Day 3 - Machu Picchu - June 12th

Today was a fantastic day but so tiring! We left our hotel at 5:00 am. And picked up a train in Ollantaytambo to Machu Picchu. The train ride was about 1 hour 45 minutes. The little town of Machu Picchu is about 7 blocks square and at the base of the mountain. From there, we took another bus ride 30 minutes to the top. We arrived at the Machu Picchu sanctuary around 8:30 am. After we go through the entrance into the sanctuary, we hike up stone steps for about 15 minutes and we come out at the overlook of the ruins. It was spectacular and the weather was perfect. We stayed with our group and tour guide for about an hour, as we walked around the top area and wound our way down into the city. We got frustrated though, because they were moving so slowly. Our guide was wonderful, but loved to talk and we would stand in one place for 20 minutes while she talked. There is so much to see and explore and we had limited time, so we decided to leave the group and go on our own. We explored the whole city, and found another trail that leads to a strenuous and dangerous hike up the mountain peak where more ruins are located. You need a special ticket to go there, and a guide. Josh really wanted to do that but it was not possible for us to do today. He says he plans to return in the future someday, and hike up the Inca trail and go on that extra hike. I hope he does. After we finished the main trails through the city, we left the park to use the restrooms and eat a light lunch. We had to leave the park because there are no bathrooms inside and no food is allowed. We still had 3 hours of free time, so we did the other 2 hikes located in the park. The first one is a hike to the sun gate. It was a long and steep trail to the top of a nearby peak where there is a stone building called the sun gate. They said on the solstice, the sun would shine through the gate into the sun temple in the city. That hike was exhausting and steep with so many uneven stone stops and in the full sun so it was super-hot. We were both covered in sweat when we got to the top. It was a beautiful view of the ruins and surrounding peaks. I was happy with myself for making it to the top. It was about 1 hour 45 minutes round trip hike. We then to a trail to the Inca Bridge. It is a narrow, dangerous trail along the cliff walls, often with no side rails. Fortunately it was on the side of the mountain where there was full shade and it was also a very gorgeous hike. It also wasn’t a very steep climb. That was a really fun trail. We had to sign our names in a book with the time we started on the trail, in case we didn’t make it back out. As we came back to the overlook of the ruined city, there were a couple llamas eating grass. We had come across several throughout the day, but Josh really wanted to get a selfie with a llama, and had had no success so far. So I pulled out a granola bar and immediately the llama perked up and let Josh and I get our pictures with him for the price of a granola bar. Josh wanted to head back into the ruined city to find a few building we had missed before we took the bus back to the small town and the restaurant where we would be meeting our group for dinner. We did that and were grateful we did. We enjoyed visiting the city one more time before we had to leave. Dinner was at a recommended restaurant that we met up with a few others from our group. It was a 3 course meal, and we ate it all. I had mango chicken and Josh and ginger chicken for our main course. We then walked slowly through the shops on our way back to the train station. Our train ride a little different on the way back. They served us pizza and a guy dressed in a Puma mask made me dance with him.