Glorious Machu Picchu - 4 Sept 09


The ride to the train station was quite beautiful, the light on the hills was gorgeous and it just looked like a painting unfolding in front of our eyes. I tried to take some shots and some came out nice but you can never show the full scale with one frame.


When we got to the train station I was pleasantly surprised to see that our train was as VistaDome train, very neat, with tables and flowers and table cloth, and windows on the roof for us to see how high the mountains would be. Last time I´d been on it I had travelled on the back packers´ train and never even realised that there was a much more civilised option where they serve you breakfast and all. A guide we met on the train (who was keen to practice his French) told us that there is also a deluxe option, run by the same company as the Orient Express, with silver spoons, etc. but he said ´you pay a fortune and what we have now is the best value for money´.


We had a 3 hour ride in front of us and though it felt a bit chilly when we set off (and Nathalie was covered with 2 blankets, as she would) it soon warmed up.


We were lucky to have another perfect day, weather wise. The journey was fascinating because you gradually dropped about 1,000 ft in 3 hours and you could really see the drastic changes in vegetation. We started with vast plains and agricultural fields and then we went through a gorge where vegetation was still quite dry but we were following a crystal clear river with small houses of farmers nearby. A couple of times we ´drove´ through villages and could really see how they live and did witness so much poverty. Houses looked run down and people´s clothes looked so worn out. It was quite heart breaking to see women carry such heavy loads on their backs too.

We then entered the Sacred Valley of the Incas and mde a brief stop at Ollantaymtambo Village to pick up more tourists. At this point we were about 9,500 ft and kept going down a bit faster, we had the best seats right by the Urubamba River and enjoyed views of many rapids and some Inca foundation remains. There were snow capped mountains on the left handside (Veronica being the highest) and yet minutes later we were going through a cloud forest with lush vegetation, much more flowers on the trees, many bromeliads, colourful flame trees and orchids and the air started to smell SO pure. It was distinctively purer. There are some quetzals and toucans in the area but I never saw any though I did try to look out for them. But the last section of the journey was definitely the most ´Sylvie´ section. I totally loved it.

We got to Aguas Calientes at around 10am if I remember correctly and had to walk through the local market (packed with stores selling so much silver jewellery and alpaca wool items) and then walked to our hotel (right on the main street), El Presidente within minutes. You cannot get lost in Aguas Calientes are there is only ONE main street!

Rooms were decent, nicely decorated with warm paint colours and bathroom was basic but we never run out of hot water and our bed was comfortable enough, so I was happy. I think we only paid abouy $50 a night and we were RIGHT in the centre. Dozens of restaurants on our doorsteps.

We decided to have an early lunch before we went on the bus to Machu Picchu as there´d be fewer options for eating out up there. We were totally spoilt for choice and waiters do try their best to entice you in (which can be a bit tiring after a while). We tried 3 different restaurants over 1.5 days and just loved everything they had. Their avocadoes must have been in season because they were so ripe, they just melted in the mouth. They were huge too. I adore avocadoes and made sure I had some every day. It was such a treat. We also had to try their traditional and beautiful quinoa soups with lots of vegetable, cheese cubes and parlsey (it smelt so French and familiar).

I can´t recall not liking any dish. Peruvian food is, to my tastebuds, far superior to Argentinian food (over there they have 80 million cows for 44 million people, so meat is hot on the agenda). In Peru, they seem to value vegetables more and produced beautiful dishes with delicate flavours. We had some hearts of palmtrees grilled with cheese on top and it was simple but delicious. I will definitely miss the food and we enjoyed many freshly squeezed juices for 1/4 of the price you´d pay in England.

There was always a band or two playing Peruvian music on the streets, right in front restaurants, with the compulsory pipe flutes (is that the word in English?!), the flute with 3 or 4 pipes, and it was just so lovely. It really put you in the holiday mood and reminded you that you were indeed in Peru.

It was still incredibly sunny by 1pm so we bought our bus tickets (US$14 each) and our entrance fee to MachuPicchu National Park for 124 soles (you can only pay in Soles). That´s about $25 or so I think.

Buses left every 15 mins off peak but every minute at peak time (i.e. from 8am to 10am or so). The bus ride up there takes about 15-18 mins and zig zags all the way and it can look pretty hairy as you climb up & up & up & up & up & up with the bus and you almost wonder if you will ever get there as Aguas Calientes looks smaller and smaller at the bottom of the mountain.

When you get there, there are toilets and cafeterias with an outdoor terrace or the Sanctuary Lodge Hotel where you can enjoy a buffet for $30 (but with no view of MP). We soon went through the entrance gate and within minutes we were greeted with THE vista that is such a classic cliche the world over. It is a sight that does take your breath away and I was thrilled to see so many more llamas roaming freely around the grounds this time. Something that I misssed out on last time.

There were hundreds of people probably but as the city is SO vast, you could always find a little spot to yourself. Some people had hired guides to know all about the place, others were just sitting there, in awe... trying to take it all in.

