Inca Trail and MachuPicchu

I began my journey to Machu Picchu at 3:30 a.m. when the taxi arrived to take me to the train station at Ollantaytambo. The taxi driver wanted an English lesson on the way to the train so that kept the conversation moving. I got on the train at 5 a.m. and met my two hiking partners and guide at km 106, the place we got off the train. We began walking the Inka Trail at about 6 a.m. It is good to get an early start before it gets too hot.

Basically we were climbing a mountain to get to the IntiPunku or Sun Gate, where we could look down into Machu Picchu. It was a difficult climb and we did it in two hours, our guide had allowed 3. We had lunch and continued to another Incan site on the way to Machu Picchu called Winaywayna where it is believed a lot of food was grown.

We continued to climb the Machu Picchu mountain, the last part had a 100 steps. We reached the IntiPunku or Sun Gate and were able to look down into Machu Picchu. I had seen pictures and it was quite amazing to be looking down at it.