What It's Really Like to Have Machu Picchu to Yourself

The bus leaves Aguas Calientes at 5:30am. In the dark, a queue has already formed — but we have something most don't: a private guide and a permit timed to the very first entrance window.

By 6:15am, we are standing at the Sun Gate as the first grey light turns gold. The citadel is empty. Not a soul in the main plaza. For twenty minutes, Machu Picchu belongs to us alone.