Machu Picchu

After many years of talking about getting to Machu Picchu, but then traveling elsewhere, I am finally doing it, ticking off one of my top bucket list items.
Unfortunately  (or perhaps fortunately due to my ambivalence towards camping) I decided not take take the risk of a multi day walk due to my tendonitis in my knee. Both the Inca and Sankantay trails look amazing, but I'd rather be the guy that takes the train, then the guy who has to sit on the donkey if the knee struggles.
So that's what I did, I trained from Ollantaytambo, a town that is almost 2 hours from Cuzco (or a 10 sole ride). The train is very relaxing, and shows of a lot of beautiful scenary, as well as parts of the Inca trail. The train ends in Agua Caliente, a town that exists purely to accommodate the tourists to Machu Picchu. It is a town of hotels, markets, restaurants and souvenirs. It is also where I would catch the bus to Machu Picchu the next morning.
I get up very early the next morning to see if I can get to the top to watch the sun rise. But that plan backfired when I saw the line to get on the buses. A nearby tour guide mentioned to his people that the line was longer than anything he had seen before. The reason for this was because it is free to Peruvians on a Sunday (or this particular Sunday, and quotas don't apply to locals) and it was the weekend after the Inti Raymi festival, so many more people were in the Cuzco district.
I got to the top by 8 and my first impressions were how well intact the site is. The Spanish hadn't managed to destroy it as the Quechua people had hidden many parts of the Inca trail, making the place inaccessible and therefore 'undiscovered' for centuries.
I headed straight to the sun gate, the entry into Machu Picchu from the Inca trail. Unfortunately, I was unable to experience the same wow factor the walkers would have got when they came through the gate, as I had already seen the main site on my way up to the gate. Once I spent a few minutes at the gate, I headed to Mõntana or Machu Picchu Mountain. This was a very steep climb, that was 1600m higher then the starting point. Probably one of the more difficult climbs I have done due to the altitude and my lower than usual fitness levels. It took me an hour, which was good time, and was rewarded with 5 minutes of good views until the view was clouded over.
After the mountain, I felt exhausted, but there was still so much to see. So I headed to the Inca bridge, which was the last part of an Inca trail before nature took over the path. Good job too. The path that existed after the bridge looked perilous! Lastly I finally headed into the main area that you always see in photos. This involved visiting temples, store houses, sacred stones and walking amongst all the terraces. Spectacular! I also had to get out the way of some llama who were walking on the same path as me at a faster speed.
Although exhausted, once I left the site, the queues to the buses were again very long, so I decided to walk back to the town knowing it was downhill and only an hour. I ended up in the middle of an extended Peruvian family, so my walk was trying to keep speed with 80 year olds, women carrying babies, and fathers with kids on their shoulders. Damn those Peruvians know how to walk!
At the bottom I headed into a restaurant to eat, and 5 minutes after entering, it poured with rain for over an hour. Good timing! Finally the day ended with a train back to Cuzco where I crashed out almost immediately after 35km of walking! Was certainly a worthwhile bucket list item!