Day 7 " Made It"
The third night was much like the last, cold and very damp. The weather was really putting a dampener on the thought of arriving at Machu Picchu and watching the sun come up over that majestic place with perfect weather. We had all decided the night before that regardless what the weather was like we would to be up early and on the trail as soon as they would let us. There was a restriction that no one could commence any earlier than 5:30 am due mainly because it was still dark and knowing that most people would try to walk the trail in the dark just so they could be there as the first rays of light shone
. As you can imagine that would be quite dangerous due to the sheer drop. We awoke early to our last breakfast and then proceeded to get in line. The gods were with us the sky was clear… Of course we were not the only ones with the same enthusiasm to get there ASAP. But we had a good position in the line and as soon as they let us through the gate everybody took off at probably their briskest pace on the whole trail. I know I did, I was breaking a run at one point. It was a short trail and probably one of the more horizontal stretches. There was no time to be tired, this is what we came for and let’s get there. The final trail took about 1 ½ hours and ended with a rather steep set of stairs to the final pass Intipunku (Sun Gate) I knew that as soon as I reached there that Machu Picchu would be revealed to me . I was excited and stopped for a second to take a picture trying ceremoniously to record this moment as much as possible, I was steps away from my first look. I stepped up to the gate and there it was in the distance, Machu Picchu in all it’s glory a fantastic sight. Cameras were going off everywhere as we all wanted to record the moment. Everything we had all endured for the past 3 days was SO worth it and that we all had earned the right to be there. We traveled to Machu Picchu the same way an Incan would have hundreds of years ago, on foot through the hot sun, rain, cold nights…After pausing for a while we set off on the final leg, Machu Picchu was still another hour away. It was a short walk and pretty soon the image of the city as we neared became bigger and bigger until it was life like as we walked up to the edge. Another round of we made it photos and then it was off to the main gate. Our guide took us the final step giving us a short tour of the ruins. It was truly a magnificent sight and was as majestic as I anticipated it to be. After our tour we were let off to wander the ruins ourselves. The city was built on the top of a mountain with sheer drops down to the valley floor. It was for the most part literally on the edge. The view was amazing, can you imagine living there back then and walking up every morning to a view like that. I stood there and wondered if some had stood on the same spot all those eons ago and looked at the same view as me and appreciated how majestic it all really was. Did they stand there ever and say “wow I am lucky to be here” If they thought at all they must have. Elsa and I wandered around the sights taking pictures and even sat down on the grass for a while. To get to Machu Picchu by train you take a 4 hour ride, so by about 11:30am the first train of tourists was arriving, and by 12 noon the place was crawling with them. We were tourists also but damm we earned the right to be here show us some respect...LOL I kind of did feel like that and also felt there was no way they could appreciate what they were seeing like we could. So shortly after that with so many people finally crawling all over the place we decided it was time to leave and go down to train stop. A small town with a little character I suppose but it was mainly a town in support of the ummm ruin up above them. We had some lunch and walked around the markets until it was time to catch the train back. A pleasant train ride but did it ever travel slow no wonder it took so long. It was a long ride back for sure and it was dark when we arrived. We were picked up at the station and delivered back to our accommodation. They literally picked us up from our hotel the first morning and delivered up right back where they got us, a great tour company everything went so smoothly. You can imagine getting back to the room it was a long hot shower and a sleep on a real bed…Felt SOOO good… It was a day I will never forget.
PLEASE SEE PHOTO ALBUM BELOW
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