We woke at five so that we gave ourselves enough time to eat breakfast and beat the waves of late morning tourists. After a small breakfast we headed out back down the road we arrived on the night before. After fifteen minutes we had arrived at the steps of Machu Picchu. Of course we could of bused up to the top and saved ourselves a lot of time and calories but come on "when in Rome" people. The ascent was filled with a system of miss marched steps which seemed as ancient as the mountain they were built upon. After a hour we arrived at the top. I was half expecting the touristic scene but pay toilets come on. We hurriedly pushed through the entrance area and marched up a step incline. As we reached the top the magnificent structures began to reveal themselves. One after the other the stone palaces became a part of our view. Hugo and I didn't know which building was more amazing so we decided to head to the top of tue side opposite WP to get a birds eye view. For the majority of our tine there we dogged tourists and lounged on historical stone. We opted out of the guided tour because I think we both wanted to just be with the city and it's elements in a more serene state. We spent four hours up top and then decided we needed to hot the road, after all we had a long journey ahead of us. We descended to steps and made our way to the hostel to grab our gear. On the way back as we walked along the tracks Hugo decided he wanted to go in the water. At the next opening in the tracks we jumped down and I dunked my head while Hugo completely submerged himself. That was about it for the riff raft in the return trip everything went smooth except for one thing. The ride from Santa Maria was not done by bus this time. Instead we took a collectivo filled with the most dynamic group of public transporties I have been with yet. Just brief run down. First there were they crying women who littlerarly cries the whole way to Cuzco. Then there were the young jokers who want the bus to turn into a disco. In between Hugo and I was a small middle aged man who at first seemed real interested in establishing dominance over me in relation to space but he soon found that the shear size difference made it impossible so he went to sleep. Lastly there was the women who sat in front and talked five hours straight to the poor driver, but in hindsight she probably kept him awake. So their you have it a crazy bunch with us obviously being most unique in their eyes I'm sure.