Day 48: Machu Picchu

The final day of our four-day trek to Machu Picchu involved a 4am start, a walk by torchlight along pitch-black dirt roads, and a climb up 1400 steps to get to the ancient Inca site at dawn. It was cloudy and misty and very atmospheric (pic): much as it was when the local Incas abandoned their sacred hilltop town nearly 500 years ago, to prevent it being found by the invading Spanish. Well, much the same, apart from coachloads of tourists all taking selfies and talking over their guides. Perhaps it's ended up being invaded after all.


The early start isn't just to beat the crowds (even more arrive at 10ish, the daytrippers from Cuzco). It's also to see the sunrise over the dramatic sweep of the old town and its surrounding mountains. As it turned out we had a fine view of some clouds instead.


The site itself is quite astounding – photos don't do justice to the sheer majesty of the setting – and it takes hours to explore. It's a whole city (pic), complete with temples and farms and houses. Not, though, toilets. To go to the toilet involves walking half a mile back to the entrance and going outside, then queueing for half an hour to get back in. That's much more of a challenge than the hour-long steep morning climb to get here...


...or indeed the even steeper 90-minute climb up Machu Picchu mountain itself, which overlooks the abandoned city and offers awesome views of the surrounding mountains (pic). I kept stopping pretending to take pictures. In fact I was getting my breath back.


I did make it to the top, though (pic). It's 3082m up here: 1200m of climb since the start of the day. That toilet entrance is a very long way away, and it was a hot day so I'd been swigging lots of water on the way up, but fortunately there are plenty of tree-lined places to admire the view from.


The panoramic views from the top were fantastic (pic) and there was a sociable atmosphere, with everyone who'd made it up in a jubilant mood. From here it was 1200m of thigh-trembling, steep-stepped descent back to Machu Picchu and Aguas Calientes for our train and bus back to Cuzco. It reminded me of why I like cycling: you can freewheel down the downhills... but today was the fine climax of a wonderful four days, a real trip to remember.