Machu Picchu!!! (Peru)

On...Lord, i have no idea what day...we woke up at 3:30 am and packed up a small backpack to bring to Machu Picchu.  We left our larger packs and the surf board at the hostel where we were staying in Cuzco, Hospedaje Amanecer.  The car picked us up at 4 am, and drove us to the bus station in the Plaza de Armas, where we boarded with other travelers bound for Machu Picchu, and we headed to the train station in Ollantaytambo.  The train then took about an hour and a half through the valley of the Andes to the town of Aguas Calientes, right below Machu Picchu.  We spent  a bit of the morning walking around the small town, which looked like it lived off of tourism, and had an ungodly number of restaurants for the size of the town.   Quickly, we realized there was nothing to do there that didn't cost money, so we went back to our hostel to watch a show and take a glorious three hour nap.  We woke up and lounged around a bit, playing on the limited Internet, before heading out for dinner.  When we were at dinner, at 7:10 pm, I remember that our guide for the next day was supposed to meet to give us our tickets right then, so I ran back to the hostel, leaving Jared to eat alone, and bring me back a luke warm burger and fries.  That night we went to bed around 10 pm, excited for Machu Picchu the next day. We woke up, and ate the free breakfast at the hostel, before heading down to board a 30 minute bus to ascend the mountain to the city of Machu Picchu.  We had booked a hike up Montaña Machu Picchu, so at 7 am, we got off the bus, and started the grueling 1+ hour hike to the top.  We got a bit nervous during the ascent, because everything was covered by fog.  The hike itself was neat, and I was excited to think of how the Incas had walked these same steps for some unknown ritualistic purpose, which I later discovered was bogus, and the Incas really did not use Montaña Machu Picchu for anything, save burying a 100+ people on the bottom, but at the time, it was motivational for me to continue.  Most of the climb was stairs, so our buns definitely got a good workout.  When we reached the top, there was only one other traveler, and fog everywhere.  We couldn't even tell the direction that we were supposed to look to see the city.  It was also really cold, and we had to quickly put on all the layers we had taken off during our climb.  A few hours passed, with more climbers joining us, and no change in the weather.  We got a bit worried and increasingly annoyed, because A) our pass on Montaña Machu Picchu was only until 11am, and B) we had originally been booked on an 11:30 am tour of the city, which was changed the night before to 10:30 am.  By 9:40 (the time we had to start our descent to make the English tour) there was still no change in the fog, so we decided to screw the tour and join a Spanish one we knew was taking place at 11:30 am.  By about 10 am, a few patches here and there would open up, only to be covered again within the minute, and we still had no idea where we should even be looking.  Slowly, the patches became bigger and appeared more frequently, until we finally at least knew where we should be looking.  Finally, with about 15 minutes before we had to leave the peak, the clouds opened up, and allowed us some pretty amazing views of the city and the valleys below.  We snapped probably 60 pictures, a few great ones, before packing up and booking it back down the mountain to make our tour.  We ended up being lucky enough to jump onto a different group's English tour for free.  The tour took about 45 minutes, where we wove through the city.  It is so well preserved that it might be a Disneyworld exhibit.  The precision in the work was really phenomenal, and we were able to visualize how the Incas lived better than we had at other ruins due to its preservation.  After the tour ended, we hiked back up to the Inca bridge, and realized that, on our third ascent of the day, we were pooped!!  After, we found a popular resting spot, with an amazing view overlooking the city, and had a snack while taking in the sites.  I think we were maybe resting to see if we could make another round or head to a different hike, but after a bit, we realized we were too tired, and headed back to the buses for Aguas Calientes.   When we got back to the hostel, we spent the next few hours resting before packing up and heading back to the train and bus to Cuzco.  I will say, the train we took, IncaRail, was pretty awesome, with leather seats and free coffee/tea etc.  Back in Cuzco, we arrived into the city at 11 pm, and basically fell into bed still fully clothed.