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Published: December 16th 2008
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Having been set up for our onward voyage in Cusco, we hopped on the Peru rail backpacker train for our next adventure - the infamous Machu Picchu. It was yet another early start to Aguas Calientes, the little town which was our drop point off for the ancient Incan site. Somewhat overpriced, there´s no avoiding this town for anyone who wants to experience Machu Picchu
We checked into our hostel and had a quick look around to see what was on offer. Unfortunately for us there wasn´t much so we resorted to dining with a parrot in a local restaurant. This was exactly as it sounds!
Before we reached Aguas Calientes we had heard about a little walk-come-trek that can be done close enough to the town with spectacular views. So off we went with high hopes and the best of intentions. Then the rain came! We fled back to our hostel with our tails between our legs. Having spent some time in the hostel and having had our fill of boredom we decided to throw caution to the wind and make the walk regardless of what mother nature was willing to throw at us. Now armed with rain
Secrets
A private chat between pals coats and rain ponchos, we set off again with a new found Rocky Balboa-like determination. It´s probably worth mentioning at this point that it was now 4:30 in the afternoon and we heard that it was a 2 hour walk there and back. Off we went braving the elements, competing with the altitude, over-coming our inner demons and singing rebel songs to keep our spirits up. Then we got lost! We came across a local lad who, when we told him where we wanted to go, made a poor attempt at containing his laughter and told us that it was too late and maybe we should try again in the morning. With both our clothes and spirits dampened, we yet again turned on our heels with our collective tail between our legs and headed back in the general direction of the town. With our, by now well honed, survival skills we deduced that if we follow the train tracks we would eventually make our way back to the town. After another hour´s walking down the tracks, through tunnels and a brief stint of train dodging, we finally arrived back in the town. With this little escapade behind us we thought
Daithi
Our dining friend it best to save whatever energy we had for the following day´s merriment up on Machu Picchu
Under our tour guide´s instruction we got up early bright eyed and bushy tailed for the first bus up to Machu Picchu. We were told that at 7am they opened the gates to Huaynu Picchu, a steep sided mountain up which you trek and are rewarded with spectacular views over-looking the town of Machu Picchu. Having arrived in Machu Picchu at 6am we wasted no time in running through the ruins to get to the gate of Huaynu Picchu as they only allow 400 people in a day to trek the mountain and often the demand is greater than the capacity can allow so many people leave disappointed. Lies all Lies!!! We were around the 5th and 6th in line and having scrambled up the mountain nature wasn´t on our side as we saw nowt but cloud at the top. Having said that it was definitely worth it and Victoria was like a mountain goat as she sprang up the mountain in no time. Then when we reached the bottom there were still people going up. We were now under the distinct
Clash of opinion
Vicki discusses the decline of the Incas with young Daithi impression that our tour guide was telling porky pies and having a laugh at the expense of us naive Micks! After a 3 hour wait our guide turned up and off we set on our guided tour of Machu Picchu. As usual, Conor the Inquisitor here was probing our guide and asking questions left, right and centre no doubt much to the dismay of the rest of the group. We´re here to learn people! An American lad named Hiram Bingham found this ancient town in 1911 with the help of a little local boy who already knew where it was which would indicate that it wasn´t lost in the first place. Bingham was originally looking for the Lost City of the Incas which was said to be full of gold but he settled for this. Funnily enough the town isn´t actually called Machu Picchu. That´s the name of the mountain behind it. No one knows what the town is called because it´s been deserted for centuries. That´s all for now!
We made our way through the various parts of the town learning about all of the different functions of each ruin. For example the sun dial, Prison group the centre
The morning view
As we queued for Huaynu Picchu piece of which is the head of a condor and the natural rocks resemble wings. This is where we heard about one of the most absurd activities on our travels. There´s a town in Peru where 6 men fill a dead donkey´s body with the local beer. A condor spots the carcass and having had his fill of meat is now piss drunk. The 6 lads capture the condor and strap it to a bull´s back. A condor is a huge bird standing about 4 foot tall and with a 10 foot wing span. They give the condor a little more drink for good measure and let the bull loose around the town. The condor´s locked and pecking the bull´s back to bits and the bull´s fuming it´s got a bird on it´s back. Eventually they let the condor go to bring the blood of the bull to the gods which the locals believe will ensure a good harvest. The bull isn´t so lucky
After another fantastic experience we got the bus back down to Aguas Calientes, gathered our stuff and hopped on the train back to Cusco. Tomorrow is another adventure. Off to Puno we go and the edge
of Lake Titicaca
We would both like to thank everyone for your messages and comments both on the blog and email. They mean a lot!
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