Machu Picchu

This was a long and exhausting day. The 4 am alarm sounded way too early! Breakfast was quick and light.

We walked to the bus stop and the line up was over a hundred people long at 5:30am. By the time we got on the bus, it was about 6:20. Our bus ride through the windy, bumpy road was about 20. minutes. The fog was still visible but you could see how majestic the mountains were.

We arrived at the top and started the tour with our guide. The view was breathtaking. You had to be extremely careful and pay attention because the walkway and steps were all stone. There were so many people there and for good reason. No wonder it’s one of The Seven Wonders of the world.

I learned so much about the Incas, how Machu Picchu was discovered and built and the different temples. You need to add this to your bucket list.

We had a couple of hours of free time after the tour. A group of us decided to go to the Sungate lookout. It was quite a hike. We took about 45 minutes to climb to the top and snap photos. I placed my water bottle down to take some pictures and thought ‘don’t forget your water bottle’. I started my trek down and realized about 15 minutes in that I left my blue weathered and well travelled Klean Kanteen at Sungate. Later on, I joked that I offered it to the Sun God. Truly I was disappointed but I can always purchase another one. It was an ongoing joke for be rest of the evening.

We had dinner and drinks to celebrate our achievements today. I had pizza. It was definitely a treat. Our guide wanted to raffle off 3 items. I teased another group member that it was mine and I would win it. We joked back and forth and when it came draw time, the gods obviously enjoyed the sacrifice and rewarded me with an alpaca hat made by the weavers we saw earlier in the week. What are the odds? I was ecstatic! Oh thank you Sun gods for keeping my head warm next winter!

We took the train back to Ollataytambo, which was very enjoyable as we joked and laughed about our travel experiences.

We then took a bus back to Cusco but we made a pit stop to The Sacred Valley Brewery. They had 12 different beers to ‘test’. I had a flight of beer with 5 samples. I am not a big drinker but it was quite good.

We arrived back at our hotel and relaxed.

Phew! What a day! It was truly a very exciting day!

P.S. if you are reading this and found my water bottle, contact me directly. Hahahahaha!Read more