The best time to experience Machu Picchu is after most of the other tourists have left the
area on buses for hotels below the mountain or to connect with a train or helicopter to Cusco.
  It feels more personal, and you get a sense of what it was to live there, in the 1400s.

 Unfortunately, this photo is underexposed and the middle portion had some flare, but it gives an
idea of the feel of Machu Picchu when not overrun with others like ourselves. ;-)