The art of tackling Machu Picchu head on, feet first and straight up.

Sticky dew droplets adhere themselves to all jungle life. We wake early, before the sparrows fart and the sun's rays even appear atop the marvellous Machu Picchu ruins. We trek from the hotel to the gates of the park and scout upwards trying to snag a peek through the clouds and mist. We have 45mins to climb this set of Incan stairs consisting of a mere 1500 individual and uniquely sized stairs before the buses pour up with their loads full to the brim of tourists. When I climbed it the first time, the case was the first 200 people to arrive at the Machu Picchu's top gates were allowed to climb Hauyna Picchu. Therefore, technically you could beat the buses by 15 mins and could get to do the other climb it was a sort of bonus for doing the extra stairs instead of the lazy way however now it all comes to money so you have to book in advance.

Incas were absolute geniuses at constructing magnificent structures perfectly accurate on such steep inclined muddy slopes but their ability to build stairs is to be argued, unequal with each stair a different size varying between a few inches to a foot and a half. By the time you arrive you are wrecked and it's still early and most of the surrounding mountainsides including Hauyna Picchu are still blanketed in dense mystifying cloud. After taking a brief guided tour, I found myself resting against an ancient wall leaning back in the sun and gazing at Machu Picchu's visual succulent vistas for a while before pulling my hat over my eyes and examining the back of my eyelids for a moment or three.

Waking up surrounded by hordes of tourists, I stumble away from slumbering sunny spot and head for the final ascent. The final leg is worst than any Stairmaster in the gym and twice as steep as the first set, near vertical and without any form of hand rail it rises skyward into the heavens. Artfully dodging people is a skill to make the continuation of the journey seamlessly effortless; otherwise it would make the trip twice as long.  Once up the view is spectacular, you can see Machu Picchu in full glory with the morning sun beating down just like it would of hundreds of years ago. You can visualise the hard enduring work the Incas put into to constructing their kingdom for their royalty. Alongside, the raging river wraps around the bottom like a mote of a castle guarding their home against intruders with ease.

 Back in the main ruins, I take my time exploring every nook and cranny looking for my Inca gold that the Spanish may have wishfully missed. Nothing. Time to leave I briskly start to run down the stairs back to the river to keenly avoid paying $8 for the bus, what started as fun run quickly escalated as I figured that the bus that would pass me as I crossed each section of the its zig zag road was the same one. The race was on. Sure enough the athletic guru I am, I won but then walked the last few kilometres in the buses dust. Once exhaustedly back in town I gathered my strength and went straight for the famous relaxing hot baths after all that's the name of the town, Aguas Calientes. That night I would be back in Cusco.

The bus route is the white zig zag, the walking path aka first set of grueling stairs cuts straight up the middle.