Machu Picchu

The day had finally arrived to visit Machu Picchu. We woke up at 4 a.m., left the hostel in Aguas Calientes at 4:20 a.m., and arrived at the gates just before 5 a.m.

At the gates before sunrise

We met up with a few more friends from the trek while we waited for the gates to open. As you can see, it was raining so I had to sport my rain jacket over our backpack. No one could pull off that humpback better than me!

Walking on up

After the gates, we climbed step after step for about an hour to get to the entrance. My legs were suffering from the past four days, but I pushed through. We had to be careful though as the steps were a bit slippery. 

Exhausted

Machu Picchu at 6 a.m.

Unfortunately, lots of fog was present when we first spotted the iconic ruins. 

Obligatory Machu Picchu pic

It slowly burned off over the day and was clear when we left seven hours later.

Perfectly manicured 

Much larger than I expected

A bunny squirrel?

There are different types of walls throughout the site, but this one was by far the most impressive. The stones are perfectly fitted and very smooth. This type of architecture was most likely reserved for the highest class. 

Look at that construction

Leo showing us the Inca cross

Llamas! 

Phill cannot get enough of these guys

While it was hard to peel Phill away from the llamas, we needed to get to Machu Picchu Mountain before 11 a.m. Then you have to be out by 2 p.m. and we wanted to have time to enjoy the view from the top. Considering it would take 1.5 hours to reach the peak, we needed to get moving. While I was very sore, going up was not as difficult as I thought it would be. The hardest part for me was that at times the steps were narrow, steep and right on the edge of the cliff!

30 more minutes until we reached the entrance to the mountain

More steps

View a quarter of the way up

We were walking along that river just yesterday!

That lady ahead of me is showing me up

It felt like the steps would never end

Finally!

What a view

At the top with our new friend Katie

The fog sure did roll in quick

After enjoying the view from the very top, and chowing down on Inca Corn and Mike & Ikes, we made our way down relatively quickly, in about 45 minutes. Once back to Machu Picchu, the weather had finally cleared up, but the crowds were everywhere!

It was time to say goodbye