Gate of the Sun (Intipuncu) Machu Picchu

This morning, once again, I woke up when it was still dark. I wanted to see the sun rise from Machu Picchu.

After a quick breakfast, I headed to the bus station to take the earliest bus I could get to go up to Machu Picchu.

The day is getting brighter and I have my finger crossed I can get up there before sun rise.

Yeah …

I wonder what it would be like to spend my Christmas Day at Machu Picchu? And how different it would be to my normal Christmas at home with the family? Well, here it is... ;-) Family Shankers (FS) Inca Style (IS) 0500 (FS) Not an hour I would normally see on Christmas Day... (IS) Woken up by my alarm after a very restless night where it sounded …

When we first started planning this world trip, hiking the inca trail to Macchu Picchu was top of the bucket list. We embarked on a three night, four day hike/camping trip across the mountains to see the sacred inca city of Macchu Picchu, and this is what happened...

Day One
We were woken early by the guy in the hostel whizzing up some …

Vom 25.-28.5.2012 sind wir den Inkatrail gegangen. Angemeldet haben wir uns hierfuer schon im Dezember, da diese 4-taegige Wanderung ziemlich populaer ist und am Tag nur eine begrenzte Anzahl von Touristen in den Nationalpark hinein duerfen.
Am 1. Tag wird man vom Hostel um 5 Uhr in der Frueh abgeholt. Naja, hier in Suedamerika nehmen sie das …

Day two the trail starts from wayllabamba at 3000 metres above sea level. We awake in balls taking up one half the tent as during the night we have both slipped down the synthetic mattress that follows the decline of the ground that the entire campground is based upon. Despite the inconvenience most of the group slept well amidst the usual snoring …

Coming to Machu Picchu felt like a pilgrimage of sorts. We'd been making our way towards it for 2 days now, and this morning, we still had a 20-minute bus ride separating us from these ancient ruins.

We walked out of our hotel just after 7 am and were relieved to see the sun peeking out from behind the mountains around us. Our prayers had …

Cuzco is the ancient capital of the Inca Empire. This was once the gold plated nexus of the vast Inca kingdom, the royal seat of one of the largest empires on earth. When the Spanish conquered Cuzco they built a huge monastery on top of the convex Inca walls of the Koricancha, the ancient Temple of the Sun.

The city still has long walls …

The morning of the day when we would leave to Machu Picchu Peublo (also called Aguas Calientes) we started with a good breakfast and then .... Jorgen felt sick'ish (would would he have to copy that?)

So as our Inca train would leave late afternoon, we decided to have a little rest and would leave around 1 pm to the busses which are heading …

... lunch and a promise of "its all down hill from here" from Marcello, our guide. The usual way into the ruins, via the gate of the sun is closed due to an avalanche which was a shame but as we know no different it wasn't going to spoil the experience only ...

... not too many tourists around; felt like we had the place to ourselves (more or less) - Eric and I hiked to Gate of the Sun, a small ruin across the valley which itself was somewhat underwhelming but offered a great alternate view of Machu Picchu - We ...

... 5.30am the gates were opened and soon we were on the off, trekking the last 6km of our journey to the 'Gate of the Sun' to view the infamous Machu Picchu! I would say that despite being knackered, 'going at your own pace' went out the window this morning ...

Got up extremely early to hike the 2 hours before arriving at Intipunku, "The Gate of the Sun," hoping to view the first sun illuminating majestic Machu Picchu below us. It is still a 20 min walk down from here to the famous view from the ...

... it was a good price for it but it was an awesome time zip-lining for almost 2 hours. Next i disided to go to Intipuncu (Gate of the Sun) it was very cool with all the sights and the very long trail called the Inca Trail it was very fun. Next i went to ...

... of the site, we hiked to the Inca Bridge and went back to some of the areas that we found especially interesting. Then the bus back down the mountain to the Inkaterra Hotel and dinner. Plan to go back tomorrow for a hike to the Gate of the Sun.   ...

... the air like smoke from an incense stick, flanked by deep gorges on both sides with a roaring river at the bottom.  Machu Picchu is unlike anything I´ve ever seen before and Ì`m so glad I had the opportunity to ...

... på Inkaleden till Machu Picchu i ösregn. Efter 4 dagars vandring och en påse cocablad var vi framme vid "the gate of the sun" där man för första gången man ser Machu Picchu. Tyvärr var dimman tjock och vi såg ...

We had planned to go back up to Machu Picchu and hike to the Gate of the Sun - but it's pouring. Disappointing, but we are staying at the beautiful Inkaterra  hotel with its own trail, birds (18 species of hummingbird), and flowers. Took a ...