After staying overnight at the Machu Picchu Sanctuary Lodge , we went back into the Lost Citadel for another look on our own. We wanted to stay at the Sanctuary Lodge so we would have ready access to the park all day. We were able to come and go on our tickets as we liked. We climbed up to the top so we could see the classic postcard view of Machu Picchu. We spent another several hours in the park on this second day here just to be sure we could soak up as much of it as possible.

I was worried about walking up and down the steep stone steps, but we didn't have much trouble. (The elevation is about 8000 feet--much lower than Cusco.) As we toured, we wanted to stop and look around often anyway, so we rested frequently while we were looking at the views. In the last photo on the next page you can see the grassy area way below and to the right of us. The current entrance to the park is on the right side down below the edge of this overlook.

In the evening, we took the bus down to Aguas Calientes and had a short walk through the market there. Then we boarded the Hiram Bingham again to go to the Sacred Valley. We had dinner on the train with more pisco sours and more good Peruvian wine. Although the train returns all the way to Cusco, we disembarked at Ollantaytambo, about halfway. Another guide from Lima tours was at the train to meet us and took us to the hotel. The hotel used to be a monastery. We found it charming, but unusual. The manual lock on the door, the outer lock on the bathroom door, the concrete night stand, and the beautiful grounds are all unique.