Apparently four days of walking wasn’t enough for us so Cath, Diane and I got up at 4 am to climb the 3000 steps to Machu Picchu, with the other following shortly behind on a bus. It was pitch black as we climbed and already warm, but just as we were starting to feel like we wouldn’t make it, we found our rhythm, dawn broke and we snatched glimpses of the Inca terraces.

At the top of the steps

We reached the top just before the others and had enough time to change t-shirts and cool down a bit. We all entered the site at 6 am and were given an hour long tour by Vincente. After this, he gave us our train tickets home and disappeared off, leaving us to explore on our own. After some snacks, the six of us decided to climb up to the sun gate, which gives the best views over the ruins. It was a hot climb up, but totally worth it. After taking all of the necessary tourist photos, we sat in the sun for an hour and admired the view.

On the way back down, Diane insisted on taking a group selfie, stating ‘you can never have too many selfies’. Mathias was horrified! We also found some of the llamas which are used as free lawn mowers.

The site started to get busier with tourists, so we took a few more photos and decided to go and have a look at the Inca Bridge before going back to the town. Although our guide book said that the walk to the bridge was flat, this turned out to be Inca Flat. So up another hill we climbed! The path was very narrow, with a steep drop on one side. The bridge was not at all what I was expecting, and horrifyingly it was open for the braver tourists to walk across until a few years ago.

After one final look around we got the bus back into town and spent the rest of the afternoon in Aguas Calientes, trying to find the best place to get free nachos and sampling some of the local cocktails. We then got the train and bus back to Cuzco for one more night.

I can highly reccomend the Salkantay Trek. It is much more than just a way of getting to Machu Picchu. You also get to see some of the spectacular Peruvian scenery and wildlife, walking through the mountains and the jungle. We were able to ask our guide a lot about Peruvian culture and Andean traditions, and we tried a lot of local dishes. We were also amazingly lucky to have Mathias and Kristofina in our group – thanks guys!

• Machu Picchu