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Published: June 22nd 2017
Geo: -13.1628, -72.5158
Now for the day we were waiting for. A morning trip to Ollantaytambo started the day. The main features are the terraces used for agriculture. The Inca never built on fertile land. They also built terraces to extend this fertile land. On the side of the terraces was part of an Inca trail. Not sure where it goes but I walked it. There are thousands of Inca trails in South America. I walked on one! I think I am the only person in the group that did. We boarded the Orient Express, Hiram Bingham train to the base of Machu Picchu. The name Orient Express inspires luxury and this train had it.
We arrived at the base of Machu Picchu but not there yet. A 30 minute bus ride up a mountain with switch backs. In January a rock slide closed the road. They had to break up this huge rock, the size of a bus, by hand to open the road. We arrived at Machu Picchu around 1. The pictures can show the beauty of this special place. The Spanish never found it so the only thing that changed this place was time and nature. The pictures are
spectacular but being there is something we will never forget. The area closes around 4 and we met for a light snack in the hotel that was illegally built on the mountain. Within 20 minutes, the fog and clouds came in and Machu Picchu was again lost from view. A great day with just a few sprinkles. Back down the hill via the bus to the train then back to Cusco.
The journey back to the trip was full of surprises too. The 4:30 wakeup call started the day. Most of you know I am not an early morning person. I only like to see 4:30 once a day and that is in the afternoon. We flew from Cusco to Lima. Upon arrival in Lima, we were told there no plane for us to get back to the ship due to mechanical problems. Celebrity arranged for us to have breakfast in the hotel and we would need to wait for news. Finally at 10:30, we were told that the flight would occur at 2:15, 3 hours late. The flight was 2 hours and then we have a 3 hour bus ride to the ship. The ship was due to leave at
6pm. We arrived in Manta at 9:00. The ship had to leave port and drop anchor and wait for us. A short tender ride and we were back on the ship. A very long day but one with great memories.
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