There’s a reason this puppy is a world heritage site, although I have to admit I have never been to a world heritage site that I wasn’t impressed by.  You have all seen the pictures before, but here goes anyway.  We got up at 6 am to catch a lovely viewy train through the mountains.

When we arrived, we got a bit out of puff climbing to the traditional view point

…climbed back down (gently because of my creaky old knees)

…explored the ruins for a bit and tried desperately to get some shots without too many of the other 2500 people they let in a day

…went in and out of  the lovely stepped houses near the finish (they try to keep everyone going in the same direction)

…and joined the line for the buses back to the train, the end is NOT in sightWe waited only 50 minutes to get to the front of this line (we had predicted an hour ourselves). We had a very expensive and mediocre supper in the tourist trap they call the village of Machu Picchu, and caught the train back to Cusco.  The sun set as we were going through the mountains and it was lovely to see them in the changing light.  My cell phone camera was not up to catching it.  Machu Picchu was definitely worth all the money and hassle it had been to get there.