South America: Escape from Puno & Machu Picchu
One of our readers, read their first chapter of our travels a week ago. They sent back an email saying that they read it after attending a wedding and having several or maybe more than several drinks and found our travel chapter interesting. Based on this email, I recommend all readers -- except my nieces and nephews, indulge in their favorite pleasure before reading this latest chapter in our travels.
Best to everyone and thanks to everyone who is keeping in touch.
Please excuse some of the punctuation, the keys in Spanish do not type what is always on them. Therefore I do not use quotation marks, etc.
Travel and Machu Picchu
I may wonder a bit with this chapter of travel. Lets just start with it 2:20 pm, I am operating on about 4 hours of sleep, and having just concluded the most difficult airline ticket purchase in my life and I am now drinking a beer while writing.
This story started about a week ago. Yes, it is a long and involved story. Knox, please pass this on to Scott -- I am sure he will want to tell me, I told you so!
About a week ago we were on a small tour group of 9 people in a van driving toward Colca Canyon from Arequipa, Peru. One of the passengers was a single traveling lady about 60 who had just finished a 2 year Peace Corp assignment in Bolivia. We thought we had hit a gold mine of information. But just about the first thing she tells us is there is major demonstrations in Bolivia and the road from Puno, Peru to La Paz, Bolivia is closed. More good news, 7 dead so far. Ok, we had heard rumors of trouble the day before. Two days later on the trip back to Arequipa, a young Irishman tells us the only way he could get out of Bolivia was a 36 hour bus trip. Later that day sitting in the tour agency office we are officially told we can not get into Bolivia by bus. I ask about boat. One phone call later and the same answer, No.
We already had our travel to Puno and island tour of Lake Titicaca paid for. So we go. And what a wonderful trip and time but this will be another story.
We arrive back from the islands about 4 pm and I have airline tickets bought from Cusco to Lima by 6. Our tour agency contact meets us at the hotel, Hotel Colon Inn a Best Western Hotel and the best hotel in Puno if that gives you an idea of accommodations available in Puno, at 8 pm. While she is explaining that our bus for tomorrow morning may be cancelled due to demonstrators in Peru, the bus company calls me. Of course, no English only Spanish. I put our agent on the phone. She gets off the phone and says no bus tomorrow. Ok, I can not get from Puno to Cusco but I have a non refundable plane ticket the following day from Cusco to Lima. Mistake on my part, I have not thought of how to get out of Lima as you will later discover.
I go get Nancy for translation duties with our agent. We are told we can immediately leave for the bus station. Remember we just spent 2 days island hoping, climbing up and down 500 feet trails several times at a base altitude of 13,000 plus, spending the night with a great family whose guest room has a ceiling height of 6 feet and one inch based on my head height, and an outhouse. We are tired!
Our agent leaves for 10 minutes and returns with Luis, a taxi driver. He is willing to pick us up at 3 am and drive through or around the demonstrators who most likely will not be out at 3 due to the cold. Our agent again tells us she does not know when a bus may be able to take us to Cusco. We agree to the $120 taxi fare and head to bed.
At 3:02 am Luis pulls away from the hotel. All is quite for the first 40 minutes as Luis attempts a new land speed record from Puno to Cusco. Then it is time to hit the brakes. Oh, I forgot to tell you that there is only one road out of Puno. In the head lights we see maybe 6 to 10 people rolling rocks about the size of soft balls to bowling balls on to the road. Our taxi driver stops, rolls down his window - did I tell you it is Cold - says a few words in Spanish to one of the men, rolls up his window, and drives off the road on to a dirt road with several houses facing the road. Just as he begins to tells us in Spanish that he is going to try to go around these men I see another man carrying at least 10 rocks toward the road we just left.
We spend about 5 minutes winding our way through several dirt streets. We are not exactly sure what is going on but have put all our trust in Luis who we met for 10 minutes less than 8 hours ago. Head lights pick up the paved road. Rocks and rocks but no people. Luis gets back on the road and starts weaving his way through rocks as large as a wheel barrow. After several minutes of driving, Nancy and I spot at about the same time broken glass in the road -- like windshield glass! We go by the glass and see no more rocks or people. Cusco here we come.
Again, it was a great drive. Watching the sun rise on snow covered peaks that 16,000 feet height and maybe 3 miles from the road was great. We watched an entire valley wakeup over the next hour or two. Someday we would like to return and spend a couple of days in this valley -- gorgeous. There are so many places we have visited and want to return to in order to see them properly!
