So to recap - we woke up at 4am, ate breakfast and hit the trail dark and early. The goal is to get the hikers into the Park hours before any bus or train tourist arrives. Your reward for hiking is an empty park at least 2 hours to yourself and the small amount of hikers they allow on the trail on any given day. The final section of the trail into Machu Picchu is about a 2 hour breeze-of-a-hike that spits you out onto the summit of Inti Punku (the Sun Gate). It overlooks Machu Picchu from above and if timed right, a sunrise view of the ruins.
With all the excitement in the world, we summited...... to a cloud bank that covered up the "majestic views" and "breathtaking sunrise" we were promised. Shit. Our first view from the Summit. Remember that whole story about hiking for 4 days and really realy wanting to see Machu Picchu from above.....
....BUT, Have faith and the clouds may just part at thel last second like they did for us.
We got a private tour with plenty of photo ops without hoards of people. After the tour ended we still had over an hour all to ourselves to wander around before the touristas arrived by the bus-load. We spent the entire day there, had drinks before the train...and headed back to Cuzco by 9pm. What an amazing place to experience in person.
Back in Cuzco after our trek. We met our Inca Trail group out for drinks to say goodbye to some new and amazing friends.
