Machu Picchu trek: day nine. (AKA the end.)

Viki and I woke up at 4:30am, packed, ate at the hotel and went to the bus terminal to wait in line with the hundreds of other people wanting an early shot at the ruins and/or the hike to Waynapicchu.

it's no campside porridge, but it'll do

The hike is strictly regulated; only 200 people are allowed up each day between certain hours and our hour had to be 7-8am if we were to make our train back. We were 12th and 13th in line around 6:15am and waited about 45 minutes for a guard to come, pull a key from under a rock and unlock the gate to sign us all in. (The key. Was under. A ROCK by the gate.)

reminiscent of Dog Mountain

The hike was straight up steep steps and through a few caves to the top (at 2690m).

they should call THIS "dead woman's pass"

Another beautiful sunny day - we had amazing views of Machu Picchu from the other side, and it was a really great hike overall.

the queen of all she surveys

Going down involved a set of about 100 steps no wider than my foot...

steep!

only mildly panic-inducing

... then back down the way we came with the other eighty people still going up. The ruins were packed with tourists as we made our way to the bus and we were glad we did the tour yesterday.

The train and bus rides back to Cusco went by the Rio Urubamba and I started to get very excited about the rafting trip. (We are going on another river but the rushing water will be the same!)

train aht

Enjoyed a great lunch in Ollantaytambo...

my daily dose of Andean cheese

... ran some errands in Cusco and treated ourselves to a celebration dinner with our hiking companions. This treat included a round of pisco sours (yum!) and a bottle of champagne one of our companions got from the trekking crew for her birthday.

just one drink with dinner, occiffer!

Sad this park of the journey is over, excited for things to come, can't believe I only have about a month left on this trip. Happy to be sleeping in a soft bed with the bathroom right there, instead of a long cold walk away, tonight. But I need to go camping more often - no stars tonight in the city.

Quote of the day: something profound that Viki said at dinner that neither of us can recall at the moment...