Ok, things are looking up. We are safely in our hotel room, 4th time we have spent time at the Hotel Rumi Punku in Cusco; we have tickets to Lima for tomorrow; and I will go get tickets for Lima to Buenos Aires, Argentina --- WRONG.
I find out that we can not leave until Sat. and we want to leave on Friday. The tickets will be $320 one-way. Back to the hotel to discuss with Nancy. What the heck, we will spend an extra day in Lima.Back to travel agent. Sorry no tickets available for Sat. Ten minutes later, ok I have two tickets for you. Great, NO. Agent, do you have a ticket exiting Argentina. Me, No. Agent, do you have a return ticket to the USA. Me, No. Agent, sorry but you can not go to Argentina unless you have a ticket out of Argentina or a return ticket to the USA!
An hour later we are the proud owners of two round trip tickets Lima to Buenos Aires to Lima leaving at 1:30 am tomorrow night and returning on Oct. 26. Please note, we do not have a clue where we will be on Oct. 26 but I guarantee it will not be Buenos Aires and our trip to Lima is now an arrival at 10:30 in the morning and leave that night at 1:30 to arrive in Buenos Aires at about 7 in the morning.
Now you know why I am drinking at 2:30 in the afternoon. Oh yes, anyone other than Scott and Knox who has the gaul to say anything along the lines of: I told you so or But Tom you said you wanted adventure and unique experiences will no longer be on my Christmas card list!
Machu PicchuWe started our trip to Machu Picchu on a Sunday with a trip to Pisac. Pisac is about 45 minutes outside of Cusco. We took a taxi that cost us about $10. Unfortunately I pick a driver with dyslexia. He thought the speed limit signs that said 35 Km per hour said 53 Km per hour.
Pisac has a large Sunday market. We spent less than a half hour with the other tourist and then opted for the Inca ruins above the town. We found a great driver who was from Pisac, knew several English phrases and words, and was willing to do anything for us.
When we got to the ruins he explained the options we had for getting back. We agreed to start at the top of the ruins, he would meet us at the bottom and then he found us a young man to guide us. Our guide was very friendly and told us so much that we did not know about the Incas. He was very personable. He took us on one path that was a little narrow, a little steep, and required some rock scrambling. About 75 per cent through, he stopped and asked us our age. I think he was a little worried at this point.
After hiking around the ruins for about an hour, we decided to hike all the way back to Pisac. We explained to our guide what we wanted to do and to tell our taxi driver to meet us back at the market.
Off we go.Just another great view hike! The valley to your left and right, the river at the bottom winding its way through the steep sided valley, Pisac directly below, terraced fields on both sides of the river and my favorite: all the younger hikers coming up sucking wind big time!The Incas were either 4 feet or 7 feet tall. I have come to this conclusion based on the spacing and height of their steps. Either they took two steps on each step or one giant step. This was our introduction to Inca steps and all I could think of was why did not Gus make me do more lunges in our gym workouts.
Took about an hour and a half to make it down. Enterprise business of the trip was waiting for us at the bottom. Two fresh orange juice stands. We chose the lady on our left who immediately peeled, squeezed and poured us two plastic glasses full of the best tasting orange juice in the world.
Monday our guide, Erica, and our driver picked us up about 8 in the morning. We drove out of Cusco and immediately were confronted with a magnificent view of snow covered peaks. We are driving at better than 11,000 feet and the peaks go to 18,000 feet.
What a great drive. Terraced fields, small towns or villages, live stock, churches, and the ever present valleys, gorges, and mountains. Our first stop other than for photographs was Chinchero. Erica took us on an easy walk of the ruins -- could not have been more than 300 vertical feet down and back up, over several acres of land, all at an altitude of 11,600 feet plus. And yes, more Inca steps. All complaining aside, it was a wonderful walk and Erica told and explained so much to us. When we returned to the village, Erica took us to the church. Just as we arrived at the door, here comes a parade with people and band. Peruvians love parades and a parade must have drums and horns. The churches interior has been restored and is fabulous. The ceiling and walls are covered with religious designs and large paintings by the native people at the time of the Spanish. This was not one of the great cathedrals in South America but a very beautiful local church.
Next stop was the Inca ruins at Moray. We did not hike all the way down but far enough to try out the rock steps that project out from the face of the terracing rock walls. Was not as bad as it looked.We had our box lunches on the steps of the caretakers office and quarters -- looking out on a view that can not be described of fields, mountains, white snow, and deep blue clear sky.
