So you´ve kinda had the gen on how we arrived at Machu Picchu from Sarah and I´m doing the while we were there bits. So we arrive at Aguas Caliente via train and head into town bypassing the market very quickly and again saying our catchphrase ´no gracias´. We buy our bus tickets at the bottom of the hill ($14 each return) and get on the first bus. I am amazed by this as we usually have a mare trying to sort stuff and this was a breeze. Sarah takes the window seat (big mistake) and the driver sets off on the 20 minute almost vertical climb up the hill. As we made our way up the hill the mountains become apparent after about 5 mins as initially there was a lot of hanging mist and the sheer cliff faces are a sight to behold. The road is more than a little shoddy and passing other buses is a little tight as its a drop and your dead moment after about 5 mins up the hill. There is a real air of excitement and expectation on the bus which becomes more pronounced as the amazing sight of Wana Picchu comes into sight and the other 3 mountains also. There is also a taster view of the ruins which sarah missed the shot of after desperately trying to get it from the bus...no matter we soon saw a lot more.

We arrive at the top and find a guide very quickly after paying our entry dues. We hire the guide for $35 for 3 hours and she seems very nice..(ill call her doris as I can´t remember her name now). We pay our entry fee ($60 each) and then Doris kicks us off with a trek to the top of the ruins so that we can get a taste of the views. The place is amazing. Doris gives us all the info on Mr Bingham finding the place in the 1900´s after a sheep farmer had found it before him and he had destroyed all knowledge of this from the site (touchy). Anyway, the site is huge and was created for holy men and women and the head Inca´s. They reckon that 800 people would have lived on the sight. We were shown living quarters, temples, methods of communication which is all very inpressive considering the civilisation existed only until the 1600´s. The main things that impress me are the stunning views from Machu Piccu and their methods of construction as they seem to have shaped a lot of the existing rock on site and have used parts of the mountain as keystones for areas of significance such as temples, areas for sacrifice and some more regal living areas. These guys were bloddy clever and they are still not sure what wiped them out. Anyway, Doris continues to show us around the sight and we huff and puff as the sight is on mountain after all. She informs us that we can walk to the sun gate and tht it is possible to hike to Wana Picchu if we want...we dont but thank her politely. She goes on her way nd we have some lunch. You get ripped off massively so take your own food if you go anybody. We then hve another wonder around the sight and head back to the bus. I feellike I have skirted this a little, but please take a look at the photos...I was mostly just looking at the view if the mountains, valleys and ruins opened mouthed as they are so amazing (and it was overcast). We go back to Aguas Calientes and hve a mooch around, feed some pigeons and get on the train.

Up until this point, perurail had been fantastic. In Backpacker class however, it is a bit like everyman for himself. Sarah and I had to sit apart for most of the journey and I got a very camp Argentinian swimmer as my buddy for 4 hours...brill.

All in all Machu Picchu is awesome...and I am not an American. Please everybody...go there.