Day 14 Machu Picchu
We got up early this morning to be ready for our 7 am pickup by Condor to take us to the train. It wasn't that hard to get up, neither of us sleeping all that well. Maybe it's the coca tea that we've been drinking to help with the adjustment to the high altitude, though we've been faithful in not drinking after mid-afternoon. Alan was still feeling a little puny, so he ate a pretty light breakfast in the dining room. Before breakfast, we re-weighed our backpacks that we would take to Machu Picchu.
We are only allowed to take 5 KG or 11 pounds each, according to all the documentation we've read. This is supposed to take care of us for two days of touring and an overnight. We checked and double-checked that we had what we needed and threw everything else into the other suitcases that will meet us at the hotel when we get to Cisco on Tuesday night.
We got to the lobby early to meet our Condor guide. Most days our Condor contacts have arrived early at the hotels; today, they were late because of an accident in town. Frankly, it's surprising we haven't seen more accidents given the driving patterns here in Peru. In spite of the delay, we got to the train station exactly at the time indicated on our tickets for boarding for Agua Calliente, the town just outside the archeological ruins of Machu Picchu.
Our seats were the first two in Car B. That meant that we faced forward for the 1hour 40 minute trip, and didn't have seat partners. To our surprise, no one checked our luggage (backpacks) for weight, as we had been told would happen, and we saw several people that had regular carry-on bags as well.
We were served coca tea and a snack on the trip, and the scenery as we rode along the Sacred River and the Inca Trail was pretty spectacular.
Once we arrived in Agua Calliente, our guide, Abraham, met us just outside the train station. He told us pretty quickly that he was an independent contractor for guiding, and that he often contracted with tour companies, such as Condor. Abraham spoke fairly quickly, and had a tendency to lower his voice when he was trying to make a particular point. His English was good, but his accent was fairly strong, so we probably didn't get everything he wanted us to get from his enormous knowledge bank. He grew up in a native community over the next mountain from Machu Picchu, the last holdout of the Incas against the Spaniards in the late 16th century
Things we learned about the Machu Picchu settlement. [We'll need to fill this in later after consulting with our pictures and confirming the information from sources other than our memories!]
After our tour, Abraham set us off on our own to eat lunch. He had picked up the tickets for us before our tour, and it was right at the exit from the site. There was quite a line, which we joined. When we got to the entrance, we could see the chaos as the tables were packed tightly together, and very little room to maneuver, especially since everyone had packs with them. It was pretty frustrating as the maitre 'de kept directing us to tables that apparently had people sitting at them. The task was even harder since this was a buffet, and it was difficult to see who had left and who was coming back with more food. We finally got settled, got our table cleaned off, and had a nice lunch with lots of choices. We discussed our options for going back into the site, and decided that we needed to see what our pictures looked like, how we were feeling, and if we wanted to go back in right after lunch, or tomorrow morning, or both. Alan's knees had survived pretty well, with patience in climbing down and extensive use of his walking stick, and the climbing up hadn't been too hard on his lungs. But rather than risk not being able to finish the rest of our touring, we elected to go back to town and settle into our hotel to make the rest of our decisions.
The line to get back on the bus to go back to the town was shorter than we thought it might be. But we were two of the last three people on the bus, so we were split up. Joyce sat up front with a woman from Brazil, and the chatting they did kept her mind off of the steep overlooks and switchbacks it took to get down 1000 feet lower from a pretty sheer-faced mountain. Alan was crammed into the back seat with 4 other people who had trekked in on the Inca Trail. Alan's knees don't fit into the spaces on these busses, so he had to start a conversation to apologize for poking and practically sitting on his neighbors. One of the guys was a young man from Louisville who was traveling through South America on his own before heading back to complete another degree in engineering. He was most interested in the Galápagos, and Alan was more than happy to tell him about it. It also took his mind off of the pain and bruises being inflicted in his knees because of the bumpy trip down.
We were told to tell to bus driver to drop us off at our hotel, but we forgot in the bustle of getting on the bus, but it did stop just a block or so past, so we got out and made our way back down to the hotel.
When we stepped inside, we knew we were in some place special. After taking our passports for copies, as seems to be standard, we were ushered into another seating area, offered a glass of tea and some snacks. We chatted with the other guests there, and then the desk person came over and gave us a complete list of all the things that were included with our stay. And the list was long! She then took us to our room, which was really a suite, with a seating area, king bed, two-room bathroom, a balcony overlooking the road to Machu Picchu and the Sacred River, and a small table and sitting area overlooking the river. That window also allowed you to look out on the mountain and river from the bathtub as well!
Soon more snacks arrived to our room, and we just kind of marveled at the luxury! Good job Sonya!
Needless to say, we elected to enjoy the luxury and snuggle in for a while.
Part of our extras was afternoon tea, so we went upstairs and enjoyed tea with the same view of the river. We decided not to take advantage of the Pisco Sour during happy hour, and did some more relaxing, picture looking (longing for our computer to do more work with the great internet (included) and catching up on things that we haven't done with our intense expedition schedule.
When it was time for our dinner reservation, we went to the dining room, and found that we had a set menu to choose from, much like on a cruise ship. Our choices were not only tasty, but they were presented beautifully. After dinner we did some exploring of the hotel, and the area outside the front door, before coming back and looking at a photo book of Machu Picchu to see if we had missed anything that we would want to take pictures of tomorrow. While we didn't remember all the information, and Alan was sure he didn't have the quality of the pictures there, we had seen most everything, with the exception of hiking up and down the adjacent mountains for better views (and that wasn't going to happen!). So we decided to take our time the next day and enjoy the luxury of the hotel as long as we could and do some looking/shopping in town that we haven't done the whole time we've been gone.
