From Poroy's station about 20 minutes away from the hotel, we boarded the Orient Express train, the Hiram Bingham, for the 3 1/2 hour trip to Aguas Calientes. The train was elegant with wonderful service and a fine brunch including good Peruvian wines. However, the train bumped along on the old track making the ride less than perfect. During the trip, we had a guide on board with us who explained about what we were seeing along the way and what we would see when we arrived at Machu Picchu. The guide is named Jhaninti, but she asked us to call her Honey, just to make it easier on us. (Although if you ask Philip, he'll say it's because she liked us.) Live entertainment on the train featured dueling guitarists who encouraged sing-a-longs. Several of the passengers danced away the morning.

When we arrived at Aguas Calientes, we boarded a bus for the last 20-minute ride to the entry to Machu Picchu. The bus snaked back and forth up the mountain on a road so narrow that only one bus would fit in most places. When we met another bus going the other way, someone had to move to the side and let the other pass.

We arrived around 1 p.m., checked into the hotel, then went to Machu Picchu for our first look right away. Honey split us into two groups of about 15 people each and guided some of us through Machu Picchu. Another guide who was already at the site took the other half of the people from the train on a tour.

It is hard to explain how amazing the ruins of Machu Picchu are. Honey explained what each building was used for and how the people lived there. Since the site was thought to be a religious area, only about 1200 people lived there. Other Incas lived in the surrounding countryside and nearby villages. The granite stone structures were built without the use of metal tools. However, they are perfectly sized and shaped so that nothing, not even the thinnest knife blade or even a sheet of paper, will slide between the rocks. They have multiple surfaces and no two seem to be alike. What you cannot see looking at the stones are the interlocking, male and female, joints that have been carved into the stone so perfectly that they do not move at all.

After about three hours touring the ruins, we returned to the Sanctuary Lodge for afternoon tea. They served iced tea as well as hot tea and other drinks and snacks. We were quite happy to enjoy the break. The weather has been warmer than expected with a high of 80 today. The site closes at 5:00 so we were not able to see it at night. We will be back tomorrow.