Day Trip to Machu Picchu by Train

The tour operator met us the night before our day trip to Machu Picchu to give us the logistics of our day. It began at 3 AM with a 1.5 hr van ride to Ollantaytambe where we boarded a train for an additional 1.5 hr ride to Aguas Calientes aka Machu Picchu Village.We were met there by Javier, our tourguide, who led us to the end of the queue, which after 1 hour, twenty minutes, led us to the buses which would take us to the ruins of the citadel of Mach Picchu Javier left us at this point. It rained steadily the entire time we waited in line, and we all ended up buying cheap 5 Soles ponchos. Reaching the citadel, we climbed to the summit of Machu Picchu mountain, an arduous journey ending a bit over 10,000 ft above sea level, and 2000 feet above the citadel. It rained throughout the entire climb, an we were worried that there would be nothing to see from the top due to clouds obscuring the view. But about the time we reached the top about noon, the rain was tapering off, and the visibility improved. The trip down the mountain was much more enjoyable as we were no longer surrounded by fog and rain. Back at the citadel we met up with our guide again who gave a wonderful tour of the ruins. Javier is an experienced guide and is very well informed regarding the history of the citadel and of the Incan culture in general. I recommend asking for him by name if you take this trip. Afterwards we returned to Aguas Calientes, where we had a dinner before the train and van rides back to our hotel which we reached at about 9:30 PM. It was a very long tiring day, and unfortunately, the tour operator did not prepare us for the weather we encountered. It was colder and rainier than we expected oviously, the weather varies depending on the season, but our guide said our experience was not atypical for August,I suggest bringing a change of clothes for after the rain ends. Machu Picchu is something that should be on everyone's bucket list, and doesn't disappoint.