Inca Rail Train Ride: The only way to get to Aguas Calientes and Machu Picchu is by train. The train ride from Ollyantaytambo to Aguas Calientes was a 1.5-hour beautiful and relaxing ride along the Vilcanota River in the Andes Mountains. We saw the Inca Trail at a few points where it crossed over the river. They served drinks, snacks and colca tea. They served colca tea everywhere because the colca helps to prevent and/or lessen the effects of altitude sickness. I did not like the tea, but I bought some colca candies and colca leaves to chew. We never had any problems with the altitude in the day, but would wake up frequently at night. The elevation in Aguas Calientes is 7,900 feet, which was a nice change from Ollyantaytambo at 9,200 and Cusco at 11,000 feet.
(See Photos)
Aguas Calientes (also called Machu Picchu Pueblo) is mainly a train station with hotels and restaurants to serve the thousands of people visiting Machu Picchu. It is a cute little town with lots of tourist stores and restaurants. It is located in the steep valley below the MP ruins, with two rushing rivers running through it. We enjoyed walking around and enjoyed the views of the valley and checked into our hotel.
(See Photos)
Inkaterra El Pueble Resort Hotel was really spectacular. Our room had a problem with the door not closing properly, so they upgraded us to a nicer room - no complaint from us! The property includes 12 acres of rain forest with 85 luxury cottages. The best part was the >100 species of butterflies, >200 species of birds and >270 species of orchids on the property. They have free guided tours on the property and we did the bird watching, and nature trail hike to see the butterflies and orchids. We were so glad to have two nights there and an extra day to enjoy the facilities.
(See Photos)
Wayna Picchu is the steep mountain behind the ruins. It took us 45 minutes to climb to the top which is at an elevation of 8825 feet, about 1,000 feet above the ruins. It was a steep climb and we had to stop many times along the way. The view of the valley and the ruins was spectacular! At the top, we ran into friends that we met from Spain, Austria and Texas. The climb down was a different path at the top and it was the steepest climbing I've ever done (with no rails)! You had to hold onto the steps behind you. If you had even a slight case of vertigo, this would be disastrous.
And finally,
Machu Picchu was definitely the highlight of our trip to Peru. It is very difficult to put into words, and the pictures don't really tell the story. It is something you really have to "experience". The site is so large and so well preserved. It was amazing that they let people climb all over it! Although they have initiated entrance restrictions. They only allow 2,000 people per day into Machu Picchu and 400 people on Wayna Picchu; 200 early morning and 200 late morning. Machu Picchu was built in 1450 as an estate for the Inca Emperor Pachacuti to escape the harsh winter months in Cusco. There are over 200 buildings including residential area, industrial area, area where the temples are located, a large main plaza, agricultural terraces, storage warehouses and lookout points. They are still excavating further down the mountain and finding more structures even today. My favorite part was the main plaza, as I could only imagine large gatherings where the emperor would give speeches from the side where the acoustics are such that you can hear very well below in the plaza and on the other side. We had a 3-hour private tour guide show us all the most significant parts of the citadel. The most interesting part was how they kept track of all their belongings on quipu strings (strings made from alpaca hair). There could be up to 2,000 strings, with knots tied at various points in each string to record the number of sheep, llama, buildings, gold, people, taxes, etc. After our tour, we broke for lunch and then we hiked up to Intipunku (the Sun Gate) where people on the Inca Trail enter the site. It was about an hour hike and the views again were wonderful. We took the first bus up to the site at 5:30 am and one of the last to leave ~5:30 pm. It was a wonderful day!
(See 30 out of 200 Photos)
So ends our trip to Peru. We spent 18 action-packed days, saw many different cultures and lifestyles, learned about all the pre-Columbian societies, had many fabulous meals, and met many wonderful people along the way. It was truly an experience that we'll remember forever.
More Later - G&T