We got up at 4am and were woken up by our porters but no sodding tea! Damn, it was pitch black and freezing. We had breakfast and put our stuff in our duffle bags. Dad's torch (99p from B&Q) which was crap already started to get dimmer as the battery died. We began our descent in the dark, it was really dangerous especially with our s*** torch! It was tough-going, me and Dad were right behind Milu while "Team Ireland" struggled behind us. We reached the foot of the mountain by 6am and it was light. The land at the foot of the mountain was covered in debris due to a fatal landslide where a whole family was killed. We passed through a control and an old rickety bridge, we then walked along the railway line until we reached the town of Aguas Calientes. It was a pretty ugly place that obviously sprung up when Machu became popular to accomodate tourists etc. One porter brought all our duffle bags down from the mountain and left them in a restaurant along with the groups "sturdy girls". We then got the bus to Machu Picchu after a protracted period of finding who had the right tickets. Our bus was full of...you've guessed it "Yapanese" all smelling sweetly while we all smelled like cheesy socks! The bus had to wind it's way up to the Machu Picchu visitor centre where we had our tickets checked and our passports stamped with a Machu Picchu stamp. We walked along the path in the bright sunshine and the magnificent Machu Picchu opened out before us with the huge Winapichu mountain towering over the site. It was breathtaking, we also looked around to the Sun Gate and saw the landslide which had destroyed the Inca trail path. We walked down to a reconstructed house with a thatch roof and Milu told us the history of Machu Picchu. It's so surreal when you are walking around Machu Picchu, you have to keep pinching yourself. We visited an Inca priest's house, house of the Virgin (where virgin girls were held until they were sacrificed around the age of 18). If they lost their virginity they were strung up naked on a tree and left to be eaten by condors, pumas and birds of prey. We saw the sacrificial stone where humans, llamas etc were all murdered and left to appease the Sun God. We walked through the Inca garden which had coca plants and passion fruit. We saw the Inca clock which they used to tell the seasons of the year and time. We saw lots of familiar faces (from the other groups on the Inca trail). We saw rocks carved into the shape of the surrounding mountains where offerings were left to the Mountain gods. There were lots of nooks and crannies where mummies, kings, servants remains were found. We were looking at the Condor shrine when another tour group barged in while our guide was still mid-sentence. I don't know what came over me but I wanted to punch one of the guys from the other group as he was talking aloud while we were being given information. It's weird I felt an irrational hatred towards the other groups. All their collective smarmy faces, loud voices and self-righteous marching. Moreover I hated the sweet-smelling tourists just arrived from their 5 star hotels with huge cameras hanging from their necks. I kept thinking we've earned the right to be here; no showers and walking 44km in rain etc. Our guide left us to stroll around for 4 hours but we'd seen everything we wanted to see and taken the iconic photos. So we collectively decided to go to the natural hot springs in Aguas Calientes. We left the mainly white-haired Americans and Japanese tourists walking around taking as many pictures as there little frail hands could manage. It's really weird standing at the top of the site looking down. I have seen this view so many times in books, tv etc and now I'm here. I bet the pictures look like we've been superimposed. Machu Picchu is sinking at an incredible rate of 1cm each day and several temples are breaking up so glad we got to see it today. Milu told us the Incas had 3 rules: Don't lie, Don't steal and Don't be lazy. They certainly weren't lazy! We went to the quarry on the site where huge rocks were broken down (took 3 months for each rock) and then polished. We walked from the bus stop in Aguas Calientes to the springs. We picked up our towels etc. My dad had forgotten his swim shorts so he had to use the rental shorts at the spring. There were horrible balck flies that were everywhere near the springs. However they disappeared once you got into the hot thermal springs with all those great minerals like; calcium, magnesium and zinc. I twas amazing to finally wash after 4 days, I felt great! We soaked in the hot springs for ages and then walked down to the restaurant got our bags and had something to eat. We filled in the customer comments sheet Milu gave us. Our only complaints were the tents leaked and we would have preferred digestive biscuits etc with our tea instead of popcorn. We walked to the railway station and said goodbye to our eccentric guide, Milu. We then had to wait for 10 minutes as they're was a bit of a mix-up with the tickets. The train was nice inside, lots of leg room. However it was so slow...it took 4hrs 30 mins to reach Cusco down zig-zag railway tracks cut into the hillside. I finally got reception on my phone as we neared Cusco and I had a message from my mum to phone her. My dad phoned and it was the news we'd been dreading; my Granpa Morrison had died after battling stomach cancer for some months. He was in agony and was suffering terribly at least now he isn't suffering anymore. I knew he wasn't too good when I spke to him from NZ, his usual chirpy banter was strained. The remaining stretch of the train ride was a sombre affair. We got picked up by our tour bus and dropped at the hotel. We said farewell to the terrific "Team Ireland". We unpacked our belongings and my dad spoke to my mum about my granpa. We were starving and went to Jacks restaurant but it was full and 12 Israelis were blocking the bloody entrance so we had no idea whether there was seats for 2 etc. So we decided to go to a Cuban restaurant nearby called Cuban brothel in Spanish. It was really nice inside with pictures of Fidel Castro and of course Che Guevera. There were also lots of black marker comments inscribed on the wall from previous customers. It was quite quiet but nice ambience. We ordered creole soups, pork and "old clothes" steak and veg in a delicious sauce. We saw a comment recommeding the mojitos so I had one and wow it was terrific! I was given a marker pen from the waitress and left a message (see Album"Peru"). We were walking back to our hotel when a little streetkid starting talking to us tring to sell us...finger puppets!! He was really funny and firstly asked for "$80,000 amigo" then he asked what my name was I replied "Freddy Ljunberg" and he said his name was "Bill Gates" he then said "nice to meet you" holding his hand out. I went to shake his hand and he pulled his hand away and said the ryhming "Machu Picchu". He then went on to say he accepts: "Amex, Visa and Mastercard". We chuckled at his funny attempts to get money and then he ran off into the night when he saw other gringoes. We were both really tired and went to bed at 11.30pm