Machu Picchu - a dream come true

Wake up call was at 3 am! After that, we headed to the queue for the bus! There were already about 60 people ahead of us (the first bus left at 5:30), but we still got it very well, because over time the queue exploded! It now stretched over 500m easily.

At 5:30 sharp (we're not used to that here in South America) the first buses headed towards Machu Picchu! We were lucky to have lined up so early and found a place in the first convoy! Despite our tiredness and full of joy, we reached the entrance around 6:00 in the dawn. Full of adrenaline, passing by the ticket counters, we were among the first 100 people who were allowed to visit this wonderful Inca site. We quickly took some photos (without all the annoying tourists in the background ;))!

Then we went back to the entrance where our guide 'Rebecca' was waiting for us! Machu Picchu (actually the mountain at the foot of the Inca site is called that, the original name was never found out) is allowed for 2500 visitors per day, who are divided into a morning and an afternoon group. And now you can imagine how many people lined up for the bus ;).

Machu Picchu was discovered by chance by the researcher Hiram Bingham in 1911 and there was only one family living there who knew nothing about the history of this city.

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The city is divided into several quarters (agricultural, craft and residential quarters) and housed about 600 inhabitants at that time. There were even two universities, one for women and one for men. Only the most educated Incas had the right to live here. The Inca people ruled almost the whole of South America at that time, but they had hardly anything to oppose the invasion of the Spanish conquerors, so they planned their 'escape' into the Amazon region from Machu Picchu. The mountain in the background is called Huayna Picchu, where the astronomers were located! Unfortunately, I couldn't get a ticket for the ascent.

After visiting this breathtaking and unforgettable World Heritage Site, we walked back to Santa Rosa. Then we treated ourselves to a small snack and a coffee in an incredibly beautiful and cozy Bush Lodge.

About one kilometer before Santa Rosa, the sole of my right hiking shoe came loose ... By a twist of fate, a few hundred meters further, I found a right flip-flop next to the tracks and so we continued our hike. For this two-day tour, we were only equipped with a small backpack and had only taken the bare essentials with us.

After our group (about 20 people) had to wait for an Argentine for another 45 minutes, who had greatly exaggerated the South American leisureliness, we started our journey back home with a small van. Our driver drove like a 'crazy pig', there's no other way to describe it, on mostly single-lane 'roads' over bumpy terrain along the abyss! We reached Cusco again around 9 pm!

It was a wonderful day and an unforgettable experience!