The pictures I forgot to take yesterday

Being here overnight was a privilege.  When we awoke to heavy rain this morning, though, we were unsure whether to quit whilst we were ahead and take part in one of the hotel’s eco activities (going to see the spectacled bears!) or to take our chances and head on back up to Machu Picchu and complete our visit by exploring the areas we missed yesterday.

Well, really, there was no decision.  Much as I’d have liked to have seen Paddington’s rellies, the idea of seeing three “rescued” bears in a sanctuary didn’t really float either of our boats, so equipped with rain gear, sun block, tickets and passports, off we set after breakfast to make the journey up there again.

There was water everywhere this morning and it was easy to see why this kind of thing needs to be in place -  the stories from 2010 make for sober reading!

Anyway, no worries here at all!  Off we went, up on the bus again, taking the very last two seats on the back row which made for quite a bumpy ride.

Still, no complaints when one considers the alternative.

Now, upon our arrival, we fished our tickets out of our bag and handed them over.  the guy on the desk said in better English than our Spanish “too late”.  On closer inspection, our tickets were for 7am – 8am and here it was, almost 9.

Oh heck.  Better go into the office and play the innocent tourist, hoping they’d take pity on a couple of dumb foreigners and let us in.

The woman behind the desk smiled and took one look at us – “you’re not really hoping to climb Huayna Picchu, are you?”  Hah!  No way!!  The time on our ticket was actually a timeslot for climbing that enormous peak opposite.  With a giggle and a stamp of our ticket, off we went into the ruins.

So here are the bits we missed yesterday and a few photos I didn’t take.  This is the first staircase upon entering the park and is pretty typical of those all over, except that this one has a handrail.  Even though it had just rained, the slabs were dry – at this altitude the rain falls but doesn’t seem to reach the ground sometimes!

It was great to have the place almost to ourselves at this time of the day.  Well, there were groups up on the hill, visiting the more popular places but down here, we seldom had to avoid anyone in our photos!

Some of the darker thoroughfares were a little slippy still, but taking our time and watching our step, all was fine.

We decided to focus on the lower slopes this morning, around the Temple of the Condor and over towards the far end of the site.

The light today was marvellous – hazy sunshine through fast moving clouds.

We still couldn’t believe our luck at being able to visit a second time!

From down here, we could see where we’d been yesterday, too.  Yes, really, we’d climbed right up there to the Guard House!

Mind you, there was climbing to do today as well!

We had a short chat – well, hand gestures, really – with this chap whose job it is to scrape away all the moss from in between the stones.  A job for life if ever there was one!

Over by the Temple of the Condor, there were some pretty spectacular – if a but vertiginous – views.

Oh look, there’s the road the bus takes – and the huge landslide that happened two weeks ago.

Just around the corner was the gate to Huayna Picchu, too.  A little hubbub of people here waiting to make the climb – mostly youngsters it has to be said!

Oh, what a shame we arrived too late for our timed entry! 

We stood a while watching the cloud swirl around the site, thinking the weather was coming in but hopefully we’d stay dry.

Which is where we met Matt and his small bear.  A tour director from Ohio, he takes this small soap bear with him and photographs him in various sites around the world.  Out came our little skateboarder, who posed with her new friend.

One of the joys of travelling is the people we meet along the way, people who do similar daft things to us, who take pleasure in small things but who ultimately, simply love to see the world.

Leaving Matt at the top of this rather precarious flight of steps, we continued down to the next level.  As we did, my hero noticed that he was carrying two water bottles.  Well, duh!

Oh heck, he’d picked up Matt’s as we’d been chatting and now, we’d left him with nothing to drink!  At altitude it’s essential to carry water and to drink frequently, what shall we do? 

Well, of course, there was only one thing to do – to take it back up those evil steps and give it back.  Having done so, my hero discovered that it wasn’t Matt’s bottle after all, but one that someone else had left at that viewpoint.  He was immediately appointed “saint” status!

We now found ourselves returning along the path towards the exit.  Did we want to leave just yet?  Was there anywhere else we wanted to see?

