3rd October 4:00 AM
The climax of the Inka trail is reached today when we get to see Machu Picchu . We had to get up very early and have breakfast by 4:30 AM so we could get to Machu Picchu before sunrise. The trail is about 2 hours long to Intipunku (the gateway to the sun) and is mostly flat so not much of steps to climb . We left the campsite around 5:10 and had to wait till 5:30 before park wardens let us cross the gate .
I walked really fast to try to make it before sunrise , stopping at times to catch my breath. The air felt good and the sky was blue , in fact the only time it rained it was yesterday for couple of hours , otherwise it was sunny all the time .
I made it to Intipunku in about 90 minutes and just before sunrise , but I was not really there yet I had to climb these last 52 very steep steps before I could claim myself that I have made it through . They were so hard to climb I had to stop a couple of times .
There were already people up there waiting for the first sun rays to break out over the mountain tops down over Machu Picchu. I walked over the edge sitting down next to my partner enjoying the marvelous views and taking photos . When everybody of my group made it up , and rested we trekked down to the ruins of Machu Pichu where we had a tour of the ruins .
12:45 PM we took the bus to Aguas Calientes where we met again with Casiano the tour leader for lunch

3:00 PM It was sad seeing everybody going separate ways, some left to Cusco others stayed in Aguas Calientes like I did but were staying in different hotels.


4:30 PM . Being all by myself again I went exploring the town which is very small, it has rail station ,an outdoor market and plenty of restaurants and small shops.

But before I returned to the hotel I decided to visit the thermal springs which was a real treat for my feet after 4 days of trekking .