Yes, a fantastic buffet breakfast was served us at 4:30am as we had to be on the bus at 5am for our 2 hour ride to the Peru Rail train station. Normally, the train would have departed from Cusco station, but because of mud slide threats, we had to bus around the threat areas. It was a beautiful ride through the countryside but road was kind of rough and sometimes gravel road. Our train was to depart at 7:05am and we arrived there only 10 minutes before then. That was close! The train ride was 57 miles (1 1/2 hours) along the Urubamba River bed. Now we are 6500 feet altitude so everyone is feeling better. At one point along the way there was a swinging walkway bridge across the river so hikers could join the ancient Incan trail and walk 28 miles (4 day hike) to Macha Picchu. The Incans built thousands of miles of these trails to connect to their empire. This is for people much younger than me!! After arriving at Aguas Calientes on the river 1500 feet below the Macha Picchu Citadel ruins, we boarded another bus for the somewhat scary 30 minute ride switch backing up the mountain. 2500 tourists visit here daily and there were many of these buses going up and down the mountain at the same time on this road that was one lane in many places.
Macha Picchu is often referred to as the "Lost City of the Incas" and was discovered in 1911 by an American historian named Hiram Bingham. Machu Picchu was built over a 90 year period starting around 1350 as an estate for the Incan emperor, Pachacuti. Even before it was finished, the Incas abandoned it around 100 years later for some unknown reason. After 600 years only about 30% of it remains now. Some of it has been reconstructed to give tourists an idea of what it was back then, ie, some thatched roofs were added. In a worldwide internet poll, Machu Picchu was voted one of the "new" seven wonders of the world. They definitely have our votes!! I took many photos, many of them same view, because it was so amazingly beautiful. Unfortunately, a picture cannot capture the uniqueness of this site. It was built on a mountain ridge at 8000 feet above sea level. The mountain tops around it were at 11,000 feet. The Urubamba River is 1500 below a with steep drop off to it on 3 sides. How the Incas moved these stones into place is a mystery. Wheels and animals were definitely not used however. Once close to their position they were again polished to fit precisely onto place. There were 140 structures or features that included residences, temples, sanctuaries, and parks that included house with thatched roofs. There are over 100 flights of granite steps here that we had to climb and descend. That was no easy feat at that 8000 foot altitude either. One man in our group fell and that night was taken to the hospital in Cusco for xrays. He had a broken wrist so cast was put on it. They had a medical place at Macha Picchu entrance who say on average two tourists break bones every day there. There were terraced fields for agriculture there also that you will see in the photos. They also had channels and water drains carved in the stones for personal uses and irrigation.
After our 3 hours guided tour, we had a buffet lunch at the Macha Picchu Sanctuary Lodge restaurant. You can stay at the lodge just outside the entrance for $800 to $2000 per night. Then back on bus down to train, train to bus, and bus to Cusco again. We arrived at hotel at 7:30pm. It was a long, tiring day after an early get up. We had a wonder chicken dinner before hitting the bed. Slept a lot better as was acclimating to the altitude some now. If you ever have a chance to go see Macha Picchu, I would highly recommend it.
