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Rain, thunder and lightning from Midnight to 6:30. That, plus the fact that out tent sloped downhill, did not lend itself to a good night's sleep!
We were suppose to have a sunrise walk to the ridge to view the highest glaciated peak in the sanctuary, Salkantay, but we missed sunrise because of the rain. However, at 6:45, we hiked up to the viewpoint with Oswaldo through the "city of tents" and the 360 degree view was phenomenal. We could see Salkantay as well as the eyebrow of the Amazon and the San Francisco range. After hiking through this very busy campground (Oswaldo estimated 80 tourists and 120 porters and cooks) we were so thankful for our private trek. The two previous nights we had only one other group for one night.
We had fried eggs and toast for breakfast and were happy for a more traditional US meal.
We had clear skies below 15,000 feet and had a very steep descent to another Inca ruin site, Inti Pata. These ruins were well restored and showed that this town was an agricultural community rather than a place used by travelers. The ruins were very impressive and we spent
a lot of time admiring them.
Almost the entire trek was through a micro climate which felt much like the Costa Rica jungles we have visited.
We were told that from our campground at Phuyu Pata Marca to Machu Picchu there are over 3000 steps down (and it sure seemed like just as many up). We continued to count the variety of orchids we saw and found 23 by the end of our hike. It seems like an impressive number but the MP Sanctuary has over 300 varieties.
We had the same 60 degree descents and climbs on sections that we encountered yesterday,
The last 1/4 mile to the Sun Gate was all uphill steps. There was much jubilation when we made it to the Sun Gate! It was quite an accomplishment and so worth the effort. The views down to Machu Picchu were unbelievable! It was a great reward for our hard work. Luckily, we had beautiful blue skies and unlimited visibility.
We walked down to MP which took about 1/2 hour. We had both visualized the Sun Gate being right at MP but it was actually several hundred feet above. We quickly walked
to some famous picture areas because it was such a gorgeous day and our official tour would not happen until tomorrow with unknown weather.
We took the packed bus down to Aguas Calientes and were dropped at the El Sanctuario Hotel. We called Bligh on Face Time to let her know we finished the Inca Trail!
Then, we SHOWERED! After three days, this was hugely important!
We had dinner at Indio Felix via a police escort! We were a little bit lost and he walked us about 3-4 blocks to the door. The dinner was so good! We had the fixed menu and everything was delicious, but the salmon trout in garlic sauce was the winner!
Back to the hotel to pack for the train back to Cusco tomorrow.
Sadly, the Inca Trail and it's 15,200 feet loss and gains was behind us.
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