| 2/23 and 2/24: Aguas Calientes and Machu Picchu |
|
|
|
| Written by Josh Seamon | |
| Wednesday, 25 February 2009 | |
|
Hello again everyone, Another two perfect days have come and gone. Our luck with weather has been astounding! 2/23 We woke up nice and early with 2:30am wake up calls. The kids were great about getting up and bringing all of their gear down. We had to pack up our day packs with everything we needed for the two days because you aren't allowed to bring big packs on the train and also because it's nice not to have to carry everything around. We left our big bags in storage at the Cuzco hotel and got on the bus. We took the same route to Ollytaytambo, but this time in the pitch dark. Our driver, as usual, was amazing and we cruised through the barely awake neighborhoods. We got to see Cuzco from above at night which was gorgeous. Everyone slept a bit and in about 1.5 hours we were at the Ollytaytambo train station. At the station we bypassed the ticket line as Nevers had already purchased our tickets. We got right into the minimally long train boarding line and within 10 minutes we were all on the "backpacker train", the cheapest way to get to Aguas Calientes, the gateway city to Machu Picchu. (You can only get their by train unless you take the multi-day hike in.) While waiting for the train to leave it quickly became lighter outside and by the time we left, about 15 minutes later, we had a good pre-dawn view of the mountains. As the train cruised by we slept a bit and watched the scenery. About 1.5 hours later the train came into Aguas Calientes, right on the narrow main street.There are no roads in the city except the one the buses use to take people to Machu Picchu. (The buses were trained in.) We got off the train into bright, semi-clouded cool yet warm weather, waited about 5 minutes to gather up and then crossed the tracks to our hotel which was right there. After checking in at 9:20am, we dropped the gear we didn't need in the hotel storage, re-applied sun block, and walked 2 blocks up the street to the bus station. We queued up and 10 minutes later we were on the bus to Machu Picchu. The trip took us 8 km along the very strong river, across the river, and up a dramatic switchback. On the way up we saw "Baby Mountain", the peak we will be climbing when we come back out next week. On the way up the clouds and fog were burning away giving us a clear view of everything. About 15 minutes into the ride we rounded a corner and got our first glimpse of Machu Picchu. Wow. The bus stopped in the cobble stone parking lot, let us off and we met our guide Jose -- a local to Aguas Calientes. We saw the one and only (very expensive!) hotel right next to the entrance to Machu Picchu as we walked the 50 yards to the ticket gate. Jose took us through, we rounded the corner and we got our first full, sun filled view, of the city. Wow. The experience was completely surreal. The weather was perfect. The sun was out, the sky was blue, and there were clouds wasping through the valley. Jose immediately took up up to one of the higher points outside the city where we got our first of many wonderful group shots and saw the city from above, with Wayne Picchu in the background, the big peak in all the pictures, the one we're going to climb in the early AM when we return. Jose continued to give us a detailed tour and we walked along part of the Inca train and through the main gate to the city. We spent 2 hours with Jose touring the city, learning a tremendous among along the way and enjoying every second. We say many temples, the royal house, the condor burial site, the sun tether, and many carved stone -- a reflecting stone to observe the sun carved in the shape of the king's (Inca's) eye. While touring we also saw many cute lizards,many swallows, a hawk, and several extremely cute Chinchilla's. We ended our tour at the highest point in the city, the sun tether. We then headed back to the main entrance and took a 20 minute rest break in the shade overlooking the valley. We enjoyed some fabulous chocolate ice cream and Nevers gave us back our passports, which he had gotten stamped with the Machu Picchu stamp. The the kids had the option to explore on the own in small groups, or come with me and Karen to the Inca bridge. 4 kids came with me and Karen and we reentered the city. The city was getting more crowded and it was hard to imagine what it would be like in the busy season when 4,000+ people visit the site each day. Upon entering we found that the temperature was 84.6! Nice! We continued along the south edge of the city, passed the grave yard (that Hiram Bigham gutted, brought to Yale, and to this day Yale won't give back -- nice) and along an incredibly scenic path. In about 20 minutes we came to the small draw bridge that we could only take pictures of because the trail no longer goes across it. We walked back to the entrance and met up with the rest of the group. About 10 minutes later we were back on the bus, enjoying the view, and looking at the trail we might walk down when we return next week. By 1:10 we were back in Aguas Calientes. We went straight to lunch off the bus and enjoyed another VERY tasty buffet lunch. Karen, Nevers and I had a great conversation and the kids were very animate as well. One thing we talked about was an 8-day hike that takes you to all four of the Inca cities, three of which you can only get to by hiking. Those cities are not fully excavated and would be wonderful to visit. We then rolled ourselves up some steps back to the hotel where we picked up our bags out of storage and got into our rooms, which were again amazing. This time we had the added bonus of the very rushing river being across the street, about 50 yard from every one's windows. The sound was so soothing. We had two hours of rest time where most of everyone slept. We then met back up at 3 and headed out to the market where the kid were set loose and Karen and I checked out the hotel we'll be staying in next week when we return. The hotel looks great and the couple running it were extremely nice. They showed us the rooms and then Karen and I walked to main square and enjoyed a coffee on a second floor balcony. The view was stellar and it rained a bit. Several hours later we met back up with the kids and had 15 minutes of chill time in before heading out to dinner about 25 yards down the street from the hotel. We had another yummy buffet dinner and more great group conversations. I battled with Rahel over my knowledge of Friends and the other kids tried to stump us. We talked about the coming days and then headed back to the hotel at 8:30 for an hour of rest... before dancing! Nevers found a very small discotech that we walked to. It was just us and maybe five other people and we had a glorious time dancing for a couple hours. Even me, Karen, and Nevers danced for a bit. The kids had a great time and then we walked through the rain --the first that we really had while outside -- and got back to the hotel around 11:30. By midnight everyone was sound asleep. Oh, Jarret was definitely the all star dancer of then night! 2/24 We got to sleep in for a while, which everyone thoroughly enjoyed after such a long day the day before. We had breakfast at the hotel and then the kids set our for 3 hours of free time. Karen and I headed north along the train tracks to the path up Baby Mountain. We hiked about half way up the exhilarating path to scope it out for our second trip back next week. The path was fun then we headed back down to the main square where we had more great coffee and I picked up a couple t-shirts. We met back up with the kids at noon and went to lunch on the second floor of a place on main street. We had several options and I had a tasty trout dish and other had chicken or beef, along with lemonade, tea, and alvarado plates. After lunch the kids were given more time to explore and Karen, Nevers, and I checked out the ticketing agents we'll need to deal with on our return. It turns out that it'll be easier to buy everything in Cuzco, something we're going to do later today. We met back up with the kids at 4:15 and walked to the train station. About 30 minutes later we were on the train, already missing the charming town. Yes it was a huge tourist trap and there was lots of construction, but it was a gorgeous place, small and fun to explore, and the weather was great while we were there. The 5pm train took about 1.5 hours to reach Ollytaytambo. On the train the kids chatted and slept -- the same thing I did. I had a great conversation with some very animate Brazilians. We reached Ollytaytambo while it was dark and immediately connected with our bus driver. 1.5 hours later at 8:35 we were back in Cuzco at the same hotel. We all had the same rooms and our big packs were already in the rooms. We dropped our day packs and came downstairs for dinner at the hotel. We had a nice chicken dish and Nevers went over the details of the coming days with Karen and I. We all then went back to our rooms and everyone was asleep by 11pm. Today we're heading out to textile factory and then to enjoy our first real time exploring Cuzco. It's not raining and it looks like it's going to be another perfect day. More pictures have been uploaded to the Peru 2009 gallery. Adios! - Josh |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
