Another early morning! But breakfast was waiting for us and there were a few early risers, making their Machu Picchu plans. Coffee, fruit, cereal, croissants, toast, ham, cheese, what more could you want!
We arrived at the train station after about a 30min drive. There were a lot of people and we got in line as they had closed off the platform until they were ready for boarding. We had Vistadome class (because the Backpacker’s train was sold out). They finally started boarding at 6.30am and the Peru Rail trains were painted a beautiful blue and had little steps to board. How cute! Our carriage was the last one on the train and most of the seats were in groups of 4 facing each other, with a table in between. Roz and Mark were on one side of the isle and I was on the other, with an American family. Roz and Mark didn’t have anyone opposite them.
The train was freezing cold and we all had our own fleece blanket. We all had our fleeces and beenies and scarves on. I got chatting to the American family, who were from Indiana. They were very nice, the Mum started talking about all the mission trips she had done to S.America, and her last trip to Israel to see where the Lord came from etc. Okayyyyyyyyy. Then they asked me where I was from, and amazingly, they had heard of Perth, Western Australia! And the Husband said ‘Hey you come from the most remote city in the world!’. Great. I’m glad they knew that!
So after about 15mins, I changed my seat and sat opposite Mark and Roz.
We ended up being served a small snack on the train which was really nice as we were not expecting anything, and the hotel had packed us some biscuits, sandwiches, fruit and water. The scenery was beautiful. We ended up winding our way past beautiful farmland, we could see lot of cows and pigs, and there were many children who were waving to the train! After an hour we started climbing and went through a few switchbacks. We could see the tops of mountains and some even had snow. Suddenly we were passing through a valley with mountains on either side and the vegetation started looking more tropical. In another hour we had reached Aguas Calientes, the town at the foot of Machu Picchu.
There was a porter waiting for us and he grabbed our bags and headed to our hotel, the Inti Punku, which was a 5 min walk from the train station. We tried to check in but our room wasn’t going to be ready till 11am, so we had to wait for 30mins. We had walked through a huge market on our way to our hotel so we went back there for a look around. Well it was a lot more expensive than Cusco, Arequipa and Lima! If you are ever in Aguas Calientes, don’t shop here!!
We finally checked in and made our way to the bus stop. We bought our bus tickets and unfortunately I had given the lady our $10 note without a serial number. Even though the Peruvian currency is the Sole, they take the US $ for everything, and are really anal about the notes. So after I had boarded the bus, she came running after me and insisted I give her another $10 because she was going to get into trouble for submitting that $10 note. I really didn’t have another one and a heated discussion took place, until Roz turned up and luckily had $10 on her. I was wondering if the ticket lady was going to throw me off the bus, even though I had already submitted my ticket.
We were finally on our way on our ‘Eco Friendly’ bus. Each bus took around 25 people up the mountain through a series of switch backs, on a dirt road that was only wide enough for one bus. So what happened when we met another bus head on, coming in the other direction?? Face off!! No, not really, one of the buses reversed into a crevice or pulled over so the other one could pass. It was a pretty hairy yet absolutely beautiful ride up the mountain. It was around 1pm when we arrived at Machu Picchu, and we walked towards the ticket gate, expecting to have our backpacks checked for food and water, as apparently you couldn’t take anything into the area. Well nobody searched our bags, and we didn’t take any food or water with us. We submitted our tickets and were finally on a path, walking upwards. We came to a junction, that either went up towards the Guardhouse or you could take the path straight around the front, and we decided to go up! There were many, many, many stone steps but as we climbed higher, we could suddenly see the postcard view, It was breathtaking, and I had a tiny lump in my throat, I couldn’t believe we were here!!
So we took the obligatory photo in front of Machu Picchu and thought we should visit the Sun Gate, the gate that people doing the trek walk through at sunrise. Although we had a map, we didn’t take the right path and ended up climbing up and up and up for at least 45 minutes. I was getting really worried because we did not meet anyone on this trail. Mark said he was going ahead for 5 minutes and if he didn’t find anything he would come back down. So Roz and I waited and Mark finally emerged and we walked back down! down! down! and realised we were on the trail to Machupicchu mountain! Some signs would have been very helpful!!
We were very very thirsty and tired by the time we came back down as it was hot, and were kicking ourselves that we didn’t bring any water with us. So we then walked back towards the main area to see if there were any water fountains, and found the path for the Sun Gate but decided to forgo it in case we died of cardiac arrest. We spent the next few hours just wandering around and enjoying the views. A lot of people had left and so we basically had the place to ourselves, well us and the llama’s! I got some great pictures when the sun was low and there was a lovely golden glow on the rocks. The terraces were so beautiful, at some places we thought we were at a cliff edge, but then when we looked down there were beautiful terraces everywhere.
We ended up hiking all over Machu Picchu over two days. The second day was an eye opener, it was overrun by tourists, but at least we had water and snacks the second day. There were so many tour groups, each with their own guide, even Peruvians speaking Japanese. There were a lot of elderly tourists with walking sticks, which really surprised me, as they were the ones talking the path up! up! up! I felt really sorry for them as we passed a lot of them going up, and then a lot of them going down. It was obvious that some of them were having problems with the altitude and the hiking.
My favourite part of Machu Picchu was the sitting by the gate to Huayna Picchu. There was a lovely view where we sat and just took it all in. I also loved the fountains, and the stone work at the temple zone, and of course, the Astronomical observatory. Also, I could gaze at the terraces for hours. There was a very funny incident when we were checking out the fountains, a group of llamas just pushed themselves onto the path and decided they were going to graze on the terraces. Mark, Roz and I were scrambling to find a crevice to stand in in case we were knocked over, man they are huge! I was busy trying not to look them in the eye in case I got a face full of llama spit.
We stayed overnight in Aguas Calientes, the town at the foot of Machu Picchu. Besides the huge market, there is not much to this place, and its actually a very ugly town, with construction everywhere you look. The best part was seeing the locals celebrating the Virgen Del Carmen festival. The men were dressed like how the Spanish used to dress, with white shirts, black pants, big hats and sashes, and masks to hide their faces as it was the only time they would mix with the locals and they didn’t want to be recognised. Also the women wore beautiful white shirts with full brightly coloured skirts and danced beautifully.
After two days in Machu Picchu we were happy to get back on the train and head to Ollantaytambo and the Sacred Valley.
Tags: Aguas Calientes, Llamas, Machu Picchu, Peru, Peru Rail
