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Published: August 9th 2007
Cusco Valley
From the train, early morningSo... the moment we've been waiting for - we're finally on our way to Machu Picchu! To get there we opted for the cheaper, faster, and much easier alternative to the four day trek in the Andes - the train. It takes you all the way to Aguas Calientes (aka Machu Picchu Pueblo), and from there you can take a bus to Machu Picchu. So we jumped on the 7am train with much anticipation. We were travelling in "backpacker's" class, which was reasonable, but with very little leg room, as you face two other seats. The trip was really lovely! After Ollantaytambo the train follows the Urubamba river much of the way to Aguas Calientes. Green mountains on either side and the river in flood roaring along beside the track... pretty gorgeous! There were moments when we caught glimpses of some of the intrepid trekkers - and then we sank back into our backpacker-class seats with much smug satisfaction at our decision to take the train.
I wasn't all that impressed when we arrived at Aguas Calientes - it was much lower and much more concrete than I imagined, but it quickly grew on me. It is actually quite a
Thundering waters
Urubamba river, from the Cusco-Machu Picchu train sweet town, and the setting is pretty special! We were escorted to our hostel - Gringo Bill's - a pretty cool place, and with a lovely view from the top (where our room was!). My only complaint is that we had to climb a few flights of stairs to our room, and I was invariably puffed out by the time we got there! The mountain air makes breathing while exercising quite a task.
Most people on the trains headed up to Machu Picchu at this point, and we had originally planned to do the same - to spend the afternoon at MP, stay overnight in Aguas Calientes and return to MP the next morning for a second viewing. However, after consulting our budget, we decided to only go up on the second day, but go early enough to spend a full day at MP and hopefully see the sunrise 😊 So this plan left us with half a day to kill in Aguas Calientes. We decided a feed was our first priority. In a moment of compassion (we felt sorry for the owners) we picked a restaurant that was practically empty (against our better judgement and the advice of
our faithful travel guide). We ate slightly odd-tasting ham and cheese pizza, and then went in search of a dinner venue (one thing on our minds!) The owner of the French restaurant we were looking at advised us to avoid pizza in the town because apparently they leave the cheese and ham out all day, and we were likely to get sick. "We just ate pizza!" Then he swore.
About fifteen minutes later we set off for a mountain climb just next to town, and it wasn't long before I noticed the first signs of trouble. Another few minutes and I was on the loo relieving myself of the guilty pizza. Kev went on without me while I recovered. It actually turned out well, cos after prayer I felt fine for the rest of the afternoon, and enjoyed a few hours in the hotel room and wandering around the quiet little town. It is actually quite peaceful compared to Cusco - there is much less hassling, and you can walk around feeling very safe. Meanwhile, Kev was charging up a mountain. This was his experience...
(Kev) OK - so maybe charging isn't quite the right word. The mountain
The intial steps...
Of the climb up Putukusi, Machu Picchu Pueblo was Putukusi, which was right next to town, and according to the guide offered spectacular views of MP and Aguas Calientes on the other side. It made no mention of the hundreds of steps to get to the top, the almost completely vertical wooden ladders you needed to climb here and there (the longest with 120 rungs apparently!) or that if you weren't into doing this sort of thing as a hobby you would be stopping every few minutes, heart pounding, sucking in the air! But how good it felt to get to the top... and there were unbelievable views on the way. I was glad to meet up with some people on the summit and have some moral support on the way down. No matter what people say, going down is always easier... It was practically dark by the time we got back down, and I didn't envy the 5 or so people behind us who had to assail the steep steps and long ladders with so little light... I got back an hour later than I thought, and Elle was very relieved to see me - she had been planning my rescue if I didn't return!
(Back
120 rungs
During the climb up Putukusi, Machu Picchu Pueblo to Elle) Not to sound like a paranoid wife, but every time Kev takes longer than he says he will on this trip, I imagine the worst! I think it's because we've been spending so much time together and somehow I feel like he's safer when he's with me... Anyway, that night we had another amazing three course vegetarian meal, and got an early night, cos our bus the next morning was at 5:30am!
