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3am start, had to sleep in what we wearing for day as quite a race between all the groups to get to checkpoint first. Had breakfast and by 3:20am we on the move, checkpoint is only 5 minutes away and we are the 1st group to arrive, now we sit and wait until 5:30am to pass through. The 2nd group arrived a couple of minutes after us. It is cold and raining.
5:30am park official arrives and our group is signed off to go in, 5 of them run for the Sun Gate. I cruised at my own pace as it was dark still and raining, path again very slippery and narrow in parts. There were 2 others and our guide a bit further back. Thought did cross my mind that if I were to slip and go over side then no-one would know until all group met at Sun Gate, definitely makes one a bit more cautious.
Arrive at Sun Gate as getting light and is complete white-out, entire valley shrouded in cloud. From here on Nat and I just meandered, taking in the views, flora and fauna, so beautiful. Arrive to Machu Picchu and again white-out. It sits at 2400m/7873ft.
Our guide tells us all to follow him and we start walking down away from Machu Picchu site....this is ridiculous, we had to leave the site and go outside to get tickets and stand in line to go back in??? We trek 42.5km through what felt like hell sometimes and had to leave so we could re-enter?? That was okay though as it started raining quite heavily, so I immediately went to toilet which was clean and I could sit on, I just sat there for a little bit because I could. Then straight to bar and bought myself 2 lattes (they had Illy coffee, it was heaven), the rest of the group straight into the beer, it was 7:30am. By 9:30am they all pretty well smashed and rain eased so we finally enter Machu Picchu.
There is still cloud and most but only made it more mystical and beautiful. And the llamas so cute, especially the baby llama. Spent until 12:30pm exploring the site. Then on a bus to go down the mountain to Aguas Calientes to have lunch, had Aji de Gallina which is chicken in a yellow pepper sauce - spicy yet little bit sweet and so delicious.
4:20pm on the train to Ollantaytambo, arrive there just after 6pm then is a bus to Cusco. Bus meant to take only 2 hours but we had to stop halfway to wait for 4 other people to join us, finally arrived Cusco 9:30pm....thank god. Remember I have not showered for last 3 nights and have been awake since 3am this morning, only have to walk 2 blocks and 200m up a hill to hotel where a hot shower and comfortable bed awaits - heaven!!
End result - Machu Picchu was beautiful, but did not compare to journey we made to get there, unforgettable and would I do it again? YES!
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