We then drove to the terraced Inca salt pans. Something to see, walk and talk. There are over 5000 salt pans. Each about 15 feet by 25 feet and all feed by a salt stream. Of course, we walked the length of the terraces. Sounds easy until you are the terraced walls which are 12 to 20 inches wide with a fall on the left into a foot of salt water or a fall to the right of 10 feet into a foot of salt water.
After a 15 minute walk on top of the terrace walls we came to the bagging shed. Here a group of 8 men and women spray the salt with iodine, shoveling the three different types of salt into 50 Kilo bags, tie the bags and stack them for shipping. Oh, for all this work, hiking down to the salt pans, raking the salt, shoveling the salt, carrying the salt up the terraces on the same wall we walked, bagging the salt, and transporting to the nearest town they receive about $3.50 US per 50 Kilo sack.
From here we hiked to Urubamba. We crossed over a bridge and stopped at a lodge for Pisco sours. We deserved a drink on an outdoor patio overlooking the river with a Peruvian harp player playing and a sound track of Monks chanting in the background.
We stayed at a great place in Yucay which is 5 minutes from Urubamba. I took advantage of the bar late that afternoon, only after taking advantage of a shower with hot water!
The next day we drove to Ollantaytambo and did the ruins. I believe my altimeter said we did over 500 feet up and 500 feet down that wonderful Inca invention, the Inca step. Each ruin is unique and has so much interesting history known and guessed at.
We stayed at the Las Orquideas. Our double bed room with a bath was about $10 US. You enter through the gated wall into a small grass court yard. It was early afternoon so all the guest towels of the previous nights our hanging over chairs in the yard. Our room faced the ruins we had earlier explored. It was another wonderful small hotel. We spent the afternoon reading and resting our legs.
That night we sleep like the dead. And we were lucky we did wake up. Must have been 5 pounds of blankets per inch of body on us but we were not cold at any time of the night.
The next morning was a breakfast of bread and cheese and then to the train station. I hailed a three wheeled motorized bike cycle for the ride to the station. Our backpacks fit behind the seat, we climbed up and on to the bench seat with canopy, and the driver jumped on the bike cycle seat and off we went. Nancy and I did not talk during this trip, we could not hear each other over the sound of the motor. Another mode of transportation that I had not used before.
We arrive at the train station in Aguas Calientes about mid morning, walked down the tracks to a place to store our backpacks, and caught the bus to Machu Picchu. It is about a 30 minute winding, climbing and dusty ride to the top. And there is Machu Picchu! It is beautiful. We took an hour tour and then back to the entry for lunch. After lunch we hiked to the Sun Gate and looked back down on Machu Picchu. Nancy and I both agreed that this is probably a better view -- you have earned it, after a four day hike of the Inca trail.
Point of interest, the fastest time recorded on the Inca trail is less than 4 hours.
Late that afternoon was our favorite time. After about 3 in the afternoon there are very few people in the ruins. We felt as if we had the place to ourselves. It is when you are there alone that Machu Picchu stands out from the other Inca ruins.
The next day Nancy took a rest day and I climbed Huayna Picchu. I arrived about 8 before the mornings train tourist arrived. The guides say it is a 1 to 2 hour hike up. It is about 2000 feet up -- mostly straight up. At one point after a stop for air, I counted out 25 steps and noted I had climbed 20 feet. And, here I thought I was climbing a foot per step -- what a wimp I am. The climb itself when you are not sucking for air is beautiful. The outlying peaks are beautiful, you are hiking through a cloud forest, there are various colored flowers and a least one hummingbird. Just before you reach the top you come to a set of ladder steps, the steps are very narrow and so steep that you can use your hands above your head to assist in the climb. Only 120 steeps that I counted on the way down which is more difficult than the way up.
I spent a half hour at the top. It is great even with the other 40 people that have made it to the top about the same time as you do.
The next morning Nancy and I arrived at Machu Picchu before 8. We immediately hike to the top and took the trail to the Inca bridge. This is a relatively easy hike if you discount the elevation. Again great views, vegetation and maybe the best thing is we only saw a half dozen people on this trail.
We went back into Aguas Calientes about noon. We found an outside table, ordered a coke and cerveza grande -- I will let you guess who had the coke, two dishes of ice cream and people watched. One thing you immediately note, everyone is scratching insect bites just as you are. Most people remember to put on sun block but forget the insect repellent but Machu Picchu is located in a cloud forest -- that means insects. A nursery was located across from us and we watched the children playing. And when this was not interesting enough, I wrote out a postcard or two.
