Apart from trekking, the only way to get to Macchu Picchu is to take the tourist train from Cusco to a small tourist town at the base of the mountain called Aguas Calientes, which I understand translates to Hot Waters.
We had booked the train well in advance and got there nice and early for our reserved seats. There was a Japansese girl sitting facing us but on the other side of the aisle most of the seats were empty. We were a little surprised (and annoyed) because we had been told that the train was always booked out and that was why we had gone to such great lengths to book the seats. We were also on the wrong side of the train for the best views it seemed and considered changing to one of the empty seats.
The trip was quiet and peaceful and the scenery lovely - until after an hour or so the train stopped and the mystery was explained. A very rowdy group of German hikers on a tour got on and filled all the empty seats. They were bubbly and excited and chattering away meaningless gibberish which I was unfortunate to be able to understand.
We arrived in Aguas Calientes around lunch time and walked through the maze of trinket sellers to the main square where our guest house was located. It was after lunch and not much else to do so we decided to do a practice walk up to the Machhu Picchu entrance to see how long it would take and how hard it was to help us decide if we wanted to get up at 4:30 am the next morning to walk up and see the sunrise or if we would catch the bus. It was a demanding walk up the truck that is criss crossed by the road that takes the busses - where the young boys dressed in traditional clothes race down hollering at the bus each time they pass the track. They get lots of waves from the bus travellers and at the bottom jump on the bus and ask for tips. Then they ride back up and start again. It was quite humourous to watch.
There was a large choice of restaurants and bars - in the evening we finally found a branch of the Govindas vegeratian restaurant chain that was open (we had been to several throughout the trip but either couldn't find them or they were closed). It was nice enough, but nothing sensational and perhaps a little overpriced - though that could be because of where it was.