Well, noting the weather coming in over the mountains and looking around us, we thought not.  Rather than keep going and risk getting soaked, or simply spend time mooching around somewhere for the sake of it, let’s go now whilst we are still loving it!

We spotted some interesting footwear as we left.

We caught the bus back down to the village where we took a look around the market.  There were not too many customers at this time of the day, so things were quiet.  I loved this little group of children playing with their video games whilst sitting on the steps by their mother’s stall.  Can’t you just hear that little girl asking “Please can I have a go now?”

Barefoot luxury

Our casita here in Aguas Calientes is lovely.  Our place in Urubamba was pretty and very comfortable indeed, but lacked a little something – life.  But here, we are totally spoiled!  By the door is a basket of firewood and a bowl of “firestarter”, so yesterday afternoon we lost no time at all lighting a cosy fire and enjoyed sitting by it blogging, reading and simply enjoying being here.

So, having seen our comfortable room yesterday, I thought you’d like to see the bathing facilities.

A lovely marble bathroom with a great shower overlooking the garden.  All eco toiletries and so on, of course.

 

Or. if you prefer, a shower in the garden!

That’s if you don’t prefer a bath, of course.

Sadly, it was too cold to use, though this morning, when I looked out I did feel rather tempted

though first, I felt I needed to see if anything had decided to share it overnight!

Reminiscent of hotels in the far east, if only the weather had been a little warmer, this would have been a grand place to hang out, for sure.

The ruins

The road to the ruins is a switchback which rises over 2000ft.  Our little bus was tootling up this rather precarious road and we were glad we were in the hands of someone who drives it frequently.

My apologies for the reflection but I wanted to share the road surface with you.  Mostly unmetalled and simple, compressed mud, at the corners there were short paved sections.  It was very bumpy and would be slippery after a rainstorm, no doubt.  Thankfully, this morning, it was dry.

On a couple of the bends there was the evidence of serious landslips which had occurred in the last two weeks.  Hmm.  Not sure I want to think about one of those rocks tumbling down when we are driving along.

Every so often, we’d pass a flight of steps which by passed the long switches on the road and went straight up the steep – very steep – hilllside.  These were the paths the chaskis would have run with the messages recorded in the quipus.  They must have had remarkable strength and tenacity!

Once at the top, I couldn’t resist taking a photo of the destination blind on our bus: Machu Picchu, of course. 

The plaza by the ticket office and entrance was bustling and the usual Peruvian dogs were laid out snoozing, bothered by noone.  I’m not sure I’ve written about the street dogs previously – it’s reckoned that there are three dogs for every person in Peru!  They’re not pets but are fed on the street and seem fairly benign – apart from a little white fluffy one which went for my ankles earlier this morning in the market!

We passed through the turnstile, showing our passports (which is done frequently here) and on seeing my camera, the young woman asked if I’d like to take her photo.  how could I refuse?!

Before going any further, we looked over the edge to see where we’d come from.  Oh my, it’s a long way down there to the Urubamba river (a tributary of the Amazon, by the way)

Then, just around the corner we got our first glimpse.  

Oooh!  Just a little cloud on the peak of Huayna Picchu opposite, putting sense to the term “cloud forest”, but otherwise, looking great!

Actually, we could see people on the peak and Adriana pointed out the trail to us.  Very steep and in places, requiring hikers to hang onto wire handrails, this wasn’t for us!  When I asked if she’d hiked that particular trail, she smiled and said “oh yes, many times, whenever my clients wish to make that trip”.   Respect, Adriana!

At this stage, the going was easy.  Broad flat pathways led us into the main site and we simply took the route Adriana recommended.  She had the best idea – make our way to the top first, get the climb done and then potter back down through some of the other areas.

So, up we went.  Mostly, the steps were stone faced, didn’t have handrails and in places they were pretty steep and uneven.  The voice of experience told us to take it easy, to stick to the wall side of the pathway and when we wanted to take a photo, to stop and concentrate on where we were.

We made our first stop somewhere  around half way up to the highest spot.  Breathless and slightly headachey, we were pleased to have a break and to take a photograph of the classic view.

