Stairway to Heaven

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Well, the early morning wake-up to beat the rush was well worth it. We hiked in the dark for about an hour to reach the Sun Gate where we had our bird's eye view onto fog. I don't think I've ever woken up this early before to see fog, but yes fog exists at 6AM. Sarcasm aside, it really was worth it because as the sun rose, the fog dissipated and this stone fortress appeared out of nowhere. That's a great way to see Machu Picchu for the first time. It's the reason to do the 4 day trek and not the 4 hour train ride to Machu Picchu.

The one downside of doing Machu Picchu this way, however, is that once you get there, you're kinda tired. Like everyone else, I just wanted to get to town and take a bath, a shower, another bath, and another shower. And then I wanted to wash my hands ... twice. But, we held off that impulse long enough to explore a bit of the forgotten city and to climb to the moon gate (along a semi-treacherous trail) for another bird's eye view of the place.

After all that, we descended into Aguas Calientes, which is a very quaint and endearing town. Not at all like Cusco - there were no beggars. Solicitors generally left you alone after the first 'no'. We made our way to Gringo Bills (our hotel) and after resting a bit, wandered the town. Yet again, (it must be the way I dress), while standing around an empty stall, some woman asked me if it was okay to look at my wares. I said sure and I also told her that I didn't own the stall. So again, I was mistaken for peruvian. please look at my pics and tell me if I look peruvian?? Ugh ... no big deal I guess.

We spent the evening lounging in a bar/restaurant giving me a chance to reflect over the last 4 days. It was a bit sad today for the trekking group to go our separate ways. There's just something about a high altitude hike that bonds an entire group ... hmmm or is this just me getting overly emotional again *sniff* *sniff*

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