Machu Picchu is great. But so are so many of the other Inca ruins and this is from someone who did not plan on visiting more than one or two ruins.
Best to everyone,
Nancy and Tom
South America
Best to everyone and thanks to everyone who is keeping in touch.
Please excuse some of the punctuation, the keys in Spanish do not type what is always on them. Therefore I do not use quotation marks, etc.
Travel and Machu Picchu
I may wonder a bit with this chapter of travel. Lets just start with it 2:20 pm, I am operating on about 4 hours of sleep, and having just concluded the most difficult airline ticket purchase in my life and I am now drinking a beer while writing.
This story started about a week ago. Yes, it is a long and involved story. Knox, please pass this on to Scott -- I am sure he will want to tell me, I told you so!
About a week ago we were on a small tour group of 9 people in a van driving toward Colca Canyon from Arequipa, Peru. One of the passengers was a single traveling lady about 60 who had just finished a 2 year Peace Corp assignment in Bolivia. We thought we had hit a gold mine of information. But just about the first thing she tells us is there is major demonstrations in Bolivia and the road from Puno, Peru to La Paz, Bolivia is closed. More good news, 7 dead so far. Ok, we had heard rumors of trouble the day before. Two days later on the trip back to Arequipa, a young Irishman tells us the only way he could get out of Bolivia was a 36 hour bus trip. Later that day sitting in the tour agency office we are officially told we can not get into Bolivia by bus. I ask about boat. One phone call later and the same answer, No.
We already had our travel to Puno and island tour of Lake Titicaca paid for. So we go. And what a wonderful trip and time but this will be another story.
We arrive back from the islands about 4 pm and I have airline tickets bought from Cusco to Lima by 6. Our tour agency contact meets us at the hotel, Hotel Colon Inn a Best Western Hotel and the best hotel in Puno if that gives you an idea of accommodations available in Puno, at 8 pm. While she is explaining that our bus for tomorrow morning may be cancelled due to demonstrators in Peru, the bus company calls me. Of course, no English only Spanish. I put our agent on the phone. She gets off the phone and says no bus tomorrow. Ok, I can not get from Puno to Cusco but I have a non refundable plane ticket the following day from Cusco to Lima. Mistake on my part, I have not thought of how to get out of Lima as you will later discover.
I go get Nancy for translation duties with our agent. We are told we can immediately leave for the bus station. Remember we just spent 2 days island hoping, climbing up and down 500 feet trails several times at a base altitude of 13,000 plus, spending the night with a great family whose guest room has a ceiling height of 6 feet and one inch based on my head height, and an outhouse. We are tired!
Our agent leaves for 10 minutes and returns with Luis, a taxi driver. He is willing to pick us up at 3 am and drive through or around the demonstrators who most likely will not be out at 3 due to the cold. Our agent again tells us she does not know when a bus may be able to take us to Cusco. We agree to the $120 taxi fare and head to bed.
At 3:02 am Luis pulls away from the hotel. All is quite for the first 40 minutes as Luis attempts a new land speed record from Puno to Cusco. Then it is time to hit the brakes. Oh, I forgot to tell you that there is only one road out of Puno. In the head lights we see maybe 6 to 10 people rolling rocks about the size of soft balls to bowling balls on to the road. Our taxi driver stops, rolls down his window - did I tell you it is Cold - says a few words in Spanish to one of the men, rolls up his window, and drives off the road on to a dirt road with several houses facing the road. Just as he begins to tells us in Spanish that he is going to try to go around these men I see another man carrying at least 10 rocks toward the road we just left.
We spend about 5 minutes winding our way through several dirt streets. We are not exactly sure what is going on but have put all our trust in Luis who we met for 10 minutes less than 8 hours ago. Head lights pick up the paved road. Rocks and rocks but no people. Luis gets back on the road and starts weaving his way through rocks as large as a wheel barrow. After several minutes of driving, Nancy and I spot at about the same time broken glass in the road -- like windshield glass! We go by the glass and see no more rocks or people. Cusco here we come.
Again, it was a great drive. Watching the sun rise on snow covered peaks that 16,000 feet height and maybe 3 miles from the road was great. We watched an entire valley wakeup over the next hour or two. Someday we would like to return and spend a couple of days in this valley -- gorgeous. There are so many places we have visited and want to return to in order to see them properly!
Ok, things are looking up. We are safely in our hotel room, 4th time we have spent time at the Hotel Rumi Punku in Cusco; we have tickets to Lima for tomorrow; and I will go get tickets for Lima to Buenos Aires, Argentina --- WRONG.
