Macchu Picchu via Salcantay route

My first morning in Cuzco I was picked up at 5a.m. and we got onto local bus to Mollepata. This was a 3 hour journey, and it was around 75 people on a bus that seats 40ish. It was horrible, since I had been out quite late and we had several hours of hiking in front of us. The bus got a flat tire and once we arrived, we had breakfast. This may not seem significant, but this breakfast was not included. The very first theng we did, on an all-inclusive trip, was not included. Not only that, but my group of 5 or 6 had become 15. I remained positive, and everyone was really nice. Several people bought ponchos, but I had a really nice jacket so I figured I was fine. I mention that because it didnt take long before it started raining, and apparently my jacket is no longer water proof. Oh well, I was lucky it didnt last long, and an Australian teacher named Dave gave me his poncho as he had become quite attached to his garbage bag. The lunch was excellent with Coca tea, noodles, and soup. We would have soup a lot. We kept walking until almost dark, and it was really cold when we arrived. We had popcorn and unidentifiable animal crackers and then waited a couple of hours until dinner. There were interesting conversations and card games before going to bed. Of course, I woke up in the middle of the night, as my tent was leaking heavily in the rain, and I was soaking wet. I went to go sleep in the porter-guide shelter and found a bit of room under a table. I cant say it was horrible, but the following day I arrived at camp first, and made sure to inquire about which tent was the best.
The following day, we were heading towards the highest point of the trip near a mountain called Salcantay. It was climbing all morning, and I had my ipod out and felt great. I didnt stop and caught up to some porters from a group ahead of us who called me an Inca. I corrected them that I was a GrInca and many of the porters called me that from then on. I made it to lunch before the rain, avoiding having to use the poncho, and took a nap. After lunch, I took a fork in the trail assuming it would lead to the same place. It actually was a much higher route, and had great views. It also made me come straight down the mountain to get to camp. It was very interesting and I took a picture of myself up high, with the correct trail being near the river below. At camp that night, I ended up eating two dinners as I went to visit a Spanish group at another camp and ate at ours as well.
The following morning, I left later than the group, waiting fo the rain to stop. I played with some kids who were roping a cow skull tied to a post. After I got started, I wandered past a guy making horseshoes and helped him stoke the fire while I watched. It was amazing to see him bend and beat the horseshoes, which took him about 90 minutes each, and were for mules. I left after the porters had caught me, realizing I was at least an hour behind the rest of the group. One major advantage I had was I was wearing shorts and sandles that morning. I am not sure why I decided to start a freezing day like that, but it was the smartest thing I did all trip. The trail was extremely muddy and we had many river crossing which I skipped through like nothing. After hiking another 30 minutes from the blacksmith, one of the guides, Wilbur, had been waiting for me assuming I had taken another wrong trail. He waited at a hot spring so when I arrived, we went dipped our feet, and eventually I just went for a swim. The picture doesnt do a good job of showing it, but the path was actually on top of some wooden branches, a crude bridge which I doubt many people would have ventured over. After leaving the springs, Wilbur and I made a quick trip down the trail, and I even lent my sandals to another guide from another group to help his team over the river. We arrived where we were to have lunch and sat around having beer and enjoying the weather. After that, we caught a shuttle to Santa Theresa, where there was another hot spring for us to indulge in. The shuttle ride was a very rough, as we filled up the truck, and my seat didnt end up being to comfortable. I did manage to snag bananas and several flowers from my perch high upon the truck. After unloading the truck we got a new passenger named Gilbert, a cute 6 year old who also wanted to come swimming. He was always watching the glass bottles, making sure his mom would get them back at her shop. He was also a fearless swimmer, who couldnt really swim, though he could do underwater sommersaults. After relaxing, showering, etc... we went back for dinner, and ended up having a really late night drinking with the guides. This was quite stupid as the next morning we had to leave around 5a.m. for Zlactapaca, another ruin on an opposite mountan from Macchu Picchu. It was also a 3 hour walk up followed by excellent views which included Macchu Picchu and a beatiful waterfall. On the walk down, several of us were being goofy with the walking sticks, pretenting to be wizards. See the picture if you are confused. We met at a Hydroelectric plant for lunch thoroughly exhausted. After that, all the smart people decided to take the train to the town of Macchu Picchu, where we would spend the night and hike up to the Macchu Picchu the ruins in the morning. Nick, Cam, Alex, and I decided to walk all the way to town, which of course meant it had to start raining as soon as we left. We made it, saw the coolest VW train thing, found our hostel, and met for dinner later that night. One of the best things we did was figure out the tips then, and physically hand the cooks an equal portion of the tips. After my experience with the guides, I am sure they would not have received an equal portion had we not done that. The following morning, We had breakfast at 4a.m. and started walking. We all beat the first bus, but didnt see a sunrise because of the clouds. There was close to a 3 hour tour, and then a bit of exploring. I climbed up WaynaPicchu, which is a higher peak just behind the main ruins. It was excellent for pictures, and was not at all crowded. The last picture is on the back side of Waynapicchu, me being goofy and setting the timer on my camera. AFter getting down, there was a train, then a bus, and then we were backin Cusco. Most of us met for dinner, and went out for a few drinks. The following day I read 11 Minutes by Paulo Coehlo, met everyone for dinner again, and saw a live band. The following morning I went to visit one more ruin at 5:30 am and caught a bus to Puno, on lake Titicaca. It was a pleasant bus ride with stops at several other interesting sites along the way.