26th October

Part of me never wanted to come to Machu Picchu. A bigger part did. So today, we are now atop South America's most iconic historical monument.

Those superb pictures of this mountain top city, surrounded by cloud forest dropping away rapidly to the valleys below, could hardly be more stunning. Being here though, tipping down with rain, crammed with other tourists in their brightly coloured ponchos, takes the magic away somehow. I feel like I'm in an amusement park, being separated from my money at every opportunity.

We arrived yesterday in fact, a better day than today with brightly lit sunshine. We asked if they offered a ticket that was valid for two days and they replied "certainly, you can use it for three". Great we thought. We got up there within the hour and toured around for a little while, before leaving early to get back to the hotel in Aguas Calientes and avoid the worst of the crowds. Straight back up first thing in the morning we thought, before the crowds arrive by train, get the best pictures without them being peppered with primary coloured backpacks. Sounded like a great idea.

So, up the mountain at six this morning. Raining and completely shrouded in cloud wasn't the best start to the day though. But even worse, on reaching the entry point, we got turned away. Apparently, our tickets that were valid for three days meant in fact that they were valid to be used just once, up to three days from when we bought them. Supremely useful I thought. Getting into this place isn't cheap either. It's $28 to get the bus up here from the village that we stayed at (only 15 minutes away by bus, but a very long climb up on foot) and then another $80 to get into Machu Picchu itself. We'd already done this yesterday and didn't really want to get fleeced again.

So we waited outside for a while, hoping that if we did indeed stump up the money again that we would at least be able to take pictures of more than just clouds. Clouds I can photograph from outside. About an hour later, they cleared. We did our bit for the Peruvian economy and paid to enter again. I can't help feeling this place must be a major part of their GDP.

Machu Picchu is a great place though and worth paying for, but it really is spoilt by the number of people here. Being here on our own, I would imagine, would be a much more fulfilling experience. As it is, you just wish that all these tourists, most of which are so old they can barely get around, would bugger off to Miami or something and leave you alone.

Since Arequipa, the density of "tourists" versus "travellers" has progressively increased, beforehand you'd have been hard pressed to find any at all. In general, "travellers" seem to think that they are somehow above "tourists" when it comes to appreciating the country they are visiting. It's a rediculous notion though, we're all here for the same reason and we all paid our money. You feel like you somehow want to understand this place and be at one with it, and that people here merely on vacation and ticking boxes are somehow less deserving than a "proper" traveller like you taking several weeks to explore the country. At least that's what you are thinking. A silly idea.

In the end though, I am glad that I came, but not for the city itself. The mysteries and the explanations of the city are best left to TV where you can enjoy them from the comfort of your own home. No, the reason I'm glad is just for the stunning setting of this place. How on earth the Inkas built a city up here in the clouds I will never know. And to appreciate how hard that might have been, you do need to be here, to see the terrain for yourself and just how big those rocks are that they had to transport up here. It leaves you dumbfounded.

The clouds that initially disappointed us this morning also added something to the place that would otherwise have been missing. Seeing them swirling around on the air currents through the mountains was a first for me. Pictures can't capture this movement, but it definitely added some energy to being here today. Once we could see past them to Machu Picchu itself, they provided an amazing backdrop to the entire scene.

The eighth wonder of the world then? Very probably.

Looking forward to less touristy locations? Most definitely.

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Part of trip: South America 2009 - Ecuador, Peru & Bolivia

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