Walking back from the Sun Gate, back to where we arrived at the end of our long climb from the valley below, we found ourselves at the Watchman’s hut. From here we got our first proper postcard view of the ruins.
By now, thousands of day-trippers had arrived on the trains from Cusco, and any chance of a good photo was ruined. But there is a massive benefit to having to cope with all these people – free custom tours of Machu Picchu!

To get your free custom tour you must take your Machu Picchu map from the entrance to the ruins and find a good route around. Now, whilst passing through the ruins, you will arrive to places that are marked out on your map and are therefore important. Stop here and merely wait for a tour group speaking a language of your choice to pass by. This process takes no more than 1 minute and you can visit the popular attractions in the order of your choice. This was the first time we were able to cheat the Cusqueños out of money as they had us – a proud moment.

Tags: machu picchu, tourists