Last night we had a wonderful long sleep, which we obviously needed. Some months ago, unaware that our train tickets to Machu Picchu included entry to the citadel for the day of our arrival, we had bought another set of tickets that entitled us to go in today. We thought we shouldn’t waste them so we got organised, went downstairs for breakfast (which in Keith’s case consisted of tea and toast only), and then headed out to join the queue to enter the citadel.

While waiting to go through the gates to the city, we met a lovely local guide named Ronald. Ronald looked at our tickets and was quite excited to discover that we had booked entry at 10am to the climb up Huanyu Picchu. This trek is limited to only 400 people per day and we had booked it because it looked interesting and it was the shorter of the add-on treks available. What we didn’t know was that it was also the most difficult!

We set off with Ronald for the entrance to the Huayna Picchu climb, where we had to sign in and show our passports before heading off on what turned out to be a very gruelling trek. The trail was steep and narrow and it took us nearly an hour and a half to make it to the top. The last section is called the Stairs of Death, which was not very encouraging! Once we reached the top, we took in an incredible view of the citadel and were very glad we had made the effort. Just as we reached the top, rain started to fall and all donned our rain jackets. The rain made the trek down a little more treacherous but we found getting down to be much easier than getting up. There was one section where we had to navigate a small tunnel that was incredibly tight But the rest of the journey down was uneventful. We stopped a lot on the way up and the way down to take plenty of photos.

On the hike up Huayna Picchu.
On the hike up Huayna Picchu.
Andrea with our guide, Ronald.
Andrea with our guide, Ronald.
The incredible view back to the citadel.
The incredible view back to the citadel.
Keith with our guide, Ronald.
Keith with our guide, Ronald.
Andrea and Keith, near the top of Huayna Picchu, with the citadel in the background.
Andrea and Keith, near the top of Huayna Picchu, with the citadel in the background.
We made it!
We made it!
On the descent, with the citadel in the background.
On the descent, with the citadel in the background.
A great view of the citadel and the one winding road in and out.
A great view of the citadel and the one winding road in and out.
Andrea with our guide, Ronald.
Andrea with our guide, Ronald.
Getting down Huayna Picchu.
Getting down Huayna Picchu.

When we got back into the citadel, we stopped for a few more photos.

With some of the locals.
With some of the locals.
And the other locals!
And the other locals!

It was mid-afternoon by the time we got back to the hotel and said goodbye to our guide, Ronald. We opted for a shower to freshen up before heading downstairs for afternoon tea before the bus ride back down the hill to the train station. We chatted with our new friends, Simon and Mags, all the way down the mountain on the bus.

We relaxed briefly in the train station lounge before boarding the train for the trip back to Poroy. We had dinner on the train and socialised pretty much the whole way back so the journey seemed to go very quickly. We got back into Poroy at about 9:15pm, where our driver was waiting for us. We swapped contact details with Simon and Mags and have agreed to meet up with them in Lima on Tuesday (and in London when we are there in January).

Our train, ready to depart for Cusco.
Our train, ready to depart for Cusco.

Our driver got us back to the hotel by about 9:45 pm and we went straight to our room, exhausted from the day’s activities.