A view from the train.
The train had been traveling steadily downhill. Cusco is over 11,000 feet in elevation and you end up closer to 12,000 before beginning the decent. Machu Picchu is at 8,500 feet and my hotel, the fabulous eco-property, the Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel in Agua Calientes is at 6,600.
Note the terraces in the foreground and in the high far distance you can see another set of Incan ruins.