Well, today is the day! Today we got up early at 3:30 so our group could get ready, eat breakfast and catch the bus up to Machu Picchu to watch the sunrise. We had gone to bed early the night before which is why Kimberly and I opted to have a late lunch early - early dinner rather than eat with the group after the meeting at 6:30. We ended up getting to bed at 8:30 so it worked out great.
We caught the bus as soon as we could and made the 30 minute windy trek up to Machu Picchu. There was a long queue so we go in and started hiking up to get the sunrise after about 20 minutes after it already rose. Still, it was absolutely amazing. Looks like how it does in the postcards. We had time to just sit and stare at the view before meeting with our guide who would take us on a 2 hour tour.
Our tour leader was great. He was very informative about telling us about the reasons for Machu Picchu and all the important areas. It was quite a hike for all of us, still due to the altitude. We found out that there is still a fourth location that hasn't been discovered yet, with the other 3 major Incan sites in this area. There is also so much of the Incan trail that hasn't been discovered yet. It's covered over and this area is such a huge archeological area that they are still uncovering things. It's been so interesting to learn all of this. I'm looking forward when I get home and can head over to the library and check out some books on the subject.
After the tour we were able to go and hike around on our own. We did that for awhile and took lots of pictures but around noon it was pretty hot, we were hungry, tired and it was getting pretty crowded with tour groups so we left and caught the bus back down the mountain. We asked Ellen from Canada if she wanted to join us for lunch and we headed over to Indo Feliz again as the food was so amazing. I had the French onion soup again and the mango trout and finished with the best apple tart I have ever had. I wish this restaurant was closer. We met the owner and told him how much we enjoyed the food. Then we headed to meet the group so we could catch our train back to Ollantaytambo and from there catch our van to take a two hour trip back to Cusco. It was a long journey and I was feeling a little sick but we got back to our hotel. We got settled and then we were out for the night.
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