4 day trek to Machu Picchu Day 4

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Last day started at 4:30 am with breakfast at 5. No gentle awakening today. It was go go go, in the dark, in a mad rush to make it to the Sun Gate before dawn. at 5:30 we started our hike towards the sun gate in complete darkness and a light rain. Not too bad, but Xavier didn't like a flashlight so it was a difficult hike and a little muddy. We got to the sun gate about 40 minutes later, after climbing some crazy monkey steps where you actually had to get down on all fours... We reached the Gate as it dawned. Unfortunately, there was no view because it was all shrouded in fog. We started down to Machu Picchu, and made it in just a few minutes, and could barely see 40 feet beyond. the ruins themselves were shrouded, and the whole city was mystical and beautiful. As we continued to look, the fog started lifting and all of a sudden we were looking at thes huge mountains surrounding the entire site, taking up practically all of our field of vision. I liked how the entire picture was revealed little by little, like individual veils were being lifted until at about 10 we could see the entire panorama. I can't describe how gorgeous it was and the pictures don't do it justice. I could have stayed there staring for hours. But, trekkers that we were, we followed our guide for our tour, including lectures on the sun dial, the observatory, the alignment of the poles, the condor, and all the funky mysteries that make up Machu Picchu. By about 1 Xavier and Tim were pooped and Carolina and Bri were off doing their own exploring. Jeannette and I decided to climb back up on top to take some of the picture postcard shots we had seen. We recruited a French teenager ( Max) who was laying around looking bored, to take some pictures of us together, and he did a good job. We also saw Miss Portugal, with a contingent of scantily clad friends trying to climb some of the ruins while hanging on to their various fashion statements. Having explored some more, and having found out where the Llamas actually lived, (in the caretaker's house) We headed down to Aguas Calientes for a late lunch and a goodbye to our guides and porters. We then had the afternoon off to explore the town before the train left to take us back to Ollayntetambo, and then the bus to Cuzco. After an unfortunate incident involving a flat tire, we made it back to Cusco at around 11:30 pm. Our nice little hotel was waiting for us with clean beds and hot showers. Awesome!

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