Machu Picchu and the impossible task of limiting my photo selection.

The buses to Machu Picchu start leaving Aguas Calientes at 5:30 a.m. The lines start forming long before then but luckily our guide saved us a spot so we only had to show up a few minutes before 5:30 and we were on one of the first buses up the mountain. It was a fairly short ride up a very winding road with lots of switchbacks. We made our way onto the complex and I was completely blown away. Definitely lived up to the hype. The surrounding mountains were breathtaking and it was SO green. I couldn't stop taking pictures in every direction I turned. And the light changed throughout the morning creating amazing sun rays through the mountains. The weather turned out to be perfect. Just a few days before and the days after it was so cloudy that you couldn't see Machu Picchu at all. We spent a few hours hiking around with our tour guide. It was bigger than I had imagined and amazing to think of people building all of this so high up in the mountains, so long ago.

Resting before the big hike...more on that in the next post.

Ollantaytambo, a train ride, and a very regrettable pizza.

Our final stop on Wednesday was Ollantaytambo. During the Inca Empire, it was the royal estate of Emperor Pachacuti who conquered the region, built the town and a ceremonial center. Again, lots of steps and beautiful views.

From here we took a train to Aguas Calientes, the closest access point for Machu Picchu. The train ride was incredibly scenic and followed a big river through a beautiful canyon. It was dark by the time we arrived in Aguas Calientes. We found our hotel and then got some instructions from our Machu Picchu guide about what to expect in the morning. It's just a small tourist town so we ended up with an overpriced and forgettable dinner before going to bed early in preparation for our 5:30 a.m. departure to Machu Picchu. 

The view from our hotel balcony at night. We could definitely hear the river in our room.

And the regrettable pizza.