- Start of trip and Quito
- Flight to Baltra and underway — our Galapagos adventure begins!
- Española Island, Galapagos Islands
- Floreana Island, Galápagos Islands
- Isabela Island, Galápagos Islands
- South Plaza Island, Galápagos Islands
- Santa Cruz Island, Galápagos Islands
- A quick stop in Lima, Peru
- Ollantaytambo, Peru
- Machu Picchu — we finally got here!
- Back to Cusco, Peru
- Back to Lima and end of trip
The day finally arrived for our trip to Machu Picchu. The only way to get to Machu Picchu is by train — or one of the many Inca Trails that lead to, or leave from the complex. There are no roads of any kind in the area. So everything has to come by train, whose track bed has washed out a few times over the past 10 years. The trip from Ollantaytambo (near where we were staying) to Aguas Calientes (or Machu Picchu City) takes about 1.5 hours with stunning scenery along the way. When we arrived in Aguas Calientes, it seemed like a madhouse with people moving in all directions. The town today is pretty crowded and seems to be pretty young with lots of 20-somethings waiting their turn to go up to the complex. This increase in tourism over the past 5 years (except for the devastating impact on COVID for 2 years) has created a lot of tourist-oriented jobs and there are now families, schools, etc. that are all thriving there. We walked around town for a while before it time to take our bus up to the complex. These buses whip around hairpin turns with ease (and a lot of speed), leaving us staring over sheer cliffs with no guardrails. Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride came to mind.
Machu Picchu is probably the best remaining site that shows the power of the Inca Empire in its heyday. Despite being on this high ridge, this complex of palaces and plazas, temples, and home provided nearly everything for its residents — fertile soil, spring fed water, visibility in all directions, and multiple trails leading in multiple directions. It is then we learned about the discovery controversy and the misnaming. The explorer that “discovered” Machu Picchu was Hiram Bingham and he was actually looking for another site. A guide brought him to the site which was already being farmed by a local indigenous family. The other issue is that the mountain behind the complex is actually Huayna Picchu (Machu Picchu is the mountain behind the complex. While this may seem like a trivial detail, it strongly defended by the Peruvians. Anyway, the complex is surrounded on three sides by the Urubamba River, some 2000 feet below. Nearly all the structures here are from the original city, started in the late 14th century and abandoned before the Spanish arrived in the 1500s. There are a myriad of trails that lead through the complex and Deb and I agreed that she would take the lower section, and I would take the top. As we prepared to start our climb, the skies opened up and the first part of our hike was pretty miserable. When our group reached the top you couldn’t see the complex at all. Needless to say, this was pretty disheartening. But our guide said we would stay there for a while and, sure enough, the rain stopped and the clouds started breaking up. Within an hour, the skies were blue and we continued our journey. Ultimately, we toured through all of the areas were open to us (they close various areas except for certain times a day to reduce the wear and tear on the original trails, steps, etc. In addition to the beauty of the structures, we also saw a lot of wildlife including llamas and chinchillas. After nearly 4 hours of hiking we were ready for a libation and a ride back home. The bus ride down was no slower, but we felt more confident.
The real treat for the evening was riding back to Ollantaytambo on the Hiram Bingham a Belmond luxury train with 1920s vintage carriages where we had drinks and dinner. Belmond does luxury train trips all over the globe. As I noted before, the track bed on this line isn’t great and we were really rocking and rolling — and yet, the waiters were walking down the passageway carrying trays of drinks without spilling a drop! Anyway, we returned to the hotel late and immediately crashed. Tomorrow we are heading to Cusco!