Friday 15th May
Today was unforgettable!
Last night we barely had any sleep as we were in a tent next to Eamon, but it was probably the most comfortable floor of the three nights and we were clean after finally having a shower!!
We were woken at 3.30am with our coca tea this morning and had the quickest breakfast ever. From this camp it's a race to be the first group at the check-in point before heading off on the last part of the trail to Machu Picchu, and therefore arrive in time to see the sun rise!
It was only a short walk to the check-in point (in the dark with only our headtorches to guide us!) and we had to wait 45 minutes before it opened at 5.30am. A few people had funny tummies this morning so the Immodium tablets started flying around!
It was a fairly gentle final walk and Simon joined Team Marmite at the front as we powered on to try and reach Machu Picchu before sunrise. We then reached the 51 vertical steps that the guides had warned us about. Not only were they incredibly narrow and steep, but they were also on the edge of the mountain! Once we'd started climbing the steps (literally on all fours) there was no chance of looking behind us - Teri couldn't even look back at the top to take a photograph! At the top of the steps, we had reached Intipunku, the Gates of the Sun. We caught our first glimpse of Machu Picchu across the mountains, and we had beaten the sunrise! |
The view of Machu Picchu from Intipunku
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The rest of the team joined us one by one and then Teri spotted Carol walking up the path to join us! We all cheered madly for her, and it was emotional seeing her again at the end of the trek. We can't imagine how hard it must have been for her to see us all up there having completed the trek without her, but she had always been there in spirit!
We watched the sun rise across Machu Picchu and then had our group photograph before heading down to the site. It was a really surreal feeling and every now and then Teri's eyes glazed over and shed a small tear on the way down.
Machu Picchu is stunningly beautiful and became even more awe-inspiring the closer we got.
Our guide, Brian, gave us a two-hour tour of the site, most of which was quite interesting albeit painful clambering up even more steps with tired, aching legs!
After the tour, we started heading back to the meeting point when Matt was saying that we should go off and do some more filming on the way down. He found a fairly quiet spot overlooking the valley and mountains in front of Machu Picchu and got down on one knee and proposed!! Such a perfect place for such a perfect moment!
Back at the meeting point we shared our news and everyone came over to congratulate us and see the ring, and tell Matt how romantic he was! We were so pleased to be sharing a special moment with such a great group of people. The whole group took the bus down a hideously steep, winding, dangerous road to the town Aguas Calientes. We stopped for lunch in a restaurant and headed to the hotel, where we were upgraded from a twin room to a double room with a balcony over the stream! While some of the group headed to the Spa Baths we went to the market to buy a small Peruvian memento to take home. Teri worked her magic again and haggled the woman down from 70 soles to 40 soles! |
Our first photo after the engagement at the hotel
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Our celebratory meal after the trek
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We stopped for some cocktails that were meant to be Pina Colada, but they didn't taste like it! There was also some ice in the drinks that we weren't sure we should have as you couldn't drink the water, so as we were the only ones in the bar Matt found a small plant pot that we put all the ice into and then hid it under the table! The drinks were still quite disgusting and as we'd already paid for the drinks we took the opportunity to peg it! Once we'd met the rest of the group we bought two bottles of champagne and everyone joined us in toasting our engagement. Everyone seemed so genuinely happy for us it was absolutely great. Our celebratory dinner after the trek was at a restaurant where a band was playing music and at that point in time there was no chance we could ever have been happier. After the meal we were given more champagne and Claire said a few words, including a toast to the Peru Trek 2009 and another to Matt and Teri. It was also announced that as a group we have so far raised over £69,000! It was yet another dinner filled with continuous laughter and hilarious banter. |
To end the evening, around half the group went to a nearby 'disco pub', stopping to play football in the street with some young Peruvian children on the way. The disco was great fun and we spent a lot of time dancing; none of us could believe it when they played Insomnia, our song of the week!
It's so strange that when we all met a week ago, most people were fairly quiet and barely knew anything about each other. Now, seven days later, we feel like we've known the group for years.