It wasn’t the earliest Christmas Day rise I’ve ever had, but it was one of the coldest and most sublime. It was 5 am at Winay Wayna, Peru.
Christmas Morning Breakfast was served in the darkness. I had packed already and was basically ready for my food then the walk…
Maria and Damian were already there at the Christmas Breakfast Table. Feliz Navidad all round as we got tore into our pancakes with dulce de leche, some bread and a well needed hot cup of tea. There were Christmas patterns like angels, stars and santas on the pancakes…
It was still dark as we left Winay Wayna for the exciting final part of the trail.
All smiles on Christmas Morning with Roberta from Brazil.
And Sheryl on the right, looks a bit scared by my pose. We were in a queue as soon as we left Winay Wayna camp.
The queue was long and boring.
But luckily our group were near the front of the queue and got to the guard post quickly enough.
There at the Winay Wayna Guard Post, you got your passport checked and stamped as well as your trail ticket before heading onwards into the woods, on a path which saw gorgeous views appear at intervals on the right hand side...
As you can see the dawn was breaking and the most special Christmas Day adventure of my lifetime was almost a reality.
That’s me just after getting through the Guard Post at Winay Wayna. Day 4, the last day of the hike was well and truly underway and we were anticipating our possible first sighting of Machu Picchu itself on arrival at the next set of Inca Ruins – Intipunku (which translates as Sun Gate).
From – Winay Wayna Base Camp
To – Winay Wayna Guard Post
Distance Travelled – 1 kilometre
Distance From Machu Picchu – 5 kilometres
LEAVING BASE AT 5 AM FROM WINAY WAYNA (please forgive my lunatic pronunciations on this as “winney hi oona” and many other videos):