Breathtaking

I wonder if I can consider my adventure to have truly begun now. I am on my own with no school or school friends to make me feel like I have a place. Actually I find that a little unsettling! Friday was my last day at school and Friday night was a night out with the friends that I had made in Cusco. I was a little anxious to get to bed at a reasonable time, since I was being picked up for the train to Machu Picchu at 6am. I packed up all my things, and was waiting on the step when my ride arrived. The train to and from Cusco was much nicer than I expected, but getting out of Cucso was quite a trick. The train goes up the hill, but of course, it can't go straight up, so it needs to go back and forth four times to zigzag up the hill, each time all the cars slamming into each other as the train stops. The views were lovely from the train of snow-capped mountains, and the four hour ride was quite manageable. We pulled into Aguas Calientes at 11am and were seen to our hostal. I was under the impression that the town would be generally a waste of time, but I must say that there were things I felt I missed by only staying for one day.
The Peru Lonely Planet alluded to a hike in the area with nice views. There were a total of two sentences about it, and the small group from the school decided it would be nice to go for a bit of a hike...after no sleep...after a train ride...after a trying week. We hiked for about 30 minutes up and up Putukusi before we came to our first ladder. I wanted to see if I could do it, so several of us (the ones who weren't afraid of heights) climbed up the first long ladder. There ended up being about 7 in all going up and up the mountain. The hike took about 3.5 hours, but in the end the vista was worth it. It was my first view of Machu Picchu, and made me truly excited for the next day. That night we met with our guide and arranged to get together at the gate to Machu Picchu at 7am, though we w0uld take the bus up the hill at 5.30am in order to try to get tickets ot hike up Waynapicchu.
We ate breakfast at 4.30am before booking it down to the bus station for the first trip at 5.30...the line was already formed, and we didn't get on until the third bus! we did make it up, and humorously, when the gates opened, we ran across the breathtaking views of Machu Picchu in order to get tickets to hike up the other mountain. They only let 400 people go up each day, and though I got my ticket to go up, I found that my legs just couldn't do another hike of that caliber. It was a true privilege to see Machu Picchu in the morning with the clouds surrounding the mountains. I felt like Hiram Bingham himself! (The man who re-discovered Machu Picchu). In the early morning there were very few tourists, and we got some amazing photos without strangers in them. In the pictures of Machu Picchu look at the view that appears sideways to see if you can see something other than a sideways mountain...the whole thing felt mysterious and magical. I am saving many pictures to show those of you who are around when I get back, so hopefully this will whet your appetites! I stayed at the ruins for about 6.5 hours before taking the bus down to town again, where I enjoyed a Pisco Sour and began to read the book that I bought by Hiram Bingham.