Machu Picchu Trek

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We booked a 4 day tour to Machu Picchu in Cusco. On the first day we were biking from a place (to be honest we can’t remember what it was called but it was situated approximately at 4300 m above sea level) towards a village called Santa Maria where we stayed in a cosy newly opened hostel and we were apparently the very first guests! We enjoyed the ride although it was tiring and very dusty but the views on the way to Santa Maria were amazing.
The next day was one of our favourites as we got to walk the Inca trail. We loved it!
We finished up at the Santa Theresa hot springs, trying to relax and contemplate but finding it difficult as lots of people were splashing around in the water. We tried giving them evil looks but they didn´t take any notice of us...
On the third day we walked along the train tracks to Aguas Calientes, our final stop before Machu Picchu. After lunch we climbed a mountain called Putucusi where we got some great views of Machu Picchu.
In the evening when it was time to have a shower we discovered that there was in fact no agua caliente (hot water) in Aguas Calientes. Therefore we chose not to shower at all.
On the fourth day we started our final trek to Machu Picchu around 4 am. It was dark and scary, only smart ass Kiki had a torch. Monia was not doing so good as she is not much of an early bird. After what felt like an eternity we finally reached the top of the original Inca stairs and entered Machu Picchu around 6 am. Unfortunately it started to rain and it was so cold that Monia and Kiki couldn’t stand being there for too long. Such a shame but at the same time it looked pretty cool and mysterious in the mist.

Machu Picchu (old mountain in Quechua), or the "Lost City of the Incas" as it is often called has been linked to numerous myths about hidden treasures and secret cities. Francisco Pizarro´s soldiers tried to find it , but were never able to... Only the Incas knew the secret trail...
It was virtually forgotten until a guy called Hiram Bingham accidentally discovered it in 1911 when he was actually looking for another hidden Inca site. Not much is known about who lived there or why it was abandoned, but our guide said that it seems it was mainly for noble people... The guide told us a lot more and showed us lots of interesting bits, but it was hard to concentrate in the cold rain.

It was an impressive sight but we didn´t expect any less of one of the seven wonders of the world.

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Photos

Finally in Santa Maria
By the time we reached Santa Maria we were tired and our faces were covered in dust.