I find out that we can not leave until Sat. and we want to leave on Friday. The tickets will be $320 one-way. Back to the hotel to discuss with Nancy. What the heck, we will spend an extra day in Lima.Back to travel agent. Sorry no tickets available for Sat. Ten minutes later, ok I have two tickets for you. Great, NO. Agent, do you have a ticket exiting Argentina. Me, No. Agent, do you have a return ticket to the USA. Me, No. Agent, sorry but you can not go to Argentina unless you have a ticket out of Argentina or a return ticket to the USA!
An hour later we are the proud owners of two round trip tickets Lima to Buenos Aires to Lima leaving at 1:30 am tomorrow night and returning on Oct. 26. Please note, we do not have a clue where we will be on Oct. 26 but I guarantee it will not be Buenos Aires and our trip to Lima is now an arrival at 10:30 in the morning and leave that night at 1:30 to arrive in Buenos Aires at about 7 in the morning.
Now you know why I am drinking at 2:30 in the afternoon. Oh yes, anyone other than Scott and Knox who has the gaul to say anything along the lines of: I told you so or But Tom you said you wanted adventure and unique experiences will no longer be on my Christmas card list!
Machu PicchuWe started our trip to Machu Picchu on a Sunday with a trip to Pisac. Pisac is about 45 minutes outside of Cusco. We took a taxi that cost us about $10. Unfortunately I pick a driver with dyslexia. He thought the speed limit signs that said 35 Km per hour said 53 Km per hour.
Pisac has a large Sunday market. We spent less than a half hour with the other tourist and then opted for the Inca ruins above the town. We found a great driver who was from Pisac, knew several English phrases and words, and was willing to do anything for us.
When we got to the ruins he explained the options we had for getting back. We agreed to start at the top of the ruins, he would meet us at the bottom and then he found us a young man to guide us. Our guide was very friendly and told us so much that we did not know about the Incas. He was very personable. He took us on one path that was a little narrow, a little steep, and required some rock scrambling. About 75 per cent through, he stopped and asked us our age. I think he was a little worried at this point.
After hiking around the ruins for about an hour, we decided to hike all the way back to Pisac. We explained to our guide what we wanted to do and to tell our taxi driver to meet us back at the market.
Off we go.Just another great view hike! The valley to your left and right, the river at the bottom winding its way through the steep sided valley, Pisac directly below, terraced fields on both sides of the river and my favorite: all the younger hikers coming up sucking wind big time!The Incas were either 4 feet or 7 feet tall. I have come to this conclusion based on the spacing and height of their steps. Either they took two steps on each step or one giant step. This was our introduction to Inca steps and all I could think of was why did not Gus make me do more lunges in our gym workouts.
Took about an hour and a half to make it down. Enterprise business of the trip was waiting for us at the bottom. Two fresh orange juice stands. We chose the lady on our left who immediately peeled, squeezed and poured us two plastic glasses full of the best tasting orange juice in the world.
Monday our guide, Erica, and our driver picked us up about 8 in the morning. We drove out of Cusco and immediately were confronted with a magnificent view of snow covered peaks. We are driving at better than 11,000 feet and the peaks go to 18,000 feet.
What a great drive. Terraced fields, small towns or villages, live stock, churches, and the ever present valleys, gorges, and mountains. Our first stop other than for photographs was Chinchero. Erica took us on an easy walk of the ruins -- could not have been more than 300 vertical feet down and back up, over several acres of land, all at an altitude of 11,600 feet plus. And yes, more Inca steps. All complaining aside, it was a wonderful walk and Erica told and explained so much to us. When we returned to the village, Erica took us to the church. Just as we arrived at the door, here comes a parade with people and band. Peruvians love parades and a parade must have drums and horns. The churches interior has been restored and is fabulous. The ceiling and walls are covered with religious designs and large paintings by the native people at the time of the Spanish. This was not one of the great cathedrals in South America but a very beautiful local church.
Next stop was the Inca ruins at Moray. We did not hike all the way down but far enough to try out the rock steps that project out from the face of the terracing rock walls. Was not as bad as it looked.We had our box lunches on the steps of the caretakers office and quarters -- looking out on a view that can not be described of fields, mountains, white snow, and deep blue clear sky.
We then drove to the terraced Inca salt pans. Something to see, walk and talk. There are over 5000 salt pans. Each about 15 feet by 25 feet and all feed by a salt stream. Of course, we walked the length of the terraces. Sounds easy until you are the terraced walls which are 12 to 20 inches wide with a fall on the left into a foot of salt water or a fall to the right of 10 feet into a foot of salt water.
