Inca Trail to Machu Piccu - yes I finally did it :) !

We approached Macchu Piccu very early the morning of Friday, November 13th (!) in the rain. It was 4 days and ~40 kilometers since we started, and the giddy glee among us trekkers gazing down upon it from the Sun Gate made it feel like a late afternoon happy hour session - not 6:25 am. We had gathered at the Wiñay Wayna gaurd post before sunrise, a posse of wet ponchos and cyclopes headlamps awaiting permission to begin the much anticipated final 6k leg of the trail. Authorization forms were shown and we were waved through and all of a sudden Machu Piccu was just another 2 hours away!!! Some trekkers (specifically, a group of rakish 20-something Aussie boys who had ¨shadowed¨us on the trail for the past 3 days sporting striped knee socks and 70s style running shorts) ran past us on the windy, cliff hugging path. They, like a few others, were trying to get to Wayna Picchu, at the back of the ruins to get a slightly different (perhaps, better?) view. But John and I and our trusty guide ¨high five¨Jhossi (who really did like to high five us approxiamately 5 times/day in an apparent effort to keep our spirits high) were happy with the steady approach we had planned...

And there it was. We were lucky that morning. The huge puffy white clouds were still low and the air misty from the rain which had, by then, tapered off to a light drizzle. But visibility was good. Just the day before, the trail had been one big cloud forest with mist and fog obstructing some of the otherwise majestic views. Though all in all - as Jhossi kept reminding us - we had been very lucky with the weather on the trail, starting it out on a brilliantly sunny day and encountering only occassional clouds and rain throughout. The temperature had also been appropriately cool for the notoriously tough Day 2, which had included a 3 hour ascent to Warmiwañusca (aka ¨Dead Woman´s Pass¨- ha) at 4318 meters above sea level.
Standing there at the Sun Gate, lucky was how I felt. Over our 4 days on the Inca Trail, we had seen the landscape change from beautiful cacti-filled desert running along the Rió Urubamba to crazy dense jungle forests against a backdrop of snow capped mountains. We had also visited several other smaller Inca ruins, seen a few green lakes, many llamas and cows, and at one point too, in the yard of one small house, one very funny black pig. And it would be impossible to talk about how lucky I felt on our amazing journey without also mentioning the small fleet of porters that accompanied us on the trail at incomprehensible speeds carrying about 25 kilos each of gear and food on their backs every single day so that by the time John, Jhossi and I arrived at our designated lunch- or camp-site, tents were already pitched and food was already ready. I appreciated them with such gratitude and awe every time...
And after 4 days on the Inca Trail it was gratifying to know that we had arrived at last. At that hour, it was still just us trekkers and the mood was celebratory with individuals, and couples, and groups of friends striking a pose on of the well positioned rocks for their requisite photo with Machu Piccu in the background. The site itself was still about another hour away on the trail past the Sun Gate, and by the time we arrived there the sun was shining, and the tourists were beginning to arrive on buses from the nearby town of Aguas Caliente, where they had stayed overnight. We spent the next few hours roaming the ancient ¨lost city¨of Machu Piccu itself. Jhossi gave us a nice tour through the assorted beautiful ceremonial baths, fountains, towers and ceremonial rocks that made up the Inca ruins. And soon we were done and on a train back to Ollaytantambo and then a taxi through the Urubamba Valley back to Cusco. We were at our hostel by 7 pm where we (greatly) enjoyed hot showers before going out on the town with a few other people we had met on the Inca Trail who were also staying nearby. It was a great end to an amazing week.