Monday, September 7, 2015

Up early and Omar is back. He drives us with Wilson to the Ollantaytambo train station where we board the Peruvian Rail train to Aguas Calientes (6,690), the Machu Picchu base camp. The train follows the Urubamba River downstream so that Aguas Calientes and even Machu Picchu are well below the elevation of Urubamba (9,420), which is well below Cusco (11,150). As we travel downstream the vegetation changes until we are in the jungle. Getting off the train, porters take our luggage to the hotel while we board the bus for the 30-minute ascent up the windy dirt road to Machu Picchu (7,970). We arrive and are instantly impressed, as it appears every visitor is. With Wilson as our faithful guide, answering our questions, taking our picture and really letting us get an understanding of this unique place and the people who made it, we hike up the terraces near the entrance to the classic overlooks of the main plaza. Our first agenda item is to pose for our photo in several spots, hoping to get that memorable shot of our visit to Machu Picchu and Peru. We then descend down from one of the agricultural areas to explore the Temple of the Sun and other areas of this fascinating place. We leave for lunch at the Sanctuary Lodge Hotel. Rather than leave after lunch, we return to the first vista just to spend time looking over the magical site. Finally we head back to the bus and descend down to Aguas Calientes and our hotel, the Inkaterra. The hotel is beautifully decorated and reminds us a bit of the Chobe Game Lodge in Botswana. We have dinner at the hotel and return to our room.

The train to Aguas Calientes

Aguas Calientes: home base for our trip up Machu Picchu

Aguas Calientes

The high Andes from the train

The classic view of Machu Picchu!

It is way more spectacular that any photo can capture;
Waynapicchu is the mountain in the back and if you look closely
you can see the small ruin at its peak

Kathy checking out the raw material for her sweater!

Machu Picchu is set upon the edge of a cliff; you can see the Urubamba River far below

Some of the terraces of Machu Picchu; the "gatehouse" above is where the classic Machu Picchu photos are taken

In the part of Machu Picchu where the stones are not as carefully placed

The doorway to the "nicer" part of the city where the stones are more carefully placed

The stones carved and smoothed exactly

Looking down the terraces; Incan and pre-Incan terraces are found throughout the Andes

"Macho" Picchu

The restaurant at the Inkaterra hotel