A very comfortable night – much needed.

We were offered an optional morning tour of Machu Picchu, starting at 7 a.m. I was up for this last night, but at 4 a.m. I awoke and felt that I needed a lie-in. However, Jean persuaded me to go through with it, and I was very glad we did.

Oscar was our leader once again, with only about half our party attending.

We started with the same climb as yesterday, but this time we only had one pole each. This helped with juggling taking pictures. We also suffered a bit less with breathlessness. Oscar was very good and stopped at various points on the way to allow recovery. It was also a lot more crowded than yesterday.

Some more pics upcoming. It was magical to see Machu Picchu reveal itself slowly from the morning mist and clouds as the sun rose.

Amazing how much more one can do when one gets up early…..

Back to the hotel in plenty of time for breakfast.

Checkout wasn’t until 11 a.m., but the bus to take us back down wasn’t due until midday. I’d raided the minibar (recommended by Arthur) and so had the wherewithal to make myself a pisco tonic, which I consumed on the very nice hotel terrace whilst Jean explored the hotel garden. There are hummingbirds there….

Once back in Aguas Calientes, we were given about an hour and a half of free time. I dread this, as I have no interest in shopping whatsoever. I just sat on a wall while Jean had a mooch around the market of tat.

We rendezvoused at the advised meeting point, then boarded the Vistadome train to take us to Ollantaytambo. This was a different train to the Hiram Bingham, older and not so well appointed. We sat with a couple of gay  men, Carl and Chris, who were very good and well-travelled company.

We were “treated” to some unsolicited entertainment – some weird character in a skirt dancing up and down the carriage. To what end, I don’t know.

Then we had a “fashion show” to much noisy music. This was a hard sell of the clothes on offer. Not my bag at all.

I also paid for a rosé fizz. It was rubbish. Not impressed.

Finally got to Ollantaytambo station, which was absolutely heaving. It was around 6.30 p.m. and dark. Not without some sharp elbows, we managed to get out of there and eventually to our coach for the nearly two-hour journey back to our hotel in Cusco. I would much have preferred not to have the free time in Aguas Calientes and caught an earlier train. Hey ho…..

Finally got back to the Monasterio Hotel, very weary, knowing we had to rearrange our luggage to check in for the flight back to Lima the following morning.

We were in a different room to the one we were in the first time aeons ago. It was smaller, but the aircon worked and it had a proper shower.

No time for a meal, so we subsisted on accumulated snacks whilst we sorted out our bags. Finally climbed into bed faced with yet another early rise – the bus to take us to Cusco Airport was due at 7 a.m.

Another very long day.