Machu Picchu

We were woken up at 4:30am to get the 6am train from Ollantaytambo station up to Machu Picchu. A bus took us up the last bit - a steep winding road to the entrance. I got my passport stamped with a crap Machu Picchustamp at the tourist office and we entered the site.

The ruins were set in a stunning location on the top of a mountain and when we arrived the clouds surrounded us like a blanket, which gave the whole place a mystical (or MIST-ical) ambiance. The cloud soon cleared up in the sunshine and we could see the Inca city in its full glory. Not much information is known about Machu Picchu, as it was never found by the Spanish. Because it was so well hidden, the Spanish invaders didn't have a chance to destroy it like they did all the other Inca sites. Apart from the roofs and plaster of the buildings decaying, and the occasional looters, the city is almost intact. It's not known why the city was abandoned but it is thought that the city was home to the upper classes, maybe even the royal family, and they fled the city (which was still under construction) to go to somewhere with more protection from the Spanish. The city was eventually rediscovered in 1911, over 300 years after it was abandoned.

We were taken on a tour of the city by a very boring woman and half way through the tour we had the opportunity to leave the group and climb Huayna Picchu mountain to the north. We decided to escape the soul-destroying guide and climb the steep incline to get an aerial view of the ruins. The climb was a hard 40 mins up wonky steps and by the time we got to the top we were tired and sweaty but the view was amazing. The city had been built in the shape of a condor from this location, although it looked more like a fish, but there is still 30% of the city that is still hidden in the undergrowth, yet to be restored.

There was rain coming in from the east which created a rainbow. We took some photos and decided to head back to the tourist town to get something to eat and a few drinks. After some beers and wine with Simon (who had started his birthday celebrations already) we got the Peru Rail train back to Ollantaytambo. We had started to drift off to sleep when a strange thing occurred. Jungle noises (birds and monkeys, not drum 'n' bass) started over the speakers and a man dressed in weird traditional costume started running around the carriage. No one was sure if they had fallen asleep and started dreaming as we all looked at each other with puzzled expressions. As a stroke of luck, Simon had his face mask on him for the fancy dress night that evening and he put it on and started dancing with the strange man. As if this wasn't bizarre enough, the stewards then performed a fashion show down the aisles. It took some balls to do this in front of a train full of drunk travellers, who heckled them pretty badly. You wouldn't get this on the London Underground.

By the time we got back to Cusco it was 10:30pm and we had sobered up quite a lot. A lot of people went straight to bed but the hardcore among us got dressed up in our fancy dress and went out into town. I was 'Monkey Boy' with my monkey hat, tail, banana belt and pet monkey. Dee was 'D-Bitch', a tattooed Tank Girl type character that actually looked a lot like Christina Aguilera. The guides from the past few days came out as well and we had a really good night, which may have involved some bad breakdancing by some of the group. We got back to the hotel in time for breakfast at 7am. The next day Vernon asked who signed the breakfast register 'twat face book.com'. We couldn't remember, but I think it was Simon. Carl came back later that morning, pissing himself laughing, having walked back from a local girls house dressed as The Hulk and attracting some strange looks by the locals.