Cusco: Part 2 and Machu Picchu

The whole enchilada

As mentioned before, we had almost a full day in Cusco before we left for Aguas Calientes, from where we would depart for Machu Picchu. We spent the day at the San Pedro market again, drawing in Plaza de Armas and then avoiding the rain in an internet cafe until we left at five.

With seasonal mainenence closing much of the railway, the cheapest option for getting to Aguas Calientes is a two hour bus ride to the train in Ollantaytambo. We assumed that this was what awaited us, but since we booked the trip through our hostel there was a surprise waiting for us. At five, a cab took us to an alley where a fleet of station wagons, long range taxis, were shuttling people to the train. We were assigned to a car which was filled up by two Peruvians. Appearal of American sports teams is common down here, but its usually  hats and shirts of major market teams, so we were surprised when a young man wearing a Portland Trailblazers hat sat in the back seat with us. We were tempted to mention it, but we doubted he was familiar with the team or the city.

We´d been reluctant to book our trip with an agency, since it means surrendering control of your experience, often towards things that are more touristy, and less genuine. Before we even left Cusco we had to laugh about how our station wagon ride (at an estimated 90 mph) through the country side was likely a more honest Peruvian experience than a bus of foreigners. Halfway through the ride our driver pulled over to pick up two hitchhikers. For a few soles they were more than happy to sit in the back, not on seats, mind you. The scenery was pretty rural, with a few rustic farming outposts. We wanted to take photos, but the light was fading, and as mentioned, they were passing pretty quickly.

Ollantaytambo looked like a cute little town, but we had to get right on the train. We were a little confused about where to go, and our station wagon-mate in the Blazers hat showed us the way. You can always count on one of your own...

It was pretty standard train travel to Aguas Calientes, which was probably a pretty quiet town until people learned about Machu Picchu. Now it´s primarily hostels and souvenier stands. The place we stayed was pretty nice, run by a friendly family, and there we got to take our first hot showers in a long time. We got up at 4:45 the next morning to catch the bus up the mountain, hoping to see the sun rise. By the time we got there it was six and already light out, but covered in a thick fog and light rain, so sunrise was not in the cards anyway.

The grounds crew waits for the fog to lift

The package we bought through our hostel included a guide, which was another hidden benefit, otherwise we wouldn´t have learned much while there. We had a little over an hour to roam before meeting him, but with the fog, it was hard to get a scope of the place. By eight the fog lifted and we could see it all!

Its hard to know what to say about Machu Picchu, other than that to get it you really have to go. We´d done some research and seen a lot of photos, so we had concerns that it might take away fromt the experience. Not the case, its worth the trip, the time and the money.

Over all we feel really fortunate that things came together the way they did. If we´d followed through on buying our tickets ourselves we would have had no guide, and would gone up and back in one day. That would have given us roughly four uninformed hours there, versus ten hours, only two of which involved the tour. Another added benefit of more time was being able to climb Wayna Picchu, the mountain to the south. It took an hour to climb the steps that zig-zag up the sheer slope, but the view is awesome. Since the Inca Trail was closed this month, it was great to be able to do some hiking there.

Wayna Picchu in the background



View of Machu Picchu  from Wayna Picchu, with bus route on the left

...the climb down

Climbing back down was almost as hard, and took about 40 minutes. That left us a little more time to spend wandering the parts that weren´t covered in the tour, then back to Aguas Calientes and then Cusco. We were ready to sleep pretty hard that night. After the climb up Wayna Picchu, the stairs leading to our hostel seemed imposing for a whole new reason.



About one third of the steps to our hostel.



If our Cusco hostel hadn´t been so great we likely would have switched to avoid the daily climb up the stairs, but owners Carmen and Jose were unbelievable. Their place gets our reccomendation for anyone going to Cusco.

Los mejores Cusqueños, Jose y Carmen

The next day was to be our last in Cusco, and Peru for that matter. We had our bus tickets to Bolivia, so we checked out of the hostel and spent the day taking in the things we liked about Cusco, which were many. We were a little sad to leave, but after hugs, Carmen wished us ¨mucha suerte,¨ and we were on to Bolivia. We thought.

Upon arriving at the bus station we found out there was a protest in Juliaca, a town between Cusco and Copacabana, and no busses were getting through that night. We trudged back to the hostel, and up the stairs where a surprised Carmen saw us to a room (con dos cervezas). It was a let down, we were ready to go and now we had to spend another day in the same spot. As much as we like Cusco, we feel like we´ve gotten all we can from it. So today is being spent killing time, hence our more focused blogging.

Of all the places to be stuck in, Cusco is high on the list, so we´re keeping that in mind. We got to go back to the market and get more good food, but still, it´s one less day we´ll get somewhere else, and we´re itching to go. We´ve been assured that the bus will get through tonight, so we are hopeful that our next post will be from Bolivia.