Day 4 Inca Trail to Machu Picchu (7,980 feet)

I got up in the middle of the night and was in awe at the beautiful stars, big bright moon and incredible views all around the valley. I knew it would be a good day but was still not super ready to start hiking soon after our 2:45 wakeup. Thankfully, we were able to leave our rented sleeping bags and pads so our bags were much lighter and we started walking down and down the numerous slippery steep steps by headlamp. 

Headlamps on, ready to rock!

We did have a few slips and trips but everyone made it down to the final campsite as the sun was rising. While it would have been nice to stay here, there has been accidents due to erosion (since all these sites were on the side of steep hills) so it was safer to not stay here.  Up and up some more stairs (seriously, they were never-ending), we started to see the beautiful mountains of this valley and knew we were close.

We began our last ascent to Machu Picchu and finally arrived at the Sun Gate around 8:30 am. And wow! The view was spectacular! All around us glistened big green peaks and down below in the middle was the iconic peal of Huayna Picchu overlooking the historic site of Machu Picchu. We quickly took photos, exchanged high fives and took another big group family photo. 

After that, we hopped up on the ledge in the sun to take some more photos. I was posing for a pic and laughing at Karen filming with the GoPro backwards when all of a sudden, Mark dropped to his knees in front of me with the biggest, sweetest smile on his face. I was surprised and incredibly happy! Mark said many beautiful words that of course I don't completely remember but I do remember him asking 'will you marry me' of which I enthusiastically said 'yes!'. We kissed and hugged and cried and it was beautiful. 

Erika, Karen and our trekking family congratulated us too which was very sweet. Now though, I was way more interested in holding Mark's hand than exploring Machu Picchu! But we gradually made our way down from the Sun Gate towards the main site.

After one last big group photo and a short and hot tour of the main sites by Manny, we had free time to explore. Machu Picchu was (thankfully) never found by the Spaniards so remained mostly untouched until an American explorer found it in 1911.  However, that means the true significance is unknown though most likely an important town and ceremonial center during Inca times.

The very happy couple!

Mark, Karen, Erika and I ventured around the site and soon caught the bus down to Aguas Calientes where we met our group for lunch and celebratory pisco sours. Everyone was happy and in a good mood as we said goodbye to Manny and Pepito and continued celebrating for a few more hours. 

The engaged couple and the 'married' couple!

The fun continued with games and beers on the train before we finally all said goodbye as we arrived in Cusco around 10. After much-needed showers, we finally fell asleep around midnight. We sure maximized our proposal day as it ended up being almost 22 hours of amazing fun!

PS- Dear friends, maybe our low-key announcement (aka- you're reading it here!) caught you by surprise but we do hope our story made you smile! We're loving the fun of sharing the news with friends as we see or talk to them but I couldn't keep it out of the blog of course! Thanks for the well wishes! xoxo, Suzy y Mark