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Published: December 14th 2007
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VIew Fom Bedroom Window
Looking out onto the village secondary school with the mountains in the background. Thursday 13th December:
On Tuesday evening I went out for a bite to eat in Aguas Calientes and found that the village was saturated with restaurants all vieing for business. After looking at a few menus I chose a place which could have easily seated 80 plus but there were only two other couples in there. All the other restaurants also have few people in them, probably because it´s the low season. Incidentally, I gave a miss to the stuffed guinea pig on the menu (apparently a delicacy out here) - otherwise the food was good.
I made an early start yesterday morning to catch the 5:30 bus to Machu Picchu; 'arrived just after six in a full bus. The entrance procedure took a few minutes (entrance fee £25). I went directly to Wayne Picchu - a mountain peak in the Sacred Valley from which you have a bird´s eye view of the whole Inca site of the lost city. The entrance to the trail didn´t open till 7:00 so I waited and chatted to a Peruvian chap who now lives in California flying helicopters. I teamed up with him to climb the mountain - it was steep and slippery from
River Aguas Calientes
The mountain river roars through the centre of the town and can be heard from almost anyhwhere. the heavy rain the previous night. ´Though it wasn´t raining it was cloudy and misty (it´s the rainy season here). It wasn´t too good for photos until we got above the clouds. After an hour (and quite a few breaks) we finally reached the peak; not commercially developed, just a rock outcrop from which there was a 360 degrees panoramic view. The clouds masked much of the view but when they moved it was like opening a door to spectacular scenes. We rested at the top for about half an hour and although we were the first up there, it rapidly became crowded.
The route back down was just as tricky; we didn´t do a direct descent, but detoured to have a look at some caves. This meant we didn´t get back to the entrance until 12:30. On the way down we saw a greater variety of birdlife and butterflies than on the way up. It started to rain at about 11:00 and persisted through the whole day. After a break for a light lunch I did a further 20 minute trek to look at the Inca Bridge - a bit disappointing as it was a built-up stone pathway against
Head in the Clouds
Nearly at the peak, just climbing above the clouds. a cliff. The site, by now was filling up with many tourists - lots of US and Japanese visitors. I toured around the other areas of the site before heading for the exit, physically exhausted. When I got on the bus back to Aguas Calientes I fell asleep - I just woke up as it was pulling into the village. I had a badly needed hot shower and a nap; despite my raincape I was soaked through. I had intended to go to the hot springs in the evening but as it was still raining when I woke up, I gave them a miss. My soaked clothes posed a bit of a problem as there was no obvious way of getting them dry; after some negotiating with the hostel owner, I left them with her to be laundered ready for Thursday morning. My trainers and rucksack cleaned and dried for free. I went out for a meal followed by a few pisco sours as a nightcap.
The staff in the hostel were disorganised - no breakfast ready for me this morning; the owner sent her daughter out to get bread while she made the coffee. Time was running out and
Looking down from Wayne Picchu
Bird´s eye view of the River Aguas Calientes and part of the valley. I had a train schedule to meet. Furthermore I had asked for my clothes, rucksack and trainers on three occasions but still hadn´t got them. Eventually I got a breakfast which I bolted down, quickly packed my returned clothes etc and made a dash for the station. I just got there in time and shared a carriage with the US couple I met on the way to Aguas Calientes. It was a lovely scenic journey back to Ollantaytambo where I shared a collectivo with a Mexican lady who had just completed the four day Inca trail. She was a writer; she wrote plays in spanish and got many of her ideas from her travels. From Cuzco I went direct to the airport and got an earlier ´plane to Lima than that booked. On arrival at Lima I looked into travel onwards so as to arrive in Belem by Sunday evening. Unfortunately, no airline flies direct from Lima to any of the north Brazilian cities; I had no choice but to book a flight to Sao Paulo and when I get there sort out a domestic flight. I managed to get a reasonably priced one for tomorrow at 1:00pm. So I
On the Way back Down
The descent was not as easy as I expected; it didn´t help as we detoured to find some old caves. booked myself into a hostel in Lima for tonight and got a taxi there. The hostel is close to the centre so ´had a wander round Plaza Mayor and the main pedestrianised shopping area before getting a bite to eat.
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