Machu Picchu - Day Two

Our itinerary included a second trip to Machu Picchu.  Eight of us got up early to do the sunrise hike to a place called the Sun Gate - a place with a beautiful view of the ruins of Machu Picchu.  It required a 

1 ½ hour hike uphill over uneven stone steps and terrain:

That's me on the less difficult part- it was too hard to take photos and walk on the stone steps!

Unfortunately, the cloud cover was too thick to see much when we got there!

But as we headed back down, the cloud cover began to burn off and we were rewarded with the breathtaking view we anticipated.

We continued climbing to a place where an ancient Incan bridge still exists:

Finally, we found a quiet terrace just to sit and contemplate:

An exhausting but wonderful morning!  Perfect weather in the upper 70's.  And a great group of people to share the "agony" and "ecstasy"!

After meeting up with the rest of the group, we had a lovely lunch at the bottom of the mountains.  Then we took a train AND a bus to the higher altitude city of Cusco - arriving after dark to another delicious meal.