The day started with getting picked up at the hotel at 6:45 AM for a transfer to the train station. The train ride from the Sacred Valley took about an hour an a half and the views were spectacular. On the right were snow capped Andes peaks and on the left was the Sacred R (also called the Urubamba) River Valley. We found out that it eventually flows into the Amazon. From the train station in the town of Machu Picchu, we then took a 25 minute bus ride up to the ruins which are at 7,000 feet. The tour group again was nice and small - only 6 of us. Our guide, Wiliams, (yes one l and a s) was personable and spoke excellent English. One of the 7 Wonders of the World, I can't even begin to describe the magnificence of the area. Built with countless thousands of stones in only 40 years in the mid 1400's, it was never finished. The Incas abandoned it when the Spanish invaded and it was not discovered again until 1911. We got very lucky with the weather. It is rainy season and rains almost every day, sometimes all day. The clouds can be so low, nothing can be seen. It was partly cloudy when we arrived and then mostly cloudy and we had a very brief light shower. We climbed up and down stone stairs for 3 hours. By then we were pretty tired and took the bus back to the town for lunch. Then after the train ride back to the Sacred Valley and a 2 hour van ride to Cusco, we checked into our hotel about 8:30 tired but happy.