After a 15 minute walk on top of the terrace walls we came to the bagging shed. Here a group of 8 men and women spray the salt with iodine, shoveling the three different types of salt into 50 Kilo bags, tie the bags and stack them for shipping. Oh, for all this work, hiking down to the salt pans, raking the salt, shoveling the salt, carrying the salt up the terraces on the same wall we walked, bagging the salt, and transporting to the nearest town they receive about $3.50 US per 50 Kilo sack.
From here we hiked to Urubamba. We crossed over a bridge and stopped at a lodge for Pisco sours. We deserved a drink on an outdoor patio overlooking the river with a Peruvian harp player playing and a sound track of Monks chanting in the background.
We stayed at a great place in Yucay which is 5 minutes from Urubamba. I took advantage of the bar late that afternoon, only after taking advantage of a shower with hot water!
The next day we drove to Ollantaytambo and did the ruins. I believe my altimeter said we did over 500 feet up and 500 feet down that wonderful Inca invention, the Inca step. Each ruin is unique and has so much interesting history known and guessed at.
We stayed at the Las Orquideas. Our double bed room with a bath was about $10 US. You enter through the gated wall into a small grass court yard. It was early afternoon so all the guest towels of the previous nights our hanging over chairs in the yard. Our room faced the ruins we had earlier explored. It was another wonderful small hotel. We spent the afternoon reading and resting our legs.
That night we sleep like the dead. And we were lucky we did wake up. Must have been 5 pounds of blankets per inch of body on us but we were not cold at any time of the night.
The next morning was a breakfast of bread and cheese and then to the train station. I hailed a three wheeled motorized bike cycle for the ride to the station. Our backpacks fit behind the seat, we climbed up and on to the bench seat with canopy, and the driver jumped on the bike cycle seat and off we went. Nancy and I did not talk during this trip, we could not hear each other over the sound of the motor. Another mode of transportation that I had not used before.
We arrive at the train station in Aguas Calientes about mid morning, walked down the tracks to a place to store our backpacks, and caught the bus to Machu Picchu. It is about a 30 minute winding, climbing and dusty ride to the top. And there is Machu Picchu! It is beautiful. We took an hour tour and then back to the entry for lunch. After lunch we hiked to the Sun Gate and looked back down on Machu Picchu. Nancy and I both agreed that this is probably a better view -- you have earned it, after a four day hike of the Inca trail.
Point of interest, the fastest time recorded on the Inca trail is less than 4 hours.
Late that afternoon was our favorite time. After about 3 in the afternoon there are very few people in the ruins. We felt as if we had the place to ourselves. It is when you are there alone that Machu Picchu stands out from the other Inca ruins.
The next day Nancy took a rest day and I climbed Huayna Picchu. I arrived about 8 before the mornings train tourist arrived. The guides say it is a 1 to 2 hour hike up. It is about 2000 feet up -- mostly straight up. At one point after a stop for air, I counted out 25 steps and noted I had climbed 20 feet. And, here I thought I was climbing a foot per step -- what a wimp I am. The climb itself when you are not sucking for air is beautiful. The outlying peaks are beautiful, you are hiking through a cloud forest, there are various colored flowers and a least one hummingbird. Just before you reach the top you come to a set of ladder steps, the steps are very narrow and so steep that you can use your hands above your head to assist in the climb. Only 120 steeps that I counted on the way down which is more difficult than the way up.
I spent a half hour at the top. It is great even with the other 40 people that have made it to the top about the same time as you do.
The next morning Nancy and I arrived at Machu Picchu before 8. We immediately hike to the top and took the trail to the Inca bridge. This is a relatively easy hike if you discount the elevation. Again great views, vegetation and maybe the best thing is we only saw a half dozen people on this trail.
We went back into Aguas Calientes about noon. We found an outside table, ordered a coke and cerveza grande -- I will let you guess who had the coke, two dishes of ice cream and people watched. One thing you immediately note, everyone is scratching insect bites just as you are. Most people remember to put on sun block but forget the insect repellent but Machu Picchu is located in a cloud forest -- that means insects. A nursery was located across from us and we watched the children playing. And when this was not interesting enough, I wrote out a postcard or two.
Machu Picchu is great. But so are so many of the other Inca ruins and this is from someone who did not plan on visiting more than one or two ruins.
Best to everyone,
Nancy and Tom
South America
posted by Rambling Tom at 6:08 PM
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