Machu Picchu day was a day that our family will remember and talk about for the rest of our lives. It’s one of those things that you really have to see in person to truly appreciate. Not to mention it was also Chelsea’s birthday. Not a bad way to spend your birthday I must say! We had to get up bright and early to catch the 6:10am train from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Callientes. We left our hotel around 5am. The hotel was nice enough to pack us each a breakfast that was waiting for us when we left. Olllantaytumbo is full of Tuk Tuks or moto-taxis as they are called in Peru. The kids had been asking to ride in one since we got into town so we had the door man order us one.

We took the cramped moto-taxi to the train station that was around a mile from our hotel. We got to the train station a little early and were able to watch the PeruRail engine hook up to the rest of the passenger cars.

We boarded the train and settled in for the 1 and a half hour ride. The scenery along the way was beautiful. The left side of the train followed the Urubamba river the whole trip and we were surrounded by majestic mountains on both sides.

About an hour into the trip the train stopped in what seemed like the middle of nowhere. About half of the people on our train car got up and started gathering by the door. We were confused because we still had a half hour to go. Turns out the people were doing the one day hike to Machu Picchu. We started up again and before we new it we had arrived at the train station in Aguas Calientes where our guide Alfredo was waiting for us. Alfredo had gotten up even earlier than us and took the train reserved for locals only. His train was apparently only $6 compared to $63 per person for us.

Aguas Calientes is the last town before Machu Picchu and is not reachable by car. Everything in the town is brought in by train in the middle of the night before the passenger trains start ferrying tourists back and forth the rest of the day. The cargo trains bring in food, water, building supplies and even brought in the buses that take you up the mountain. They also take out all of the garbage from the city and from Machu Picchu. We had about a half hour before our 9:30am bus departed up the mountain so we headed over to check out the Plaza de Armas while Alfredo stood in line to buy the bus tickets. Turns out every city in Peru has a Plaza de Armas or main square.

With tickets in hand, we boarded the bus and started on our journey up to the top of the mountain. The bus snaked back and forth on the switch back road for almost a half an hour until we reached our final destination.

Before going through the gates, we all paid $2 soles to use the bathroom since there are no more past that point. We then got our Machu Picchu passport stamps that we had read about online.

After going through the line we headed down the path on our way to see one of the 7 wonders of the world. We hiked up uneven stone stairs for what seemed like forever. Finally we rounded a corner and there it was, tons of fog!

Within minutes the fog lifted reaveling one of the most spectacular scenes we have ever seen, Machu Picchu in all its glory.

Words cannot explain how magnificent a site it was. It almost did not seem real. We had read about and dreamt about seeing Machu Picchu for so long and now there it was right in front of us. Alfredo calls Machu Picchu, “Mucho Pictures” and he was right. He lead us on our way to what he called the postcard picture spot.

On the way we spotted some llamas (they wander around the park eating the grass), so of course we got pictures of the boys with the llamas.

The next three hours were spent wondering around the site taking in all its splendor and having Alfredo teach us about the history of Machu Picchu.

Alfredo was a great guide. We are so happy our friend Talia recommend him to us. We would be glad to put any of you in contact with him. I am sure it was not easy guiding us around for 3 days between our kids having fits or interrupting him everytime he wanted to tell us something. He was kind enough to hold both of our kids hands, carry them and at points babysit them while we explored.

Below are some of our favorite photos from the day.

The kids were troopers throughout the whole experience. Sure they had their moments but who can blame them. They each walked over 16,000 steps which is a lot at 5 and 8 years old. They loved Machu Picchu said it was so cool. We are so appreciative of the chance to see this great wonder. It is mind boggling to think of how the Incan people were able to accomplish what they did in 300 years. It is beyond comprehension how they moved all of the rocks and thought of the things they thought of 500 years ago. The Incans truly were an advanced civilization. We saw it at all of the sites we saw from the farming terraces, to the salt pools, to the aqueduct systems they built and in their architecture. We are excited to learn more about their short but amazing run as a powerful civilization.

We took the bus back down and Alfredo took us to a nice restaurant for lunch. We were all famished at that point. After lunch the waiter brought out a delicious chocolate cake for Chelsea’s birthday and we all sang happy birthday to her.

It just so happened that their was a big festival celebrating the Virgin del Carmen going on the same day. We headed back over to the Plaza de Armas which was now packed with people. We were able to listen to the music, watch the dancers and celebrate with the people of Aguas Calientes. It was lots of fun.

We spent some time in the market after that. We picked up a magnet and some patches for the kids. Grandma Nadine made each kid a world map blanket before we left. Our plan is to buy patches from each country we visit and sew them on their blankets upon our return.

At 6:00pm we said goodbye to Alfredo for the evening. He was going to catch the local train leaving a few minutes after ours. Finally after about a half hour delay our train started back to Ollantaytambo. We ended up getting back to the hotel around 9pm. What an adventure it was! We urge anybody reading this to make the trip to Machu Picchu someday if you have not already been. It was worth every penny and more than lived up to the hype.