Another early morning. (6:00am). We had to pack an overnight bag to take on the train to Machu Picchu. We were not allowed to take all our luggage. The luggage not going to Machu Picchu will be sent to our hotel in Cusco where we will be staying the following night.

A short bus ride took us to Ollantaytambo where we toured ruins earlier. It is also the location of the train station where we catch the train that will take us up to Machu Picchu. We saw many hikers taking the Inca Trail along the way.

The train that took us up to Machu Picchu Pueblo

The train had comfortable seats with tables and a dome top to view the scenery along the way. The train ride was about an hour and a half to Aguas Calientes, also know as Machu Picchu Pueblo. This town is the primary gateway to Machu Picchu and is only accessible by train or hiking.

Porters picked up our overnight bags at the train station and took them to our hotel. We proceeded to the busses that would take us up to Machu Picchu. The busses took some severe switchbacks up the mountain to the entrance to a Machu Picchu.

There are three circuit trails within Machu Picchu. Circuit 1 takes you to high up to one of the peaks with high level sceanic views of the entire Machu Picchu site. Circuit 2 takes you through the most comprehensive tour of the site with two options 2A (higher Terrace route)and 2B (Lower Terrace route). Circuit 3 - known as the “Royalty Circuit “ takes you through the buildings like the Kings quarters and the Sun Temple.

There is an entrance time on our tickets, so we stopped for lunch as we waited to enter the site. There was a buffet lunch set up for us at TinKuy Restaurant.

We took Circuit 2A today. Another guide, Jackie, joined us so we could split into two groups. A fast group and a slower group. It was thundering and a bit cloudy when we arrived, but is cleared up and we got some fantastic views. It is had to put into words the views that we saw. Our guide, Ana Maria, did a great job of providing the history and known knowledge of the areas we walked through.

There were alpacas wandering the site. Amy was almost knocked over as one jumped off a terrace along the path we were walking.

We were very happy that we brought our hiking poles for this. It was very helpful when going down the uneven stairs. However, my juvenile wife and Amy used them to sword fight.

While not as challenging as Ollantaytambo, it did take a lot out of us hiking up all those stairs! It took us over 3 hours to complete the tour. It usually takes 2-2.5 hours, but we are an older group and our guides took very good care of us.

We returned back to Machu Picchu Pueblo in the busses and were thankfully dropped off at our hotel. We were all exhausted!

We stayed at the Sumaq Machu Picchu Hotel. This is another 5 star hotel. Very nicely appointed. Our overnight bags were waiting in our rooms. I was able to take a shower and short nap before dinner.

We were surprised to find that a special diner was prepared for us. It was a six course dinner with a wine pairing for each course. The food was amazing! One of the wines was a Peruvian wine called Oxalis, made from the Olluco potato. It had an interesting taste with a rose pedal finish. I was not a fan until I tried it again with the quinoa dish it was parried with. Then it tasted great. One of the courses had grilled alpaca. It tasted a bit like pork and was actually tender. I was expecting it to be a bit chewy, but I guess it the the llama meat that is tough and gamey.

Beautiful table setting for our special dinner.

Sandy and I ended the night with a Pisco Sour in the bar lobby, then retired to our room for an early night. We were exhausted. We also needed to be up early tomorrow so we could have breakfast and be ready to leave for the busses back to Machu Picchu by 6:40am.

Day 8 - Machu Picchu

T-Rex Journey’s

Day 8 - Machu Picchu

Day 7 - Sacred Valley

T-Rex Journey’s