Machu Picchu and Aguas Calientes

Machu Picchu

We arrived by bus and a fantastic train ride to Aguas Calientes, the town closest to Machu Picchu, one of the seven modern wonders of the world.  During the rainy season (now), the part of the rail line closest to Cusco is closed because of landslide danger on the tracks. The bus part of the journey roughly paralleled the tracks and was stunning.  The train ride through the Sacred Valley was even more impressive.

Summertime Andes views

The expedition train

The bus ride was just under two hours, and the train ride was about the same.  The train was as nice as any train we've seen in Japan or Europe.  The relatively expensive ticket prices at least seemed somewhat justified, though we surely would have been fine without such luxury.  The views of the Andes were absolutely incredible, with unbelievably steep and tall peaks on either side of the Sacred Valley.

The popular jumping on point for the 4-day trek on the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu.

Porters ready to hit the trail

Rio Urubamba

New Chilean friends on the train

Getting off the train in Aguas Calientes, I was reminded of Yosemite Valley.  The surrounding sheer rock faces are stunning.   We were already getting geared up and very excited to see Machu Picchu!  The sun was shining and we were warm again, a treat after being chilled in Cusco.  We easily walked across the Rio Aguas Calientes and up the car-less street to our hotel.  The narrow streets are lined with restaurants, hostels, souvenir shops and massage places.  Very touristy, but still very charming and reminiscent of a narrow street Paris or a ski village somewhere, when cuteness and charm easily outweighs the touristy-ness.  The whole town of Aguas Calientes is tucked in between the Rio Aguas Calientes and the mountains.  This town has sprung up, solely thanks to Machu Picchu’s fame and popularity.  The Rio Aguas Calientes runs into the larger Rio Urubamba. The road to Machu Picchu goes across the Urubamba, then up an unpaved switchback road, about a 30 minute bus ride.  Or you can hike up in 2.5 hours!

Our welcome photo with Pachacutec and friends.
This Incan king is credited with building Machu Picchu in the 15th century.

Aguas Calientes and the Rio by the same name

After checking into the very pleasant Hostal Imperio de los Incas and having lunch at one of many pizza places, we walked up the hill to the hot springs/termales.  The walk reminded us very much of Costa Rica; the plants and trees looked so familiar, we expected to see monkeys.  Instead, we heard my favorite bird call, the black-faced solitaire, that we call “glass harp bird."  The termales included about 6 or 7 pools of slightly different temperature and depth.  The pools were not natural (tiled), but the water was (a bit muddy).  It felt quite good and we enjoyed meeting a few Peruvians.  I am glad to see that some Peruvians can afford to come visit their country’s most famous landmark.  The pools were not nearly as nice as Costa Rica’s though.

Jungle walk to the termales.

Termales view

After an early bedtime, we started out the next morning from our hotel at 5am so that we could be on one of the first buses up the hill to Machu Picchu.  Our hotel provided bagged breakfasts which we ate while we waited for the bus.    We were thrilled to find a woman selling coffee to the people waiting in line. 

Our early morning bus line; we were not the only ones eager to arrive early.

 The entrance to Machu Picchu opens at 6, and we were there just a few minutes after.  We were still hopeful for a lovely sunrise view, though the fog was pretty thick.  We headed for the (Incan) guard house, from which the famous pictures of Machu Picchu with the peak Huayna Picchu in the background are taken.  Instead we got foggy views, with a few fleeting glimpses of some of the ruins below.  There were llamas to entertain us however.  At first they were sleepily grazing, then they all decided to step across the low fence meant to keep people off the grass and joined the human spectators waiting near the guard house for the view to clear.  Not sure if the llamas are there for photo ops or to keep the grass short.   Some llama pics:

Waiting and hoping for the fog to clear

After some waiting we decided that we were not going to get the perfect view we were hoping for so early in the day, so we returned down the hill to the main entrance to visit the only restrooms available and to hire a guide.  Our guide, Jose, was a native Quechua speaker, but conducted our tour in Spanish which he learned starting in Kindergarten, just like Sully.  For two hours, we walked through the ruins, visiting the most important sites, absorbing the elegant construction of Machu Picchu and learning about the Incas’ lifestyle there.  The majority of the construction was actually underground, laying the foundation and creating waterways to manage the heavy rainfall.   Some of our favorite spots were the Temple of the Sun (sunlight on the summer solstice passes through one window and on the winter solstice through the other window), Temple of the Condor and the Inca house that has perhaps the first indoor bathroom in the Americas.

Here we are!

Temple of the Sun, with its perfectly fitted stones.

Stone niches are very common; inside temples, mummified old emperors were placed here on special occasions.

Stone ring architectural element

Hummingbird: beak to the left, tail to the right.

During our tour it started to rain, so we donned our ponchos and continued on.  The sky was clear enough now to get some impressive views of the mountains all around and the Urubamba River far below.  We were impressed to hear that the terraces of Machu Picchu continue all the way down the slopes to the river.  Only a portion have been cleared, the rest still hidden underneath a blanket of trees.  Machu Picchu was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983.  UNESCO allows only for maintenance of the site now; no “remodeling” or rebuilding is allowed.  Archeologists are studying the terraces that remain covered by trees, but it sounds like these will not be cleared.  I think that Machu Picchu is so stunning because of its combination of incredible setting and the elegant and solid construction of the buildings and infrastructure.

Terraces high about the Urubamba

Chinchillas are residents of Machu Picchu

Madeleine took some especially beautiful photos, which she really enjoyed:

After our tour we returned to the entrance to eat the lunch we had brought; no food allowed inside Machu Picchu.  The tickets we had bought the day before included the hike up Mt Machu Picchu.  The more popular and shorter hike up Huayna Picchu was already booked up.  At this point, we were rethinking this hike, as it was still raining, and we were  concerned that it would be muddy and slippery hiking up.  The boys were ready to go back to our hotel, so I took them back, while Nik and Madeleine decided to try the hike.  While the boys and I enjoyed some down time back in our cozy hotel rooms, Nik and Madeleine successfully slogged up and up Mt Machu Picchu, climbing about 600 meters in about an hour and a half.  The hike consisted of many many stone steps that switched back many many times to the summit.  When they reached the top, the view was still fogged in, but about 10 minutes after they started down, the clouds lifted to reveal magnificent views of the Incan city and the surrounding mountains.  All in all, an incredible experience.

Made it!

Enthusiastic fellow hiker from Korea

A big view at last!

Heading down the steep trail

Nice work, you two!

Once we were all reunited, we celebrated with cuy (guinea pig), something we needed to try before leaving Peru.  Thankfully that was not the only thing we ordered, as it was a bit hard to palate.  There was not much meat, but what we did manage to eat tasted like... chicken! 

Our poor cuy on a bed of potatoes and vegetables.