The wake up knock on our tent is at 3 am :( NOT MY TIME!
I am not even really awake when we pack everything and go to breakfast. Omelette and coffee, but it is way too early and I cannot even think straight. We head down to the gate, which opens at 5:30 and are the second group to be there. I try to sleep again on the bench, leaning against the rock behind, but it is awfully cold although I brought my sleeping bag inlay to keep me warm. All through my attempts to sleep I can hear Israel and the Canadians talk and talk and talk.
At 5 it gets light out and when the gate finally opens, everybody starts running like mad. Although it is not going uphill, it is hard to keep up and I feel very rushed. There is no time to take off even a hat and put it in the backpack, let alone a sweater. This would mean to be run over by the groups coming from behind. At one point I have to stop though because I am hot and here we loose contact to the group. So Arzu and I walk with Carlos and start enjoying some of the views along the way. He also helps us with the Gringo Killer steps, the last steep part up to the sungate. When we get on top, there is nothing to see, only clouds. I take off my ski underpants and we keep running. Now things seem to have slowed down for everybody. Israel, Fiona, Mike, Arzu, Carlos and I are walking together and then in between all the clouds Carlos makes a comment: This is Machu Picchu!
And there it is... Still hard to see, but clear enough to make me stop and be amazed. Israel is trying to ruin this moment with talking, but I choose to ignore him and enjoy the moment all by myself.
3 days of walking are forgotten. This is simply amazing!
We keep walking to enjoy the view from up close before all the day tourists come, but once we get there, there are already people running around in the ruins... But it doesn't matter. We made it!
I quickly change my t-shirt to feel a little more fresh - nobody is looking :) - and we take some pictures before we head to the official entrance to eat our snacks and then re-enter for the tour Ruben will guide us through.
I am a little overwhelmed by all the people. After four days with only the group there is now a lot of stress and hectic here at the entrance. I can hardly manage to walk through the masses.
Once back inside we look for an Inka sofa (one of the terraces) :) and Ruben explains how Machu Picchu was found only 102 years ago by an American Yale professor with the help of a Peruvian farmer.
After 2h of learning more about Machu Picchu and the Inkas we have time to explore on our own. The sun is out and so before we go anywhere, we lay on a rock. Then I go up to the temple with James and Jon while Arzu watches our stuff. There are only a couple more steps, so no big deal. The view is great but when we want to go down the guard shows us to the back and we have to make a huge detour to get back to Arzu. Oh well, what are a couple of steps more after 4 days of constant walking?
We explore some more, but nothing is as cool as the view we had this morning, where you could see it all.
Walking out to go to the bathroom and have a cappuccino is painful. Our legs hurt from walking down all those steps in the past two days. But we are strong and manage those last meters :)
Sitting in the coffeeshop with a cappuccino in our hand, we realize that we did it! And we are proud, so proud of ourselves! Who would have thought after my panic attacks in the night before we started that we would sit here, all sweaty but superhappy?!
We take the bus to Aguas Calientes to meet everybody for the last lunch and also get our dufflebags. The town is a typical tourist trap. There are shops and restaurants everywhere and everybody tries to drag you in to sell you something. I buy the last postcards for the Grandmas and Arzu is looking for a t-shirt but has no luck.
We go to the restaurant and the second everybody realizes there is wifi, we are all online to tell the world that we did it :)
Carlitos is leaving early and Isi is still on the mountain, but everybody else is there for a last common lunch.
It starts pouring and we realize that it is the rainy season after all. I skype with Mum, Tulli and Lisa and can see my Mum's relief that I made it back safe and sound.
Then we loose power and it is not coming back until we have to leave for the train station to go back to Ollantaybambo.
We get out our ponchos one last time and waddle to the station, which is very well hidden behind a market you have to walk through.
We board the nice tourist train and I finally try Inka Cola, the neon yellow bubble gum soda. Well, I guess there is a reason it never made it worldwide :)
In Ollantaybambo we switch to a bus, which should be faster than the slow tourist train. On the bus we play a fun game all the way to Cusco.
One asks a question and gives an estimated number. Then everybody says higher or lower and needs to reveal the information. Example: How many pieces of Llama clothing did we buy in the group? How many languages do we speak? How many people have we kissed on this trip?
This is a fun game and we learn a lot about each other.
In Cusco it is the final Goodbye. Arzu and I give the duffle bags to Ruben and only have plastic bags now. We look funny. Arzu is wrapping her things in her poncho and so we walk through the city, get me a sandwich and make it to the hotel by 9:30. Arzu is asleep at 10, I shower, download the pics and fall asleep as well.
What an amazing experience!
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