Did we want to go on up to the House of the Guardians?  That’s the little hut right at the very top of this section – the highest point in the ruins, I think – and the place from where all the “usual” Machu Picchu shots are taken. 

Oh, why not.  We’d come so far, after all!

 

We made it!  I can’t say it was a piece of cake to get up there, but once we were standing on the summit, the view was breathtaking.  The whole of Machu Picchu spread out beneath us and though there was a racket from a couple of noisy groups up there too, to stand and stare at this wonderful sight made for a rather emotional moment.

Well, coming down is almost as difficult as going up I find, and these steps needed the greatest concentration.  So, no pictures of those bits I’m afraid…my eyes were firmly on the ground! 

But this large rock, shaped very carefully with a loop carved out at one end was a feature worth a closer look.  What was it?  Why was it there?  Well, I’m not sure anyone is certain, but the small stones scattered around it appear to have been brought from different places and since it was an inca tradition to bring a stone from your village when visiting, then this could have been the central focus of some ceremony or other.

This was typical of many of the pathways around the ruins.  Secure stones set into a solid base, mostly even but irregular enough to mean that full concentration was required,  Steps didn’t have handrails for the most part, so Adriana’s advice to stick to the wall was a good one.  Thankfully it was dry this morning, for in rainy weather, I imagine those stones are treacherous.

Though the total place is stunning, it was the small details which Adriana pointed out to us which made it special.  Like this gateway.  Trapezoidal (of course) above the lintel is a stone peg on which may have hung a textile “door”, perhaps, and that fabric could have been tied to one of the two fittings on either side of the frame, set into the stones so accurately.

By now it was gone 11am and it was starting to get busy with large groups.  Not that they got in our way, but somehow, it’s quite nice to have the place almost to ourselves!

Adriana pointed out this rock, where it had been marked for cutting, just above the place where it might have formed a new wall.  The jigsaw pieces would all have fitted perfectly together because they’d have been cut from the same rock – clever, eh?

But Machu Picchu had been abandoned less than a century after construction had begun.  This trapezoidal window in the Temple of the Three Windows offers a super view over the valley and one can only imagine what it must have been like to have discovered this place as Hiram Bingham had done – or was it someone else?

The curved structure in the centre of the photograph is the Temple of the Sun and just across the valley, in between two mountains, was the Sun Gate, a landmark on the inca trail which is connected to the temple by the sun’s rays each solstice.

Though we were weary, we never tired of spotting the small things, like the pegs built into the sides of the gables on these houses.  The thatch is attached each year to demonstrate how these buildings might have looked: It doesn’t last long in this climate so needs frequent renewal and as a result, only a few houses are reconstructed in this way.

The single thing I’d associated with the inca buildings here had, so far, remained elusive.  We’d been walking through fairly commonplace buildings, so had seen few of those incredibly accurately contructed walls.

Here, however, we were by the wall to a more important building and therefore, those wonderfully cut and dressed stones were very much in evidence.

A couple had shifted in an earthquake some time ago, but the structure remained sound in spite of that.

Rather more significant damage here, but the building still stands.

Just as we were peering through windows and looking at the most beautiful walls, a group of llamas appeared.  They help keep the grass in trim around the ruin and were rather cute – especially the youngster.

On our way back to the entrance, we passed by this fine example of how the inca utilised huge rock formations to create the spaces they needed for all kinds of purpose – in this case a mausoleum (I think!)

With one last look over the ruins, it was time for lunch, after which Adriana had to return to Cuzco.  Before she caught her train however, she came with us to our lovely hotel here in Aguas Calientes.

 

We said an unexpected final goodbye to her, for sadly, family events mean she must fly to Lima tomorrow and won’t be with us on Friday as expected.  We’ll miss her lively sense of humour and excellent guiding expertise but we are told we’ll be in safe hands of another of her colleagues – her husband.

For now, we’re sitting in our lovely “casita” feeling snug and warm by an open fire.  The hot water bottles have just arrived and been placed in our bed, too!

