Machu Picchu - Day 4

The last night at the campsite was beautiful. It rained a little but mostly it was nice and not as cold as the night before. We get up at 3:30am because we need to get up to Machu Picchu as soon as possible before the tourists who take the train get there. It's not a terribly hard hike, but the views are amazing along the way. We get to the Sun Gate, which is the overlook to Machu Pichu, and it's everything you would imagine. Breathtaking to say the least. We take a bunch of pics and then descend to the ruins themselves. So much history - so much beauty - such amazing architecture. We walk around and learn about the fact that this was a very special astrological and spiritual location, which the Spanish never found. The ruins are so beautifully in tact it's no surprise they are very serious about preserving them. We even saw workers using toothbrushes cleaning the rocks. We then take a bus down from the ruins into the town below, which is called Agua Caliente. Such a cute town (pics below), and they have a hot springs which we enjoy. It was a little sketchy but much needed after four days of no showers and an aching body! We end the night with a nice dinner in town and then take the train and a van back to Cusco. On the van ride, which is about an hour and half, the driver is literally falling asleep. I'm sitting in front so I start talking to him and then crank up the music. At one point soon thereafter Stairway to Heaven comes on and I sing it with the Brazilian dude next to me as loud as possible. I'm sure the other passengers hated us, but we needed to keep this guy awake (and us alive)!! Random but a good moment as well. I get to the hostel around 11:30pm and hand over all my dirty laundry for them to do. I inquire about the ATM card and there is no mention of it in the lost and found log, but the receptionist asks me to follow him and we go ask the security guard at the front of the hostel. He pulls out a book of things he's found and I start seeing credit cards…AND THEN I SEE MINE!!!! YES!!!! YESS!!!! YESSSS!!!! I'm the luckiest son of a bitch in the world. Thank you Machu Picchu. Thank you Cusco. Thank you Peru. Thank you security guard for grabbing my ATM card after I left it in the machine. I fall asleep on cloud nine.

Forgot to mention - on the bus down from Machu Picchu I noticed that I was on bus 14 - all the seats had 14 on them. This is my year, but also my mom's favorite number, so it was a nice sign :)