Machu Picchu

Hi everyone! 

We got up this morning at 4:30 to get in line for the buses to take us up the mountain to Machu Picchu. The 1st bus doesn't leave until 5:30 but the lines get long. 

I was really happy that we already had our bus tickets, but while we were waiting in line the person ahead of us commented that if we didn't have tickets for the main gate - we weren't going to get in anyway.  We didn't have those tickets.  All of my research said you didn't need those, and you could just buy them at the top.  Unfortunately, that had changed just about 2 weeks earlier.  I let Mesa hold our spot in line while I ran over to town to get the tickets.  I started to panic a little because that office didn't open until 5, and I didn't know how long it would take.  Luckily, we got it all sorted out just in time.  I got the two tickets, just as the line was moving and we made it safely onto the 3rd bus. 

The road going up to the gate was so full of twists and turns, and we kept passing people that decided to hike to the gate overnight.  It was still dark out but everyone was so awake and excited.  Since we were in one of the first few buses, there weren't that many people in line ahead of us.  Many of the people were those that had hiked the Inca Trail and they looked just exhausted.  I couldn't help but be a little jealous since I had wanted to hike the trail so badly.  

We made friends with the girl in front of us in line (Kirstine from London) and she asked if she could join us when we got inside. So we had a lot of fun and made a new friend!

This ancient Inca site is so spectacular. There's this beautiful misty fog in the morning and it almost doesn't seem real. Truly magical. We took lots of great pics, especially some fun ones of the llamas. We spent the whole day here. 

After we left Machu Picchu we hung out with Kirstine and ate before we took our trains back to Cusco.

What a wonderful day!