The Inca fortress of Machu Picchu

That place is truly magical! We all might have seen in on the pictures, but when you actually stand there, trying to wrap your eyesight around this incredible place ..your breath is taken away, and then you're blown away :)) (I want to invite everybody to browse through more pictures from Machu Picchu in the "Photo Albums" section of my blog - on the right hand side)

As soon as we got off that train in Aquas Calientes, we were attacked by the hoard of hotel/hostel/restaurant owners, and since it was a low season for tourism (good for us), they were almost literally fighting to have us at their places ..so easy to bargain! :)) As we walked by the main promenade of this tiny town, we were personally invited to almost every restaurant on the way, which was offering extended Happy-hour or other discount (not to be expected during the high season). So, we bought our entries to Machu Picchu, ate, and went to relax at thermal baths, which give the city it's name, Aquas Calientes.

There are two ways to get to Machu Picchu: take a bus for $6 ($12 round trip), another way to charge a tourist more money, or walk for free; but, it's a very steep incline and the trail is practically all a "stairway," or as Jorge described it, extremely tiring; and, having only until about 4 pm, we've decided to take a bus. As soon as the bus starts to climb a very windy, and the only road in the area, mesmerizing scenery opens up to your eyes. Then, at the gate to Machu Picchu, the amazement reaches even higher levels once you can see this ancient fortress. It took us some time to walk through it and get a sense of the mystery surrounding it. Of course, climbing Waynapicchu, the sharply tall peak in the background of the city, which has structures around its top as well, also became part of our exploration. We also got pretty lucky because only 400 people can enter Waynapicchu, which closes at 1:00pm every day, and not knowing about it we found ourselves in the 4th hundred. The climb is pretty tiring and took about 45 minutes, but the view was truly rewarding. To me it seemed as a great observation post, but the archeologists are still arguing about it. The purpose of the whole city is nowhere near any certainty either.

After hanging out at the top for few minutes and fighting off all the insects that all of the sudden appeared from nowhere flying around the peak, we came down and explored Machu Picchu some more, taking notice of the Sundial, which was intact and in its original state. The Spaniards were known for destroying all of them as symbols of pagan Gods and blasphemy to the Church, which mean that they were not aware of Machu Picchu's existence. It wasn't discovered until 1911.

When we came down it was time to take the train back and find a place to sleep in Cuzco for another night.