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Published: August 9th 2014
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Today, Friday, was our day to visit Machu Picchu. This Incan settlement is one of the seven wonders of the world, and it did not disappoint! The exact purpose of the place and even it's age are not known. And it's not exactly an obvious place to build a town. There are the remains of around 200 houses on the site thought to have housed about 1000 people in the 15th century. What is really amazing is that this huge complex was built at the top of a very large and steep mountain, in a way that it can't be seen from the valley below. When the Spanish conquistadors were beating up the Incans in the 16th century they never even found this place! An American explorer and archeologist called Hiram Bingham re-discovered Machu Picchu in 1911 and "borrowed" a lot of artifacts that were only returned to Peru in the last few years. Bingham was apparently the inspiration for the film character Indiana Jones.
To get to Machu Picchu there are only two choices - a four day hike on the Incan Trail or a train ride. We took the lazy route and boarded a train in Ollantaytambo. The
train winds 25 miles along the river valley for about 90 minutes. The views of the steep valley and the tall mountains are spectacular through large windows in the roof of the train, and the white water of the river is impressive too. The train stops in the small and rather grotty town of Aguas Calientes where we took a bus for a 20 minute ride up a series of hairpin bends up the side of a mountain. That ride was scarier than some roller coasters, especially given the light rain on the muddy road.
The last leg is the short walk up the hill into Machu Picchu which is astounding. If this town were built on level and low ground it would still be quite something, but the fact that it is perched on top of a steep mountain makes it truly special. And its still in remarkably good condition. Unfortunately the weather wasn't great for our visit as clouds and rain rolled through the area. The cheap plastic raincoats that we bought in Aguas Calientes led the kids to rename the village Machu Poncho! Thankfully the rain wasn't constant and we got plenty of stunning views and photo
opps. I'll load a few photos to the blog as they'll describe things better than any words.
After a few hours exploring we braved the bus back down the mountain. Our coffee in the town plaza was going well until the power cut - poor Carys was the only one not to get her drink. We had expected the evening train ride home to be uneventful but we were wrong. A manic fellow dressed as a kind of rainbow-coloured lion came dancing through our carriage and he obviously knew that Carys didn't get her drink as he asked her to dance in the aisle with him! Lots of laughs helped the trip go by fast.
We had all looked forward to seeing Machu Picchu and we all feel like it lived up to the hype. A little less rain would have been good but Carys has often said she wanted to touch the clouds and today she not only got to touch them but also walk through them, breathe them and smell them! A great day.
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michael summers
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Buenos you sausages - large and small
Thanks for the latest report. Good to have a drop of rain. All your pics seems to show no crowds. Is that clever photography or is it not invaded by tourists? Pity about the drink Carys. Love to all.