The following morning we had another 4:30am start so that we could get to the top of Machu Picchu before sunrise. Unfortunately our guide insisted on coming with us despite the fact it said on our itinerary that we would have a free day to roam Machu Picchu. The early morning was very cloudy and it seemed weird to be sitting above them waiting for them to clear. By the time the clouds began to fade the sun had already been up for a couple of hours and as the clouds parted it started to give the place an eerie atmosphere.

We waited until about 7am to get some decent shots from where we had been waiting, but we gave up and let our tour guide finish her tour which only lasted until 9:30am anyway. We didn’t really see much new this day, but we did see a pair of Condors circling the ruins and we managed to get some photos we didn’t get the day before. We also saw a species know as a Northern Viscacha.

Back down in Aguas Calientes we still had a bit of extra time to waste so we wandered around to see what the town had to offer and found a Plaza de Armas with a couple of statues to take pictures of before returning to the Hanaqpacha Inn for a quick meal. Whilst waiting around in the hotel to pass time before our train back to Cusco we got talking to some Australians who had been touring South America and were working their way up. They’d been evacuated from Chile into Peru after the volcano erupted.

Again, the train journey was long and came with a light meal. This time we also had some short entertainment in the form of a fashion show where people would get the opportunity to buy traditional Peruvian dress afterwards. It didn’t really interest me, and the past few days had been very long so I took a short nap to pass the time.

Eventually we made it back to the Samay Hotel in Cusco, where we’d be staying for the next few nights.