Back on track now. It was the 6th November when we set off for Aguas Calientes (the town at the base of Machu Picchu).
Now, there are 4 ways to get to Aguas Calientes (excepting chartering a helicopter).
1. take the train from Cusco. Normally there is a backpackers train as well as the ¨Vistadome¨, but it´s still very expensive (over $100 AUS one way).
2. Get to Ollantaytambo and take the train from their... still fairly expensive.
3. Hike the Inka trail. You have to take a tour and book months in advance to do this as they only let certain numbers per day on the trail...
4. Go the locals way, which we found described here: http://travelvice.com/archive/2006/10/machu-picchu-on-shoestring.php
This was ouyr path.
We had arrived in Cusco the day before and had a brief look around and caught up on some sleep before getting up and hauling arse to the Paradero de Paso Santiago to catch one of the local buses to the small town of Santa Maria. We arrived at about 7:45, just in time to grab the 6:45 bus (good old Peruvian time) and the bus set off with many passengers shouting ¨VAMOS!!¨ and banging on the side of the bus.
What a ride. This has to be one of the most fantastic bus journeys I have ever been on. The scenery was amazing. We started going through farming land land with red soil and houses made of the same red mud and, strangely eucalypts everywhere... It could almost have been outback Aus except for the cold and the altitude. We learnt later that eucalypts had been introduced by the Spanish because they grow quickly and are marketable for their oil and as firewood for the many tile factories, but that they are sucking the nutrients out of the ground and damaging the soil in the region.
The views then changed as we dipped into a valley and followed a small stream all the way to it´s mountainous roots. Mountains covered in forest with waterfalls and small creeks running down their side everywhere. Small farms were dotted around on the mountains and the evidence of Incan / pre-Incan terracing was everywhere. As we wound through the endless switchbacks up into the mountains on the beautifully smooth road, I LONGED for my motorbike.... god I can´t wait to see Dot again.
Now, there are 4 ways to get to Aguas Calientes (excepting chartering a helicopter).
1. take the train from Cusco. Normally there is a backpackers train as well as the ¨Vistadome¨, but it´s still very expensive (over $100 AUS one way).
2. Get to Ollantaytambo and take the train from their... still fairly expensive.
3. Hike the Inka trail. You have to take a tour and book months in advance to do this as they only let certain numbers per day on the trail...
4. Go the locals way, which we found described here: http://travelvice.com/archive/2006/10/machu-picchu-on-shoestring.php
This was ouyr path.
We had arrived in Cusco the day before and had a brief look around and caught up on some sleep before getting up and hauling arse to the Paradero de Paso Santiago to catch one of the local buses to the small town of Santa Maria. We arrived at about 7:45, just in time to grab the 6:45 bus (good old Peruvian time) and the bus set off with many passengers shouting ¨VAMOS!!¨ and banging on the side of the bus.
What a ride. This has to be one of the most fantastic bus journeys I have ever been on. The scenery was amazing. We started going through farming land land with red soil and houses made of the same red mud and, strangely eucalypts everywhere... It could almost have been outback Aus except for the cold and the altitude. We learnt later that eucalypts had been introduced by the Spanish because they grow quickly and are marketable for their oil and as firewood for the many tile factories, but that they are sucking the nutrients out of the ground and damaging the soil in the region.
The views then changed as we dipped into a valley and followed a small stream all the way to it´s mountainous roots. Mountains covered in forest with waterfalls and small creeks running down their side everywhere. Small farms were dotted around on the mountains and the evidence of Incan / pre-Incan terracing was everywhere. As we wound through the endless switchbacks up into the mountains on the beautifully smooth road, I LONGED for my motorbike.... god I can´t wait to see Dot again.
Views from the "bus to the clouds"
Lunch Stop!
Eventually we reach the pass, way up in the clouds, then it was down the other side. Past many rockfalls and creeks. Then a short break at a roadside stall where we picked up some chicken and rice for lunch for about $1.50 and on into the valley. We passed through a couple of rough looking little towns at the base of the valley before coming to Santa Maria.
As soon as we arrived, we were offered a collectivo, along with the other 2 gringas that were on the bus, to the Hydroelectric dam which was at the very end of the railway line that passes through Aguas Calientes. This was a somewhat scary ride on a 1 lane dirt road that ran along the side of a cliff, with the river below us.
Once we arrived at the Hydroelectric plant, we had 2 options. Catch the train or walk the tracks, so we strapped on our packs and set off on foot along the railway tracks. We crossed a rickety old railway bridge over the river and caught our first glimps of Machu Picchu perched on top of the mountains above. The hike turned to difficult as we both struggled with the weight of our packs and what we thought was supposed to take about 2 hrs was actually more like 3, but we got there and were proud of our achievement and how cheap it was.
Walking the Tracks
The first view of Aguas Calientes
Our savings were well appreciated when we reallised that the cost of everything in Aguas Calientes was about double of that elsewhere in Peru... the power of the tourist dollar. Luckily for us it was low season, sop many of the restaurants etc were willing to negotiate on prices to get your business.
We checked into a hostel and got settled for the evening. We had decided that we´d grab one of the 1st buses in the morning to Machu Picchu to catch the sunrise up there.
We had found directions on sneaking in (from the previous link) to avoid the extremely expensive admission charge, but there were 3 things that deterred us. 1 - it´s difficult to do in the morning because there are many guards on and to see the sunrise is supposed to be spectacular, 2 - you can´t see Huanyu Picchu, which was high on my list of to do´s and 3 - if we got caught our Spanish skills were definitely not sufficient to talk our way out of trouble. So, buy a ticket we did, and joined the mass of tourists in the morning.
Well... Machu Picchu... WOW!! We arrived with much of the mountains covered in mist and cloud and watched as, for the first hour or so, it lifted off the mountains and out of the valleys... beautiful! The surrounding mountains covered in jungle looked almost as amazing to me as the massive Incan city itself.
The Amazing MP!
Some of the Llamas wandering around MP
Then we made the precarious climb up to Huanyu Picchu, the little peak up behind Machu Picchu which has ruins on the top also. We climbed up the stone steps using the cables bolted into the walls for safety ans through small caves under rocks in the ruinsa itself to the top... OMG WHAT A VIEW!! Not only down over Machu Picchu itself, but the surrounding mountains and the river, all the way round to the hydroelectric plant. Absolutely worth the extra effort!
Yes that's real... the view back to MP from Huanyu Picchu
Huanyu Picchu
Finally we made the slog half way down the mountain, down ladders and stairs to the temple of the moon, or great cave. More amazing ruins... then it was back up to Machu Picchu. We were exhausted from the hike, so instead of hiking down the mountain as planned, we grabbed a $7 cup of coke and jumped on a bus.
The Temple of the Moon (Great Cave)
Some Local Wildlife
We decided to stay this night in Aguas Calientes before attempting the return journey, but decided to sus out the trains as our exhaustion meant were weren´t keen on the hike back to the hydroelectric plant. We managed to find out that the train back there left at 7am, so we crashed for the night and made our way to the tracks early in the morning.
At a bar in Aguas Calientes... no we hadn't been drinking... :-P
We made the return journey fairly smoothly, assisted by a couple of American guys who helped us organise the bus from Santa Maria back to Cusco. It was a whirlwind and tiring few days, but the most amazing we´d had to date in my book.
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