Thursday 31st January – Ollantaytambo to
Aguas Callentas and Machu Picchu!
Walked to the station and
discovered that Nesta and Ian were in seats 1 and 2 right at the front of the
“vista dome” train with an uninterrupted view of the journey. It was
reminiscent of being on the ghost train at the fair at times – brilliant!
Arrived at 10 am – our bags
were taken to our hotel whilst we all got aboard the bus that took us up the 11
hairpin bends to Machu Picchu. Had a four hour guided tour with Silvia (with
Nesta having to put her cameras memory card in Ellie’s camera in order to take
pictures!)
WOW! Macho Picchu lived up to expectations!
Took lots of photographs and stamped
our passports at the entrance gate!
Had a bit of rain, but only
drizzle really and managed to see the whole site. Silvia has been here over
1000 times but still loves it and is passionate about it. She told us that last
year an American company applied to build a chairlift - but fortunately it was
turned down. She is concerned about the future of the site and wants it to be
preserved as it is.
Near the cave of the “big
mummy” Nesta found what appeared to be a seat carved out in the rock so named
it the “king’s toilet”! Silvia had never noticed it before, so she also sat in
it!
She is collecting anecdotes
for a book she hopes to write, so Nesta suggested that rather than carrying
dead bodies up the mountain to the holes where they were found, the Inca’s used
catapults to make it easier! She also suggested that what is needed at Machu
Picchu is a walking stick that is also an umbrella. Silvia agreed that when she
patents this idea and has made her millions, she will call it the Nesta walking
stick!
After the tour we went back
down to the village and had a nice meal. Silvia has found a man in the market
who will recharge Nesta’s battery so she can take her own photos again.
Because it’s the rainy
season, have decided not to go back up to macho Picchu tomorrow at 5-30am as
you don’t actually get to see the sunrise!
Friday 1st February – Machu Picchu to
Cusco.
Ian decided he would spend
the morning looking round Aguas Callentas so the rest of us met up at 8am. It
was a much clearer day and we walked up to the Sun Gate and then back round to
the Inca Bridge. Narrow path, no handrail and a 1000 ft. drop to the valley
below – spectacular!
After lunch in a lovely
restaurant near the hotel, we caught the 3pm train back to Ollantaytambo and
then by minibus back up the mountains to Cusco arriving at 7-30pm. It has been
a long day. Fi and Ellie went to bed but the rest of us went back to Jacks for
a drink and to say goodbye to Silvia.
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