Hello All,

The train to Machu Picchu leaves from San Pedro station in Cusco at 6.15am and arrives about 10.10 in Agua Calientes which is a small town straddling the Urubamba river. It seems only to exist for tourists which means a lot of places to stay and eat tho. We picked the first hostel we saw and then set off on our first adventure, a climb up Punkutusi (I forget..) a mountain just outside the town from which you can see Machu Picchu. It was pretty wet but we were keen to see our prize. The walk turned out to be more of a crawl up hill (check out the ladders in Agua Calientes album) and it soon turned pretty terrifying. After about 45 minutes we had to admit defeat and scramble down as it was too dangerous to continue (it felt too dangerous to go down, but we had no choice). We walked back to town in the rain pretty downbeat. A couple of piscos and a 3 course meal soon fixed us up.

We had planned to get up at 5am and get the first bus up to Machu Picchu to avoid most of the crowds up there but when the alarm went off it was pi""ing it down with rain. What a surprise! We thought it rather pointless to go there and wander around in the wet feeling miserable so went back to sleep for a couple of hours and set off at a more reasonable time in the morning.

The bus journey there is quite interesting, the road is just a zig zag mud path up the mountain and the drop off the side is pretty terrifying if you look too closely.

We had decided to start with climbing the mountain overlooking the ruins first and set off up Huayna Picchu (my legs were pretty sore from the climb the day before). The walk was a little more challenging than we had imagined but it wasn´t too bad and every time the was a break in the vegetation we had a fantastic view over Machu Picchu. Just before reaching the top you had to climb through a small cave which was full of water at the bottom. The space was so narrow and the ceiling so low you had to crawl through on all fours. Sometimes it´s good to be small, I´ve no idea how tall people made it to the other side.

After having a look at the view from the top we went back down a little way and had our packed lunch at what must be one of the most spectacular picnic spots ever. Half a meter from a kilometer drop into the valley below, surronded by green peaks in all directions and looking straight down at the ruins of Machu Picchu itself. It was worth the climb.

When it came to going down I wasn´t so convinced I couldn´t have done without the experience. When the path is very steep and the steps very tall and slippery it´s a lot worse going down than up. Also because you can then see all the way down and the possibility of falling suddenly seems more like an inevitability. The vertigo combined with your legs turning jelly-like from the effort does nothing to make you think otherwise. But, you have no choice other than to go very slowly and carefully and, in my case, annoy any company who may not be quite so clear headed as to realise that their life is in danger.

After a short break we then headed upwards in the opposite direction, towards the Inca trail. From there the views were even better (ie the pic above) but very soon it started raining pretty heavily and we couldn´t see a thing because of all the clouds. We met a couple of lamas on the path who didn´t seem in the least bit surprised to see gringos in bright coloured rain clothes in their gaff. Still, it wasn´t much fun so we turned round and down by the ruins it stopped raining so we had another little wander around before getting the bus back down to Agua Calientes.

There is a path running down the same direction as the road but more direct and more steep (we would have walked back if we hadn´t climbed around so much already and if it was dry). When we started the journey we saw from the bus a boy dressed in Indian gear waving and shouting `Good Byyyyeeeeee´. Everybody waved back and didn´t think much more of it until a couple of sharp bends later the same thing happened again. We thought it was something all the local boys did for fun but when after a couple more bends we heard the voice again we realised it was the same boy. He was running down the steep path through the forest so fast that he was meeting us every few hundred metres whilst the bus took it´s time winding down the zig zag road. Close to the town the bus pulled over and he climbed onboard, just a little sweaty and continued shouting ´Good Byyyyeeee¨ Ádiiioooos¨ and waving and we all gave him a few soles. He works pretty hard for his money, very smart idea though.  

We went for a coffee and it started raining again. But then we only had to make it to the train back to Cusco anyway. The train journey is very pretty going through a deep valley next to a river but even so the fact that it was an hour late wasn´t too much appreciated. The train also have to do a number of switch-backs just outside Cusco (because of the altitude) and so keeps stopping and then going backwards for 5 minutes before progressing again.

We returned to the hostel where we´d stayed before and this time we got a bath! AND there was hot water! Very nice for my weary little pegs. We also got a telly again so just went for local food (meat and chips, of course!) and then lay in bed watching telly and eating grapes until late. What luxury!

By the way if you want to vote for Machu Picchu as the new 7th wonder of the world: www.new7wonders.com  It´s a pretty amazing place!

Next on the list are the Nazca Lines, whether or not by plane is under discussion!

Love, Betty and Paul.