There is so much on the internet on Machu Picchu that I´ll leave it to you to do some research if you want to know more. I´m in between two flights as I´m writing this so kind of short of time but it was discovered in 1911 by Hirma Bingham who was looking for some Inca gold and silver. His research trip was funded by the National Geographic Institute and he had spent days looking for old ruins with his binoculars but had not managed to find anything that ressembled what he was after. One day though, as it was getting dark, he had to have dinner at a local farmer´s place and he mentioned in passing that he was after a lost city but had been unsuccessful. This guy said that he knew exactly where it was and even told him the name of the place was Machu Picchu. It was not difficult for Bingham to convince him to show him where the place was and the next day they struggled to cross a river and climbed 1,200 ft to the top. They reached their goal at about noon and were stunned to be greeted by a friendly family that had settled there, enjoying the ancient Inca terraces to grow crops. They had been living there for ages and were able to show him all the stone work, most of which was badly over grown with thick vegatation, hence his being unable to stop the ruins from afar. It was so thick that he had to enroll the help of an 8 year old boy to squeeze through some paths to lead him to some stone work. Bingham started clearing the area with his bare hands and then realised he had found a large inca city. This was 24 July 1911 and the rest was history.... It was one of the biggest archeological find in Peru, ever and its appeal has remained unmatched ever since. It attracts more tourists to Peru than anything else, even more so than the mysterious Nasca lines.

It is a sight to behold and it is almost a spiritual place. You can feel ´something´special in the air. Of course, most of it has been rebuilt to give us an idea of what it´d have looked like before it got abandonned and there are still restoring bits of it now. I think I read somewhere that MP was built, lived in and abandoned within 100 years. There are still lots of speculations about it today.

The one thing that the tourist books don´t really warn you about is that you will get stung by sanflies as of 2pm or so and I remained blissfully unaware of this until it was too late... by the time I lifted my long skirt, I realised I had been bitten 84 times on my legs alone and my ankle was swelling rapidly. Ooops. Of course, we had insect repellent but had left it behind by mistake.

We left at 5pm, reluctantly.... they close the park at 5.30pm and we didn´t want to miss the last bus. The light was even more beautiful at 5pm and the mountains behind even more defined and there were much fewer people too so it was really sad to leave it at its best.

When we got back to Aguas Calientes we expected temperatures to drop overnight but they remained a very pleasant 23C all evening, so we ate outside and had such a nice time eating gorgeous food and listening to live relaxing music (the Sheraton at Iguazu also a harp player every night and it was very lovely too. Live music always sounds better, doesn´t it !?).

The day after we got up at 7am, checked out by 9am and headed straight back to MP for one last glance. Once is never enough. We were both mesmerised up there. After a 30 mins of wild panic when Nathalie thought she´d lost our very expensive tickets we went back in, walked through different areas again (it is HUGE so you cannot walk it all in 3 hours... you also have to take it easy due to the altitude) and took more photos. The light was even more even in the morning so there were fewer shadows. We´ve got some great shots of each of us posing happily on some rocks with MP behind, in full glory. It is such an incredibly photogenic place, you cannot take a bad photo there really. And it was SO hot, almost too hot... but so much better than misty or rainy. We were SO lucky. We had had the best weather at the two most crucial times. But itwas definitely much more crowded in the morning.

At noon we had to leave, but enjoyed one last fantastic lunch in town, at leisure, we bought a few jewels at the market (silver is incredibly cheap and their jewellery was really beautifully crafted) and at 3.30pm we left by train, enjoyed the same incredible vistas on the way back, still were lucky to be seated on the river side, and got to Cuzco at 7pm when it was totally dark.

The one treat on the train is that they peformed a fashion show with various alcapa capes and cardigans or other beautiful sweaters, etc. Nathalie was so taken by it that she bought two things. They feel absolutely lovely. In fact, baby alpaca fur was reserved exclusively for the Inca noblesse due to its exquisite texture. So, it does feel like a treat when you wear it.

Our guide and driver were there, drove us safely and quickly back to our hotel. We had a quick stroll around town and then headed to bed ! We skipped dinner altogether as we were too tired.

The next day, we left our hotel at 10am (we could not seem to be very fast in our thinking and our packing, I think the medication for all my nasty bites was making me a bit feverish and slow) and we enjoyed a few last strolls around Cuzco. I told Nathalie we had to sit at one of the balconies overlooking the plaza as it´d be the best view and the safest place to get away from all the begging people. It seems selfish to say this but when every minute that you sit down at a cafe terrace someone comes over to try and sell you something, you do despair. Even though we remained accutely aware that we lucky not to have to be the ones doing the begging really.

Nathalie hated the fact that so many dogs seemed lost and almost got run over by cars. She found this very distressing and couldn´t wait to leave because of all this. I liked it a lot more because the air is so crisp, the skies are so blue and the architecture is really pretty.

We are now at Lima airport, awaiting our 11h15 flight back to Madrid and then onto London.
We haven´t had time to send post cards as we hardly stopped. Sorry !

Bisous to you all, Sylvie x