DAY 4 OF THE INCA TRAIL (28/06/09)
As one of the most famous archaological sites in the world Machupicchu, as you can imagine, gets extremely crowded. Since we had two hours to walk from our campsite we left at 4am to try and get there before the worst of the crowds. Reassured by our guide that despite the early hour the walk was very easy we set off. After climbing probably the steepest staircase we had yet come across, we finally arrived at what is known as the Sun Gate and were greeted with our first sight of the magnificant Inca ciy of Machupicchu.
Liz, despite feeling extremely ill, putting on a brave face, glad to have finally arrived.
Looking forward to exploring he ruins.
The first bright rays of the early morning sun begin to illuminate the mountain behind Machupicchu, the almost equally iconic Waynapicchu.
The sun rose quickly, rapidly exposing the true extent of the enormous ancient city.
It was a difficult day for Liz. Whilst she was excited and fascinated by Machupicchu the yet still unknown Typhoid was really sapping her strength.
Both relieved to finally be at the end and the with the prospect of a real bed that night. We would see many tourist shops with T-shirts proclaiming "I survived the Inca Trail", hardly impressive compared to what Liz had just done. However for some reaon there seems to be a shortage of "I survived the Inca Trail with Typhoid Fever" T-shirts.
Another spectacular view of the city.
Machupicchu has over 30 water fountains, all fed by naturally occuring streams and springs, and all still functioning. The architects used split channels as above to control the flow of the water.
Known for some reason as the Windowed Temple.
A no doubt very effective defensive measure, most edges of the city are almost vertical cliffs down to the valley below. 
Sceptical as always we assumed that the pictures we had seen of llamas and Macchupicchu were faked to create a more Peruvian feel. However there turned out to be quite a lot living in and around the ruins. Having said that quite a lot of the postcards are quite obviously faked, a fact that seems even more stupid given that there actually are llamas there.
The extraordinarily talented Inca architects incorporated the natural rock of the mountain into their buildings, avoiding difficult demolition work and adding the natural strength of the bedrock to the city. 
Some parts of the city have been extensively restored, an issue on which we are in two minds. On the one hand the restored buildings allow for a much better idea of what the inhabited city might have been like, but on the other hand the modern constructions lose much of the romance associated with this massive ruined city in the clouds. 
Whilst Liz rested in the sunshine on one of the many terraces Adam climbed to the top most buildings to get one last shot of the city in the midday sun.
At last we reached the point where there was no more walking and got ready for a peaceful journey enjoying the mountain scenery in comfortable seats. 
However our dreams of a peaceful journey were soon shattered. Obviously the tourist train operators felt they had to do something extra to justify their enormous fares, something extra like having the conductor in "traditional" dress dance up and down the train like a madman with a very tatty looking toy llama. As it turned out it was great entertainment, it was absolutely hilarious although it´s doubtful if that´s what was intended. Anyway after roughly another four hours travel by train and bus we finally arrived back at our hotel and fell gratefully asleep in a comfortable bed.
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