Tomorrow morning, we’ll return to Machu Picchu by ourselves, to enjoy some time there independently and maybe visit a few corners which we didn’t have time to see today.  I hope the weather is kind!

The Big Adventure

This trip focused around two main features.  One was the Panama Canal, the other Machu Picchu.  However, as we’ve spent these last few days here in Peru, we began to think that maybe Machu Picchu wasn’t going to be a focus after all.  We’ve so enjoyed being here that in some ways, we’d rather pushed MP out of our minds.  But, plans were set, tickets had been bought and complex luggage arrangements made, as you’ve just read.  So, at 7.30am this morning, Marco and Adriana arrived and we set off to Ollantaytambo, a main station for the Machu Picchu train.  Since a landslide a couple of years ago, the train no longer goes through to Cuzco, but terminates at Urubamba.

It was a beautiful morning as we drove up through the valley.  We’d not heard the same rain last night as we’ve heard since we’ve been here, so we were keeping everything crossed that it was going to stay fine.

In Ollantaytambo, two porters for the Inca Trail sat waiting for some passing business.  The Inca Trail per se is closed during February, but there are still long trails to follow and more local hikers enjoy coming at this quieter time of the year.

The station was pretty busy and it seemed like the 8.30am train was a popular choice.

More interesting things lining the pathway, more temptation to resist.

We were arriving at the same time as some of the town’s ladies, too.  They are allowed to sell on the station by paying a commission, Adriana told us.

So, whilst they went to sort it out, they left their packs on the platform.

Rather more colourful left luggage that the usual European style, don’t you think?

The platform itself was slightly chaotic.  People taking selfies, groups assembling for photos and people with six cameras on their arm, taking them for several members of the group.  The ladies selling the brightly coloured bags, the mosquito repellent and the plastic ponchos mingled in the crowd, doing quite a good trade with the youngsters in particular.

I loved the hats!

A shout and a whistle signalled for everyone to stand aside and the smart blue train arrived.

We had tickets for the PeruRail Vistadome and had seat allocations for coach A.

Inside, it was very smart – and full!  Those high windows enabled us to see the mountains around us and the seats were very comfortable and clean, too.

We sat at a table set with a cloth and cutlery and Adriana found herself sitting next to another guide, university friend and colleague so we were a jolly bunch of four.

Shortly after leaving Ollantaytambo, the two train crew came through with a trolley, handing out breakfast trays.

A plate with melon, a slice of prickly pear cactus fruit, some quinoa pancakes at this stage, with some elderberry sauce  and a slice of cheese and swiss chard pastry brought shortly after I took the photo.

And Arnie, the train manager and another university friend of Adriana’s came to shake hands and check all was well with us.  What attention we were receiving!

Having collected the breakfast things, the pair changed into souvenir mode and brought their trolley along once again, trying to sell us PeruRail caps, waistcoast, alpaca scarves, playing cards, T shirts…you name it.  We giggled with the young woman who was doing her best to tempt us to spend some money – in vain, I’m afraid.

Arriving at Agua Calientes station,  there was a warm welcome awaiting us.  Four members of staff from the hotel where we will stay were there to collect our hand baggage so that we could go straight on up to Machu Picchu and make the most of our time here.

So, our two carry on bags went off on a journey of their own too – the logistics challenge continues!

We made our way through another colourful market

to the bus stop for Machu Picchu.  Those small green buses take people up to the ruins on a regular schedule – as soon as the bus is full, they leave!

In no time at all, ours was filled and off we went.

I’ll share what happened next in the following post.

Logistics

It's the big one today. We are sitting waiting for Adriana and Marco to arrive, ready to drive up the valley to Ollantaytambo station, from where we'll catch the train to Agua Calientes, for Machu Picchu. Meanwhile, our suitcases are going on an adventure of their own. Two of our suitcase have been continuing the fun at the Hotel B in Lima. Now, the other two are going to return with Marco to Cusco today, whilst we manage with hand bags and hopefully, on Saturday, we'll have a big reunion when all will magically come together.

Of course they will. :-o