Since the whole point of our trip was to visit Machu Picchu, I thought I would write about it before moving on to other aspects of our trip. We arrived in Cusco last Monday, and stayed there until Wednesday morning, when we caught the train to Aguas Calientes, a small town nestled in the base of the mountains below Machu Picchu.

A veiw from our train to Aguas Calientes

The train trip was exciting, since the views were breathtaking: mountains, Inca terraces, and rivers illustrate a) just how difficult the terrain is and b) how impressive it is that the Inca were able to settle here.

We could also see a bit of the Inca Trail that hikers can take to get to Machu Picchu:

Part of the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu

Almost as soon as our train arrived at Aguas Calientes, where our transit officer met us at the station and had us give our backpacks to the hotel porter, we met up with our tour guide and a small group of tourists and were on the bus up to Machu Picchu.

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