The last supper...tomorrow morning at 3:30am we would experience everything we had been waiting for.

Thank you Llama Path - Light Writing by Priya and I

The final night we performed a skit as a thank you to the porters about "What porters do while they wait for the hikers to arrive for camp". The skit was humorous and consisted of us acting like ninjas, playing cards, carrying each other pretending to be porters helping hikers. We basically came up with all sorts of absurd activities we thought they might partake in as they waited for us at camp. As a clincher to the skit, Priya and I practiced our light writing skills. A 30 second exposure from my camera on my gorilla pod while we wrote "Llama Path" with our headlamps. Afterwards we each said a short personal thank you to all the porters. I hope they enjoyed it.

We were the second group in line at the gate. It ws 4:30am and the gates opened at 5:30. We had been up since 3:30am and hiked with headlamps and watched the stars. Right after we went through the checkpoint we were off and sprinting...so excited. I was tired and determined. I had more gear with me too. The porters took a shortcut to the trains...their trip was finished.

We were the second group into the park. People weren't even arriving by bus yet at the main gate....not until 7am. Trains arrive at 9:30am. We did have to hike 2 hours, but still...we were the second group to set foot into this sacred land. We got pass by a couple groups as we only stopped once or twice, but we met up with them when they took a break at the Sun Gate. The goal was to get to the Sun Gate at sun rise.

My camera didn't make it out for the hardest stairs of the entire trip...Casiano referred to them as the "monkey stairs". we didn't know why until we were climbing it with our hands. It was practically 30 feet high and straight up. I'm glad I didn't fall backwards.

Above Tara and Nami blaze through the morning hike. Tara really impressed me this entire trip. It was her first time backpacking and second time camping.

Gretchen, you can do it...THE SUN GATE. A little over an hour in...we reached the Sun Gate.

The fog was thick at the Sun Gate. This view was amazing. I could smell Machu Picchu around the corner but nothing would prepare me for it. There were numerous orchids along the path. I stopped to take a picture of a couple of them. So often I see orchids in pots and never in the wild. It was quite a treat. Notice the left of this picture you can see the Inca Trail which is practically a wall against a mountain. The Incas did not cut into the hillside, they built up the path from a lower elevation or ridge. Truely amazing. There were some sections of trail on day three which appeared 20 feet high as we peered over the side and that is only because I couldn't see the bottom due to the vegetation at the base.

The first view of Machu Picchu. The fog was rising. I will never forget this moment. Awesome. We had made it (Almost).

The group on the sacrificial stone!

Casiano talks to us about everything Machu Picchu...the discovery...the people...the location. We sat back listened and admire the view. He gave us an awesome tour showing us all the cool temples, rooms and sun dial. We then had about an hour and a half to ourselves. We would bus down to Aguas Calientes to meet him for lunch.

Our bus down to Aguas Calientes breaks down. Tire almost comes off. LOL We had to change buses and avoid getting hit by other buses. All this on a dirt road. Probably about 30 switch backs. We were the only backpackers on our bus. We probably smelled really bad. 4 days..no shower.

Time to go back to Cusco...we are filthy. Chris uses a moist towelette and David inspects the train.

As we left on the Peru Rail, I caught my last glimpse of this great region....Winaywayna disappeared as the train gained speed. I remember hearing the trains while we were visiting Winaywayna the day before and dreaded when I would actually be down here looking up. We were leaving.

You can see Winaywayna...top center just below the power line. I fell asleep shortly after this photo. We woke up and it was dark. We got picked up at the Train station by Llama Path and we driven back to Cusco. Our driver was awesome. He did not hesitate to high beam and honk at everything with wheels, legs and arms. Ahh...civilization...we were back.

Thank you for reading. Please view my other gallery if you wish to see ALL of the pictures.