Now for more Peru...
Monday, May 14th
We
woke up and had a wonderful breakfast at our hotel in Cuzco then
prepared to head out to Ollantaytambo. To get to Ollantaytambo, we took
a slight risk of taking the local transportation to save money and get
the feel of how the locals travel. For about $12 total, we both were
able to ride in a mini-van packed with natives that smelled like a
middle school boy's locker room for the hour and a half ride to our
destination. That was a cultural experience in and of itself. As a
side note, one of the fellow riders was a middle-aged woman. On the
trip, her cell phone rang... her ring tone - a 98 Degrees song! You
wonder how they come across a phone like that...
Ollantaytambo
was a gem of a town. Nestled in the Andes along side the river that
meanders through the Sacred Valley, this town is build upon pre-Incan
and Incan foundations. If you travel to Machu Picchu, you should
designate at least one day to this place. Below is our hotel room - the
most comfortable bed that we had in Peru. Tyler enjoys the view of our
room. Our bed and breakfast was situated above the train station. The
trains here are for the sole purpose of taking travelors to and from
Aguas Calientes, the town settled below the peak of Machu Picchu.
Before
going to Peru, I did not realize how many ruins there were. The town
of Ollantaytambo has 2 major sets of ruins in addition to the ruins that
the town is build upon. The image below shows the "official"
Ollantaytambo ruins. These required a somewhat pricy entrance fee. As a
result, the site is very well maintained and navigable. We did not
enter to see the site.
You will see below the free "unofficial" ruins that we explored. This
entree sign warns against climbing up the path to the ruins. Skull and
crossbones can't be too bad, right?
Views from once we climbed to the ruins. We are looking below onto Ollantaytambo.
Did
I mention that I am scared of heights? This was terrifying. We were
mere inches from a sheer drop off. I don't know what I was thinking by
following Tyler beyond this point. I resorted to using my hands and
feet on climbs many times on this day and on our visit to Machu Picchu.
We hired our own tour guide to learn more about Ollantaytambo. He told
us about the history and architecture of the pre-Incan village. Note
the canals, boulders, and archway. The Incans built many walls with
bricks so precisely cut that they did not need mortar. The double
entree door way signaled that a person of dignity lived there or was a
place of worship.
During our village tour, we got to enter a few of the dwellings that are used now as they were during per-Columbian times.
One dwelling was being used as a "brewery" for a non-alcoholic drink
known locally as "Chicha." I warn you, do not use the word "chicha"
with your Puerto Rican friends, as it means something totally different
to them. Chicha is a fermented beverage made from corn. You can see
the local woman brewing it and serving it fresh in that questionably
clean cup. I tasted it, but could not bear to drink it after seeing the
conditions where it was made. I'm sure that none of the utensils or
cups were sanitized (or maybe even washed with soap). Tyler, on the
other hand, drank every drop of that glass and turned out OK.
One
of the other dwellings that we visited had a decent collection of
guinea pigs. No, these are not pets. They are dinner. Guinea pig is
commonly eaten as an entree in Peru. I almost stepped on one. Once
again, Tyler was a bit more adventurous than me, as he at least tried
guinea while in Peru.
Tuesday, May 15th
And for the big awaited day of Machu Picchu! We woke up early to catch our train to the town of Aguas Calientes. Lucky for us, our hotel was located at the train stop, so we had our breakfast and a coffee to go right next to our train. The weather was a bit chilly because the sun had not risen yet. It warmed up to the 70's that day, though:)
You can see our train below. The train route followed a brook all the way from start to stop, which winded through the valley between snow capped mountains. We descended altitude en route to Machu Picchu, so we began to see different vegetation - the "cloud jungle"- because of the lower altitude. On both sides of the track we were able to see many Incan or pre-Incan ruins including many terraces. Terraces were used for agricultural purposes on the slopping sides of the mountains. I was surprised at how many ruins there were. It is nice that not all are overtaken by tourists.
Once we arrived by train to Aguas Callientes (a pretty much mandatory stop on the way), we took a coach bus up countless switch-backs to the entree point of Machu Picchu. The only other option for up the mountain would be to hike. We ended up hiking down after our visit but were glad that we didn't hike up. Once we got to the entree point, we still had a 5 minute or so hike until we got to the view point below. This is one of the iconic views of Machu Picchu. It is bigger in person that I expected. The pics below are of our hike of the peak that you see in the background. That is Wayna Picchu.
Almost to the top of Wayna Picchu. You can see how small Machu Picchu is in the background. We were very high up, so, once again, I resorted to practically crawling on hands and feet in fear of falling. Tyler is standing on another ledge below, against my wishes.
At last! The tip top point of Machu Picchu. Tyler was not scared to shimmy up that rock for a photo-op. I, on the other hand, put a smile on my face while I was practically hyperventilating due to fear of heights. I didn't make it up to the top point for fear of my inevitable plunge to death.
Enjoy the many different ruins that we saw at Machu Picchu...
Big boulder! How did they move it without a crane or dump truck?
The Temple of the Sun is one of the most famous and important architectural ruin. It has 2 windows that, on the Summer Solstice, the sun shines directly through. The Incans used it to help them plan the agricultural season.
Machu Picchu did not disappoint. In fact, it was more that I could have imagined. The sights, the climbing, the weather- all were perfect. We ended our experience with a hike back down the mountain to the base town of Aguas Calientes. Once we arrived, exhausted, hungry, and thirsty, we hit up a local cafe for drinks an an appetizer. Tyler enjoyed a liter of Cusquena (Peruvian Beer) and I had a coca sour - very frothy, sweet, and smooth. We had guacamole, too. Guac is not exactly a Peruvian food, but it sounded good!
After refueling and visiting the souvenir market, e loaded back onto a train for the trip back to Ollantaytambo. It was dark by this point, so we have no pictures to share. The sun set here by 5pm, as it is is winter there and the town is nestled between mountains.
When we returned to our hotel, we immediately dropped our bags, changed clothes, and headed for dinner. We trusted Trip Adviser again for dinner recommendations. Since Ollantaytambo is a small town, there weren't too many choices. We went with one that was highly recommended by several people we spoke with. At the restaurant, we burritos that were unlike any that I have ever had. By far the best burritos I have had in my life. The tortillas were made fresh and brought straight off the griddle to our table (they also were not made from white flour, but not sure what they were made of). They brought veggies, meat for Tyler, fresh shredded cheese, tomatoes, beans, guacamole, etc for us to build the burritos to our liking. I still continued to eat when I was stuffed just because it was so amazing.
And that is our Machu Picchu experience. The final days of our Peru trip will follow soon!
