Inca Trail Day 4: On June 21st, That Cloud Looks Like a Puma
3:30am came not so bright, but plenty early. Sadly, there was no daybreak tea served in our tents on the last day, it was all business. We had 20 minutes to get dressed and pack up, and then breakfast was served. It was sort of weird feeling—both to use a flashlight to go to the dining tent, as well as turning over our sleeping bags and mats to the porters, since we wouldn’t need them for the night and wouldn’t be carrying them that day. By 4:30am, we had finished eating, and we were on our way, flashlights in hand and packs on. We walked a whole five minutes…and then we stopped. We were the fifth group in line for the trail to Machu Picchu, and we sat and waited at the entrance for an hour until it opened at 5:30am. Promptly at 5:30, they began allowing people through. We showed our passports and trail tickets, and began the still dark walk along the mountain side to get to the Sun Gate—what would be our first glimpse of the a...