Bob and Ann in Peru and Equador in 2008

Please visit October 10 slideshow

After a good 6 AM breakfast we hopped on the bus to ride to Ollantaytambo to catch the Machu Picchu train. On the bus we climbed into the foothills and wound through hairpin turns to Urubamba and stopped at a pottery pactory, a welcome break. Decorated with primitive folk art after being formed and fired on the premises, the wares were ornamental as well as useful. We bought pitchers that were well packed and delivered to our hotel in Cusco by the time we returned the next day.

View from the train - Start of the Inca Trail

After arriving in Ollantaytambo, we took a short walking tour of this ancient village that is surrounded by ancient Inca ruins. Then the bus dropped us off at the train station at about 10AM and by 10:30 we were boarding the train to Aguas Calientes. After an amazing hour and a half ride along the Urubamba River through the gorges surrounded by the towering Andes whose faces are still scored by ancient Inca terracing on the steep slopes, we arrived eager to head on up to Machu Picchu. But first we had a buffet lunch at the Inca Wasi, one of the cafes fueling the masses who flood little Aguas Calientes on their way to Machu Picchu. Our hungry group was quickly fed and we walked to the bus that drove us up the steep mountain on a dirt road with many switchbacks, about a 30 minute ride to Machu Picchu.

Machu Picchu

At about 2PM we walked through the Machu Picchu gates to hike along straight terraces to the Inca Temple of the Sun. We learned that the theories that explain the Inca’s sophisticated planning and building skills are based on chronicles left by the Spanish Conquistadors. The stories, passed down by generations of the native farmers, are filled with conjecture and guesswork. We became good at suspending disbelief when the enormity of the work required to create Machu Picchu began to sink in. Machu Picchu’s mysteries ride on Hiram Bingham’s accidental discovery of the ruins in 1907 with no trace of the people who had lived there except for some bones and massive stone structures. We were awestruck by the intricacy and beauty of the layout isolated so high in the Andes. As dusk decended we savored the last rays of sun interspersed with mountain shadows on this stunning site.

Dinner at Pueblo Viejo was ample, if uninspiring, and our spartan Santuario Hotel was fine for one night.