SEP7

This is to be a three-hour train ride. We switch back up the mountain above Cusco and then start the long decent down the sacred valley of the Inca, along the Urubamba River to Machu Picchu. We will drop 3,000 ft in altitude. (This will make the breathing much easier.) We pass beautiful farmland. However, the train stopped about two hours into the journey. We learn that there is a train stuck farther down the line and we have to wait until it can be moved. So all of the passengers from about six cars pile out into the area around the train. Nearby villagers learn of our presence and start arriving with items to sell. Instant bazaar. We loose about two hours.

We arrive at the train station for MP. We leave our bags with porters to take to our hotel, and we board busses for MP. A long winding bus ride, straight up the mountain, and we disembark at the gate. It looks like rain at any minute. We have lunch at the snack shop and then begin our tour of MP. This is an incredible site, in an incredible location. Juan tours us through the site for about 1 hour. He goes into great detail about the way the site is arranged and the various theories about the site. We have reached our goal. Everyone is ecstatic. It doesn't rain! We all tour the site for another couple of hours and then back down the hill to the beautiful Pueblo Hotel. It is dark and we really never get to appreciate this fabulous hotel.