Watching the sun rise over Machu Picchu

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The train trip to the magnificent ruins of Machu Picchu from Ollantaytambo a distance of 46 klms - in a very modern train (but not cheap!) - took about one and half hours. It followed the river most of the way and we had regular sightings of the mountains in the distance. The river - Rio Urubambo - was very fast flowing though didn´t appear very deep. We saw severe damage to the river bank though from major floods last year which closed the site down totally for a few months. We also passed the beginning of the famous Inca Trail, a 4 day walk to the site. The trek is 43 klms long but goes over 3 high mountain passes to get there. Only 500 people (including porters) a day are allowed to walk the trail now and we had heard that some tour agencies in Cusco were encouraging people to carry their own packs (so as not to employ porters) as they walked the trek. This allowed the agencies to make more money each trek. We saw lines of tourists and porters at the beginning checkpoint being counted as they left. We spoke to many people who did the trek - most enjoyed it a lot but all said that in certain parts of it there were lines of people waiting to pass.
The train line finishes at Aguas Calientes which was built solely to serve the tourists - it comprises of a few streets lined with guesthouese and restaurants. It is surrounded by high walls of stone and forrest and was nicer than we expected, particularly around the river which had been prettily landscaped. We easily found a cheap hotel for the evening - I would be very surprised if all the hotels were ever full. We were the only people staying in the hotel we chose. The only reason to stay overnight in Aguas Calientes is to enable you to arrive at Machu Picchu for sunrise.
A very ordinary meal and an early night followed. Next morning we were up in the dark and headed to the bus station. From this point the only way to the ruins (beside walking) is to catch a bus. We were amazed at how many people were lined up waiting to catch the buses. The buses left numerically and we were on number 20 with a very long queue behind us still. It was a 20 minute drive up a very steep road to the sight. I was very excited - Machu Picchu has been on my list of 'must see' places for a long time. We had bought our tickets the evening before and joined the queue to get in. There were actually two queues - we ended up in the wrong one - as the first 400 people in one queue get a special entrance stamp allowing them to climb the very steep path up Wayna Picchu (the triangular mountain in the background of all photos of Machu Picchu). I realised we were in the wrong queue just as they were about to give me the magic stamp for the mountain. We had no intention of climbing it so quickly got out of the queue. Many people missed out on getting a stamp so that gives you an idea of how many tourists were there at 6am in the morning!
It was a massive site and we quickly climbed up to the viewpoint above to watch the sun rise. It was cold and took nearly an hour for the sun to come up and light up the stones. We then spent hours wandering around - we loved the Temple of the Sun, a curved tower with amazing stone work and the Temple of the Three Windows which overlooked a large grassy area dotted with grazing llamas. Another very interesting area was around a large carving of a head of a condor with natural rocks representing it´s wings behind. The whole site was fascinating however. We obeyed the list of rules in the ticket office and didn´t take any food or plastic bottles to the site - a big mistake as we seemed to be the only people who had taken notice (everybody else had picnic lunches) so we had to leave the site to buy food and water at very expensive prices. The toilets were off site as well - it was a long walk back to them. There were guards everywhere but the only thing they were getting upset about were people lying down on the grassy areas. When they saw people doing it they would yell and blow whistles frantically.
By lunch time the site had become very busy - the day trippers who come from Cusco (probably the majority of the visitors) started arriving at around 11am. We found a secluded spot where we spread some of David´s ashes. He would have loved the vista of the mountains and river - the region is at the edge of the jungle.
Eventually the heat and glare chased us away so we boarded the bus to take us back down the mountain to our hotel. Machu Picchu lived up to all of my expectations - it was truly impressive and I feel so lucky to have visited it. One more night in Aguas Calientas before we caught the early morning train back to Ollantaytambo. We met a very interesting man - an archeologist who now leads tours - on the return trip. He gave us a fascinating insight into the region as he had worked around Machu Picchu for over 40 years. He told us that the site had been discovered by the Spanish as they have recently found written evidence that the Spaniards had been making the inhabitants of the site pay taxes. It had previously been thought that it had been a secret for centuries until it´s discovery in 1911. He also told us about a race that the porters have each year - the record for running the Inca Trail (43 klms) is 4 hours!
Another great day ended - off to spend another few nights in Cusco (mentioned in previous Cusco blog) before crossing into Bolivia........

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