The Inca Trail Day 4 and Machu Picchu

Another wet day with low cloud which obscured the view. Down from one Inca ruin was the Gringo Steps, a long flight of stone steps cut into the side of the hill which continued around every corner seemingly endlessly.

A view across the valley slope to a particularly well preserved set of terraces.

The Sun Gate on the Inca Trail which is the start of Mahu Picchu

Some terraces just behind the Sun Gate and the low cloud which obscured a long distance view of the majority of the site at Machu Picchu. Having walked up allies and over passes, I was robbed of that great view.

Me pointing out a llama in a selfie.

More llamas grazing in the mist around Machu Picchu.

Some of the site in the swirling mist which thinned for a moment the thickened again.

The distinctive mountain behind the site shrouded in low cloud.

Some of the delicate stonework for which the Inca's were well known.

The grand terrace rising up to the Temple of the Gods at the top of the hill.

The mist thinned for long enough to get that iconic photo that everyone would recognise but not quite from the right spot as it was fenced off.

Oe part of the site that is less visited is another entrance to the site that goes in from behind across some steep and in places vertical cliff faces which crosses the Inca Bridge. The path is narrow with no railings with long drops off to one side.

The oath involves some major stonework to support it as it crosses a sheer cliff face.

And as a defence, the central section of the path where it crosses this face was just a wooden bridge that could be removed if the complex was threatened.

After visiting the site I took the local bus down the hillside to the local town which is also called Machu Picchu but has another local name which I forget now. I had an hour before I was due to catch the train to get back to Cusco so I wondered around town and came across a hairless Peruvian dog.

I found the station near the centre of town. And the railway literally passes through the centre of the town although the station itself is on the outskirts.

The train was a tourist special to take tourists back to Cusco. However I was only going as far as Ollantaybambu but I was taking the train to see the view from the train along the valley.

The train o a curve showing the diesel electric engine at the front. I had a window seat in the last carriage at the back of the train but the train was only four carriages so this was the best picture of the train from one of the carriages.

We passed the footbridge over the river which was where my trek had started fur days earlier. The train pulled into Ollantaybambu where I met the driver who was holding a sign up to take me back to Cusco. The drive was two hours but the train takes considerably longer.