15 September 2013
Back again, we are all feeling a lot better today, we really hit the wall yesterday having had an absolutely exhausting and full on first month, culminating with Machu Picchu and the climb up Huayna Picchu, which majestically sits over MP. We had a bloody awful train ride back from MP yesterday on Peru rail, with a carriage full of older Americans who were loud to say the least, on top of them there was Peruvian music blasting to the point we couldn't even talk and there was no air conditioning working, couldn't get the windows open and to add insult to injury we had to endure a dance and fashion show to even LOUDER peruvian music up and down the aisle while the rail staff modelled their alpaca gear to try and sell it! It was hell!! So by the time we arrived back in Ollantaytambo we were exhausted and could hardly think straight!
Peru Rail to Machu Picchu
However getting to MP was so much more relaxing, we had the front row of seats at the front of the train, and had a birds eye view of the train working its way down the narrow valley to MP. No loud music, just the gentle swaying of the train! On arrival in MP we went to the bus stop to buy our tickets to take us to the entrance of MP tomorrow- it was a ridiculous amount of money US$18.50 return, but they have you by the short and curlies so we had little choice, apart from to walk of course! Our lodge was down some dodgy looking alley and up a steep set of stairs, but it was all worthwhile, it was set off the alleyway and our room had a little balcony that looked onto some of the terracing of Machu Picchu, some 500m in altitude up the valley.
We had a quick stroll around town before dinner and it is door to door restaurants and hotels/ hostels with not much else, all the locals are constantly hawking to get people into their place! The town itself is called Aguas Calientas (hot springs) and is particularly unattractive with just about every building looking like it needs finishing, as they don't plaster anything but leave the grey or red brick exposed with dried cement seeping from every join. It's a shame as the scenery around the town is so dramatic with huge towering cliffs surrounding it on every side, scenery that deserves a better looking urban environment.
The bus system up to the MP entrance was efficient and quick, we were up there relatively early so we could watch the sunrise on the ruins, the downside was, so were lots of others! When I was here last (17 years ago) there was hardly a soul around and we stood at the sungate well above MP to watch the sun come up. Still it was a wonderful experience and Curtis was too blown away with it, I think it's his second favourite place on this trip, the Amazon being his first. He loved learning about its history and what each area was for, his interest has surprised Andy & I, as he has been dragged around quite a few ruins since we arrived in Cusco and he seems to have enjoyed them all, particularly the history attached to them. There is much discussion even still about the exact purpose of MP, but it is obvious that it was a very important place for the Incas, enough that they decided to abandon it 2 years after the Spanish invasion to protect it from being found.
The first rays of the day hitting Huayna Picchu
The joy of being there!
There are religious, agricultural and urban areas within the city and it is thought in addition to these it also played an important political role in the Inca empire. All roads throughout the inca empire lead to Machu Picchu.
The Temple of the Sun
The southern cross
The Condor stone in the temple of the condor
We strolled around for around 3 hours and then we were in the second group of 200 allowed up Huayna Picchu, which is the steep pointed mountain that you can see in the photos behind MP. It's about a 500m climb and apparently is about 2700 steps! Brilliant training for the Kepler Sonja, in fact Curtis was was saying on the way down how you would have been mad enough to go down on your bike at full pelt!! The steps were carved out of the natural stone, many different shapes, sizes and degrees of unevenness. It didn't seem to deter Curtis too much though, he shot up ahead of us, with instructions he was to stop if the path got hairy, (it did in a couple of places!) needless to say he felt OK and continued. His favourite part was a really neat tunnel that went through a natural fissure in the rock where we had to crawl on our hands and knees to get through. The Incas had even carved steps out of there as well! We managed to catch a couple of glimpses of his backside every now and then, but basically caught up with him at the top!
Top of Huayna Picchu
The top!
We spent at least an hour having some lunch and enjoying the spectacular view of Machu Picchu from here and the vista of the surrounding mountains. Apparently the shape of all the buildings and terracing of MP are in the shape of a Condor - can you see it?! Huayna Picchu was also very important to the Incas, it had a religious significance and they had built temples towards the top, which were also amazing to see, the effort it would have taken to build so far up and on such steep terrain.
On returning to the ruins, we still had more to see of MP, so wandered around listening to other group's guides to glean some local knowledge on the area and we also had a guide book we could refer to. We chose not to get a guide as then we could wander at leisure and go where the crowds weren't! The Peruvian government now restrict the number allowed to visit the site each day to 2,000. Apart from the really large groups that moved around together, it didn't seem too many people, and was easy enough to find some solitude and try and transport yourself back 600 odd years to imagine life as it might have been. MP is officially one of the modern wonders of the world and a UNESCO heritage site.
A fine example of the Inca's skillful masonry
Inca door and window
One of the finest walls
Royal household
Urban area - Machu Picchu
By 2 pm we had had a long day already and Andy had a cooking class booked at the hotel for 4 pm. So we made our way down the hill to Aguas Calientas. The cooking class was for about an hour and he started with learning how to make a pisco sour, which I got to drink! Very nice too, so could be a few of those being made at Christmas! Then he went to the kitchen and did a ceviche starter, they use trout as its really the only fish they can get fresh. It comes from the local river, the Urabamba. - great gives us another dish to do at Hatepe and I definitely feel happier about eating the trout coming out of the Hinema River, the Urubamba looks alot more polluted! Anyway having said that it was delicious and the three of us wolfed it down! Next course was Quinotta Pollo - chicken with quinoa - apparently they have many types of quinoa, they used just three in this dish - red, black and white, again delicious and even better washed down with a gin and tonic at happy hour, a good end to an amazing day. In fact it was so good Andy was a little disappointed the chef didn't offer him a job! - it must have been because of the language barrier!
The chef at work!
Making the ceviche
Second course - Quinotta pollo
Our abode at Rupawasi Wasi Lodge
Rupawasi Wasi - on the move again!
We had a night in Cusco before we flew to Quito, Ecuador. Cusco is a wonderful city and although it has grown ten fold in the last 17 years, it has still retained its historic character in the centre. There are great restuarants, we got to try the guinea pig, wasn't too impressed, but we had to give it go, hardly feeds one really! Mind you the Peruvians eat the whole lot, including the brains, needless to say we weren't that hungry!
Leaving Peru was frustrating and in fact most of our airport encounters in Peru have shown Peru to still be an incredibly backward country although they have got incredibly skilful at fleecing the gringo and charging well over the value of the service they offer! LAN is particularly bad at the airport organisational stuff, we turned up the obligatory 2 hours before and as usual there was the most enormous line snaking its way to the 2 LAN check in desks. There would have been over a hundred people in this queue. The other 2 that were open were for those who were lucky enough to be able to pre check in in the LAN offices in advance. We have done that a couple of times but LAN's system is having problems and won't allow us to do it! So we waited and slowly advanced, meanwhile locals were turning up late to check in and got moved ahead of the queue so they didn't miss their flight. Just as they managed to clear the 50+ French group in front of us they opened up 2 more counters! By this stage we had steam coming out of our ears. However we made it and just made the call for our flight.
We leave tomorrow early and return in 9 or 10 days. We may have some wifi, but it's minimal. Curtis is extremely excited as we are. Managed to pick up a great deal.
Adios for now
Karen, Andrew and Curtis
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