We stood nearly at the front of the line to the first bus, feeling very proud of ourselves that we managed to get up and have breakfast by 5:30, but also because we bought our tickets for the bus the day before, and so missed the queues that morning. (Thanks to Kev's foresight!) It was also dark when we got on the bus, so we were hopeful we would get to see the sunrise as we entered MP. However, the sun rose with little ceremony as we made the zig zag ascent to the top, and we disembarked in the morning light. Our first sight of MP was pretty special... this is a place I'd been wanting to see for years, and I've seen so
many pictures of it, but nothing compares to seeing it in the flesh. Not only is it a very impressive city, and surprisingly intact, but the setting is spectacular. You are completely surrounded by magnificent Andean peaks. It must have been quite a remarkable existence for these Incans, tending their farms on such stunning slopes. One of the cool things about MP is that many of the other Incan sacred places were devastated by the Spanish Conquistadors, but the secretive location of MP protected it from vandalism. If I was Kev, I'd tell you lots of interesting facts about the history etc, but instead I'm just going to describe what we saw, and you'll have to find the rest out for yourself 😊
About half an hour into our exploration we found ourselves on top of the terraces by the guardian's hut. Most of the early risers had gathered around there - we presumed because it afforded an ideal spot for taking photos of the whole city. Even some of the llamas had gathered for the viewing, and the rest of the city was practically empty. We were busy taking photos and pinching ourselves, and admiring the perfectly blue
There goes the breath...
Machu Picchu seeing the sun skies and snow capped mountains, when suddenly it happened, and we realised why we were in the right place. It may have been light already, but the sunlight was yet to hit MP. As the sun rose between the distant mountain peaks and threw its light on this ancient city, we saw it in all it's glory, and it was breathtaking! We heard of other people doing the four day trek and missing the sunrise, or arriving when it was cloudy, but here we found ourselves witnessing a glorious sunrise on a perfect day amongst a string of cloudy ones. It was one day-long WOW moment! What a God, who would bring us to this sight!
Off we went through the city, taking advantage of the gorgeous effect of light and shadow on the ruins, and laughing at the alpacas and llamas as they wandered around their million-dollar-view homes. The mountain you always see behind MP in the pictures is called Huayna Picchu, and we decided to climb it before the city swelled with tourists by midday. Most of the climb was up large uneven stone steps, and it was not easy! Kev was feeling the strain in his
legs from the previous day's climb and I was feeling it in my lungs, which are not accustomed to much exercise! I would warn not-so-fit or not-so-young people that this climb might not be pleasant, but we watched a group of little Asian women (probably in their sixties) coming down from the peak as we were still going up! It put me to shame. But we did reach the top, albeit rather slowly, and had a much deserved rest on the summit. I made it my goal to encourage the despairing climbers on the way down, but towards the end of the descent, I was nearly ready to give up myself. But the views from the top were lovely, and definitely worth the climb. We spent the rest of the afternoon meandering through the endless maze of ruins. We even found a chinchia in one the rooms - very cute! By about 3pm we were pretty exhausted (we'd been exploring for 9 hours!) and it started to rain just as we went to the bus! Unfortunately some people were arriving just as we left.
We had a little while to wander throught the Aguas Calientes markets and eat yet
Free tickets
Birds at Machu Picchu another vegetarian meal before getting on the train back to Cusco. It was a long and tiring journey back, this time our legs cramped against two Danish girls spending 7 months going around parts of South America. Reminded us of how much our trip was a whirlwind one!
MP was an experience of a lifetime, and one of the most beautiful things we've ever seen. We gladly voted for it as one of the 7 new wonders of the world! We were back in Cusco for a day (which Kev has already blogged about) then off to London, which I was very excited about!
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Kit
non-member comment
wow is the only word for this place isn't it?? so glad you loved it as much as we did!! xx