Machu Picchu or Bust!

Waking up in Ollantatambo at pretty much 4:30am to pack up and get our butts on a train to go who knows where to hike for 8 hours or more sounded super excited and invigorating... :) This is what we came for. Well, not really. But I'm 34 now and I'm not getting any younger. These are the types of trips one has to take while they are young and able bodied.  Keep in mind that I don't work out and I was not very prepared for all of this. I knew it would be hard. My friend Christy kept saying, "Maybe we should work out to prepare." Me, "Nahhhhhh!". 

So off we were in the wee hours of the morning to hand off our bags to Henry, a SAM Travel guide, in hopes of seeing it in Agua Calientes when we were done. Side note, the hotel rooms were pretty nice. Barebones, but they didn't smell of mold or mildew and they didn't have anything growing on the walls. So far so good!

Here we are getting on the train. Here's a picture of Henry... you know... JIC I had to show someone that THIS was the person who stole our bags. lol In all seriousness, SAM Travel has been around for awhile and they want and need business. It would take one horrible review like they stole luggage to close them down. Who would want to book with a company who steals luggage? No one.

We has a box breakfast that our hotel gave us for the train. I recommend getting a box breakfast every time you have to leave early. You need nourishment. I knew that we needed to eat something before this long, long day.  Also, the bathrooms on the train are nice. Use them. You will have little to no bathrooms on the 2 day Machu trek. Trust me. Bring toilet paper. Always bring toilet paper. 

This not the photo of the actual snake. While some people took photos... other people wanted to be far, far away from said snake. This is so you can visualize. :)

Ok. So ... look how beautiful it is. When we got to the end of the hike we made it to the overlook. It was breezy and nice. The perfect weather. It didn't rain.  We were worried about that because we didn't have the footwear for the hike. Tennis shoes and trail shoes don't realllly cut it. Day 2 of Machu Picchu was going to be exploring the city.