the camp and make it to their train. Also, it ensures that we get to the checkpoint early so we can enter as early as possible into the final ascent to the Sun Gate which overlooks Machu Picchu.

We arrived at the checkpoint around 4:15am and waited until the gates opened. We commenced a very brisk uphill walk to the Sun Gate around 5.30am. We made it to the Sun Gate just as the sun was shining on Machu Picchu and the view was incredible! Such a beautiful clear morning! So lucky!!

We then took our time taking photos and slowly making our way down to the entrance to Machu Picchu where we took some more photos. We then grabbed a light snack before entering into the historical site for the official tour through the Incan citadel and learnt a number of interesting facts about the Incan empire:
- The Incan empire originated from Lake Titicaca on the border of Bolivia
- Cusco was capital of Incan empire
- When the Spanish invaded and destroyed Incan cities, they luckily missed Machu Picchu which is why it is untouched and still remains
- The name of the mountain is actually Machu Picchu, an explorer heard that there was an ancient city on the mountain which is how the citadel gets its name.

We saw the various temples and terraces of the city as we ventured through the ruins - something cool about the construction is that the Incans did not use any mortar for their bricks; they cut to suit and dry stacked.

After the tour, we boarded a bus which took us down to our lunch spot in the town of Aguas Calientes - safe to say we were very hungry!
We relaxed for a bit before saying goodbye to our tour guides and then boarded a train back to the town of Ollantaytambo. We then hopped on our private bus which took us back to Cusco in time for dinner.

We had a quick dinner and trivia in the hostel before Daniel headed out with the group for drinks and dancing to celebrate our accomplishment over the last few days (Gab unfortunately went to bed before clubbing because she had a sinus headache after being blocked up for a bit with a cold!) Daniel had lots of fun and a late night!Read more