Day 18 - Tour of Machu Pitchu

Today we got up extremely early yet again so that we could be on an early bus up to the Machu Picchu site. The bus is about a 20 minute journey up a very windy road that goes up the side of one of the mountains. The ride was a bit exciting as the bus drivers didn't quite seem to know when the other buses where coming in the opposite direction and it was a bit close to fit two at the same time.



We had to wait around at the entry gate for a while so that we could get our tickets when rest of our group that where walking came in. Whilst sat around we made a new friend in the form of one of the local stray dogs who took a liking to us and followed us around.



When the walkers from the group made it though they all looked very shattered and in need of rest. We found out that they had all been ill during the tip and that it was a very tough 4 days. (think we chose the better way of getting up there).




We then went up to the ruins as a group and had a guided tour of the site. The tour was very interesting especially meeting the local resident lama's! The views from this site are spectacular. The mountain top where the Inca town is situated is lower then the surrounding jungle covered mountain ridges, giving a panoramic view well worth the trip.





During the afternoon we traveled back to Cuzco via train and bus ready for another reasonably early start in the morning to get back to normal altitude in Lima.

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