Tropical thunder

3:45 beep beep beep. Early wake up. damnit. Machu Picchu better be worth it was all I could think. We started walking without a single ray of sunshine in the sky and a light breeze blowing off the river. It was a relaxed 20min walk until the control point, which opened at 5, after the gate opened the guards checked our tickets and documents. We then proceeded to begin what was to become an extremeley gruelling climb up 1650 vertical steps! I struggled to make it up as i felt as if i was without any air in my lungs! Once ariving at the gate to machu picchu itself, we had to wait for the gates to the ruins to open. Once they opened the people started to rush in. Negro and I began to get very impatient as we had to wait about twenty minutes for the rest of the group to arrive, and the guide was nowhere to be seen. Eventually the group organized itself and just after the first rays of the sun began to caress machu picchu we entered the ruins. The guide took us around and explained some of the more intricate history to us for around one and a half hours. After which we wondered around on our own for a while. At 10 we started our hike up wayna picchu, the iconic mountain which overlooks and protects machu picchu. It was another 850 vertical ladder like steps to the top. Nedless to say that they were painful! But my god was the view worth it!we got extremely lucky and had a very clear and sunny day, smack bang in the middle of the rainy season, so i count myself as lucky! At the top of wayna, as a send off both negro and I shared a half jack of rum from my sweet little hipflask!oh how deserved it was. The descent was a like walking along a tight rope with your eyes closed. The steps were so close together that i couldnt fit my feet sideways. Quitr scary as well as harrowing on the knees. After arriving at the bottom of the 'little mountain' i headed off to one of the incan terraces and enjoyed a very argentine tradition: an amazingly peaceful siesta!when i woke up i was completely disorientated and confused as to where i was, surprisingly i did not drool on myself. To say goodbye to the mountain we missioned up to the sungate for one last good look at the place, this is where the inca trail comes into the ruins. it was an amazing experience to visit one of the wonders of the world and see how sophisticated an ancient civilization was. the fact that they built there buildings to withstand seismic movement, they built with no mortar and used a lego like system to make sure that the large stones fit together and did not collapse. absolutely inspired. P.S I managed to tear a tendon on the way down....oh how lucky I am.