While we were doing that, Jose, our dinner waiter, tracked us down with a small brownie/cake, again beautifully decorated, with candles, and 'Happy Anniversary' written in chocolate on the plate. What a nice surprise! It was a great ending to a wonderful day-after-the-40th-anniversary of our wedding day!
We are only allowed to take 5 KG or 11 pounds each, according to all the documentation we've read. This is supposed to take care of us for two days of touring and an overnight. We checked and double-checked that we had what we needed and threw everything else into the other suitcases that will meet us at the hotel when we get to Cisco on Tuesday night.
We got to the lobby early to meet our Condor guide. Most days our Condor contacts have arrived early at the hotels; today, they were late because of an accident in town. Frankly, it's surprising we haven't seen more accidents given the driving patterns here in Peru. In spite of the delay, we got to the train station exactly at the time indicated on our tickets for boarding for Agua Calliente, the town just outside the archeological ruins of Machu Picchu.
Our seats were the first two in Car B. That meant that we faced forward for the 1hour 40 minute trip, and didn't have seat partners. To our surprise, no one checked our luggage (backpacks) for weight, as we had been told would happen, and we saw several people that had regular carry-on bags as well.
We were served coca tea and a snack on the trip, and the scenery as we rode along the Sacred River and the Inca Trail was pretty spectacular.
Once we arrived in Agua Calliente, our guide, Abraham, met us just outside the train station. He told us pretty quickly that he was an independent contractor for guiding, and that he often contracted with tour companies, such as Condor. Abraham spoke fairly quickly, and had a tendency to lower his voice when he was trying to make a particular point. His English was good, but his accent was fairly strong, so we probably didn't get everything he wanted us to get from his enormous knowledge bank. He grew up in a native community over the next mountain from Machu Picchu, the last holdout of the Incas against the Spaniards in the late 16th century
Things we learned about the Machu Picchu settlement. [We'll need to fill this in later after consulting with our pictures and confirming the information from sources other than our memories!]
After our tour, Abraham set us off on our own to eat lunch. He had picked up the tickets for us before our tour, and it was right at the exit from the site. There was quite a line, which we joined. When we got to the entrance, we could see the chaos as the tables were packed tightly together, and very little room to maneuver, especially since everyone had packs with them. It was pretty frustrating as the maitre 'de kept directing us to tables that apparently had people sitting at them. The task was even harder since this was a buffet, and it was difficult to see who had left and who was coming back with more food. We finally got settled, got our table cleaned off, and had a nice lunch with lots of choices. We discussed our options for going back into the site, and decided that we needed to see what our pictures looked like, how we were feeling, and if we wanted to go back in right after lunch, or tomorrow morning, or both. Alan's knees had survived pretty well, with patience in climbing down and extensive use of his walking stick, and the climbing up hadn't been too hard on his lungs. But rather than risk not being able to finish the rest of our touring, we elected to go back to town and settle into our hotel to make the rest of our decisions.
The line to get back on the bus to go back to the town was shorter than we thought it might be. But we were two of the last three people on the bus, so we were split up. Joyce sat up front with a woman from Brazil, and the chatting they did kept her mind off of the steep overlooks and switchbacks it took to get down 1000 feet lower from a pretty sheer-faced mountain. Alan was crammed into the back seat with 4 other people who had trekked in on the Inca Trail. Alan's knees don't fit into the spaces on these busses, so he had to start a conversation to apologize for poking and practically sitting on his neighbors. One of the guys was a young man from Louisville who was traveling through South America on his own before heading back to complete another degree in engineering. He was most interested in the Galápagos, and Alan was more than happy to tell him about it. It also took his mind off of the pain and bruises being inflicted in his knees because of the bumpy trip down.
We were told to tell to bus driver to drop us off at our hotel, but we forgot in the bustle of getting on the bus, but it did stop just a block or so past, so we got out and made our way back down to the hotel.
When we stepped inside, we knew we were in some place special. After taking our passports for copies, as seems to be standard, we were ushered into another seating area, offered a glass of tea and some snacks. We chatted with the other guests there, and then the desk person came over and gave us a complete list of all the things that were included with our stay. And the list was long! She then took us to our room, which was really a suite, with a seating area, king bed, two-room bathroom, a balcony overlooking the road to Machu Picchu and the Sacred River, and a small table and sitting area overlooking the river. That window also allowed you to look out on the mountain and river from the bathtub as well!
Soon more snacks arrived to our room, and we just kind of marveled at the luxury! Good job Sonya!
Needless to say, we elected to enjoy the luxury and snuggle in for a while.
Part of our extras was afternoon tea, so we went upstairs and enjoyed tea with the same view of the river. We decided not to take advantage of the Pisco Sour during happy hour, and did some more relaxing, picture looking (longing for our computer to do more work with the great internet (included) and catching up on things that we haven't done with our intense expedition schedule.
When it was time for our dinner reservation, we went to the dining room, and found that we had a set menu to choose from, much like on a cruise ship. Our choices were not only tasty, but they were presented beautifully. After dinner we did some exploring of the hotel, and the area outside the front door, before coming back and looking at a photo book of Machu Picchu to see if we had missed anything that we would want to take pictures of tomorrow. While we didn't remember all the information, and Alan was sure he didn't have the quality of the pictures there, we had seen most everything, with the exception of hiking up and down the adjacent mountains for better views (and that wasn't going to happen!). So we decided to take our time the next day and enjoy the luxury of the hotel as long as we could and do some looking/shopping in town that we haven't done the whole time we've been gone.
While we were doing that, Jose, our dinner waiter, tracked us down with a small brownie/cake, again beautifully decorated, with candles, and 'Happy Anniversary' written in chocolate on the plate. What a nice surprise! It was a great ending to a wonderful day-after-the-40th-anniversary of our wedding day!
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