Machu PIcchu

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Originally uploaded by theslaad.

On Friday evening we caught a train from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes. We’d spent the afternoon using the internet a bit and having dinner and got to the station a little early. That turned out to be a mistake as they didn’t let anyone past the station gates until about quarter of an hour before the train was due to leave. We then stood around in the cold for another hour waiting for an engine to pull the carriages. We could see our train, but we weren’t allowed on it. We finally got going at about nine o’clock and arrived in Aguas Calientes at 11pm. It was an odd train as only two carriages were designated backpacker carriages, all the rest were for locals. It seems to us that it’s not a very good way to organise your transport system especially since the only way from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes is by train. Peru rail have a huge monopoly over the tourists and so charge about 100 times what a bus would cost for the same distance.

We quickly found a hotel for the night in Aguas Calientes. It’s a funny village that seems to exist purely for tourists to catch the train. There are some hot springs around and a few shops, but it’s mostly hotels and restaurants. We paid 40 soles for our room for the night. The bus in the morning up to Machu Picchu cost 40 soles each! Nice bit of profiteering, as again your only other option is to walk up the mountain for three hours!

When we arrived at Machu Picchu we had a steep climb up to the watchman’s hut. Unfortunately we were a bit disappointed as we couldn’t see the ruins through all of the cloud that was surrounding us. But it turned out to be perfect. As we waited around the cloud slowly lifted to reveal the beautiful site that is Machu Picchu. The cloud stayed around for a bit longer on the mountain behind the ruins, but soon the sun came out and it was spectacular. We got some very cool photos and then walked down to the ruins themselves.

The craftsmanship on a lot of the buildings wasn’t quite as impressive as the Temple of the Sun at Pisac, but you could tell the important buildings as they had the straight edged large blocks and looked pretty amazing. The Incas were a hard working bunch of fellas, lifting all that rock around. We were wondering whether there was some kind of prestige involved in how big a piece of rock you got to work on.

There were some nice llamas hanging around the watchman’s hut, which gave the area a particularly Peruvian feel. We also met a chinchilla. He was a funny guy with a long tail who likes to live in the gaps in the rocks.

It’s a very expensive place to go but worth every penny. The ruins themselves are impressive, the sheer number of remaining buildings and the block work. But it’s the scenery that really makes it. The beautiful imposing mountains and the roaring Urubamba River make it a truly fantastic place to visit.

We spent most of the morning at the ruins and then headed back to the village where we had pizza at one of the many pizzerias and cooled off with a beer. The train back to Cusco was full days in advance so we could only go back as far as Ollantaytambo. The train left on time this time but did stop for forty minutes due to technical difficulties. When we arrived in Ollantaytambo we got a taxi with a Finnish girl who wanted to be back in Cusco quickly to catch a bus. At the last minute a Peruvian tour guide hopped in too, making it a cheap journey. It was quite good having him in the car as he told the driver to slow down a few times when the Finnish girl wanted to go quickly to catch her bus.

We arrived back in Cusco just after 8pm and headed back to our great hostel. The owners, Ludwig and Marita had cooked us a German roast dinner to come home to. It was delicious. Roast beef and elderberry sauce with potato dumplings and red cabbage and gravy. Yum! They are a lovely family and have looked after us very well. Their little two and a half year old Fiona is very cute. We played with her for a while too, but she’s not sure if she likes Chris and is sometimes a bit mean to him in Spanish.

Today is Easter Sunday and we hope everyone is having a good bank holiday weekend. They don’t do Easter Eggs around here but we do plan on buying some chocolate later.

Tomorrow we catch a train to Puno and Lake Titicaca – the highest navigable lake in the world!