2460m
It was an early start when we were woken by our wake up phone call and we had left the hotel for the train station by 5:30am. Unfortunately we then met the mass of humanity that was also taking to train to Machu Picchu. While you had the quietly spoken Spanish speakers who would hold a quiet conversation between 2 or 3 of them, we were also aurally assaulted by the VERY loud Americans. “Oh my God, like have you seen that dog? He’s like so cute.” “Like,I know. He’s got like the cutest smile”. . And then they would pat and cuddle and bring their face close to the flea infested, possibly rabies infected mutt. It has been so nice travelling without having to put up with the dregs of society.
The train ride went quickly, with the Riobamba river travelling along with us on the side of the rail line and then the cloud forest started and the undergrowth took on a wilder, denser side. We arrived into Machu Picchu Pueblo (town) and was met by our guide who handed our suitcase off to a porter who would take it to the hotel and we joined the line of people taking one of the buses up the hill. Due to the sheer number of buses this did not take long. Machu Picchu is located on top of a high ridge and the road has to travel through 13 switchbacks in order to reach the top. Upon reaching the top you disembark the bus and join another line to enter the site. This requires you to use your passport and time stamped ticket, with one person manning the booth, creating a bottleneck. Once through this nightmare of administrative bureaucracy we got our first view of the terraces of Machu Picchu.
Where Ollantaytambo had majesty in spades as a site, Machu Picchu has the location. The entire plateau is a collection of terraced fields, temples, the university for the Incas, administration buildings, storage houses, residences and more temples. It seemed as if anywhere the sun would hit during a solstice, there would be a temple. One to the wind, water, sun and moon there would be a spot on a wall that at some time on some day a light would shine through a gap and light a brick.
Now, please don’t get me wrong; I liked Machu Picchu and certainly admire it as an ancient site on a remarkable flat section of rock above the Riobamba gorge. However…. “Look at how well the Incas carved a section of rock to bring water 300m into the centre of the community.” And there would be a groove carved into the rock, 25cm across by 12cm deep. Yup. Umm, 1000 years before you could manage a trickle of a stream the Romans were transferring water 100s of miles to supply towns. They did do a good job of carving stones to perfectly fit together and also to be fair, they lasted a lot less time as an empire than Rome. I think it was the level of expectation of this new wonder of the world and it is a spectacular site to visit.
Our guide pretty much ran us through half of the site in order to get us to the entrance to Huyana (Wayna) Picchu, one of the peaks overlooking the plateau. This would require 1 hour up and approximately 30 mins to get down and she would be leaving us to complete it. However, there are some 1400 steps to get to the top, none of them being even. We slogged, okay, not Fran but everyone else until we finally reached the Incan ruins on top. The view was awesome and it laid out the site well. The walk down required us to squeeze through a very tight tunnel, and Fran, who could easily get through was ready with her camera. Needless to say, that photo will not be included. Once you get off Wayna Picchu you have to leave the site through a designated route. Thus done we staggered into the cafe just outside of the entrance and downed a coke and a brownie to try to replace some energy. Somewhat replete we exited back to the town for lunch and to check in to the hotel.
The hotel only offered a buffet, however there were certainly a plethora of options available to us. The one across the alley, Quinua Cafe seemed decent enough and both Fran and Charlie ordered quinoa soup, while I went for pumpkin. The waiter came back to inform us that quinoa soup was not available. I guess the locals don’t understand irony.
The afternoon was spent relaxing after our ordeal and we joined the bar during happy hour, trying some more of the local nectar. At 7pm we had a meeting with our guide who handed us our bus, entrance and train tickets for tomorrow and she would meet us in Ollantaytambo to set us back off to Cusco. For dinner Fran and I had some very nice beef medallions in a rich sauce with onions, rice and chips.