The day started early with a five hour bus ride to a small town called Santa Maria. From there we took a collectivo, which is essentially a taxi that carries multiple passengers for a lower cost, to the hydro electric dam railway. The route has been done by many adventure traveler who is looking to save on the over priced train from Cuzco to Aguas Calientes. Hugo had informed me about the route after he was told about it from his sisters boyfriend. After reading up on it through a few blogs I decided that it seemed unique and coat effective. Anyway we decided to go an after the 7 hours of vehicle transport we arrived at the railway. We began walking with an Australian and Japanese couple that we met on the bus rude over. They were very nice and shared some interesting stories about their travels through central America. Still they seemed to be on a more determined pace than us, so after a short while they cruised on ahead of us. The walk took about 3 hours and was filled with stunning scenery. Hugo and I got into several philosophical conversations about society, politics, and the traveling habits of different nationalities. Talking always makes a long walk seem faster and just as the last bit of daylight ceased to be we entered Aguas Calientes. We were tired and starved so we grabbed a room in the first hostel we came across and the. Immediately went out to find food and get tickets for Machu Picchu. Prioritizing MP over food we decided to stop at the ticket office first only to learn that we need our passports to purchase the tickets. A little bummed out by the news we decided to get some food in us before returning to the hostel to get out passports. The meal took forever and with The ticket office closing time nearing, Hugo decided to run back and grab the passports so we could shoot directly over to the office after eating. Arriving minutes before they closed we were able to get the tickets and rest assured knowing that MP awaited us early the next morning.