Last night was the shortest night of my trip sofar, I woke up at 5:30 am to take the train to Aguas Calientes, just a hike away from Machu Picchu!! I was bothered all night by a mistake I made in booking my train ride back to Cusco! The station closest to Cusco is Poroy but instead I booked a ticket, from the US, off course, to go back to Ollanta station which is two hours away from Cusco! Duh I said how could I do that, I tried changing it and paying the difference but Perurail told me all trains were sold out so I had to live with my mistake!! Well, this morning on my way to the train station I made a deal with the taxi driver to come pick me up tomorrow night from Ollanta station So I am happy!!! The reason for my concern was that I will arrive in Ollanta at 8:00 pm and back in Cusco by 10:00 pm so I did not want to gamble being left out without a safe ride to my next hotel..... The bottom line is there is no problem money cannot solve, except sometimes health and happiness !!
That said, this morning was great even though I woke up so early!! First my hotel breakfast was open at 5:00 am and I was all alone there so took my time and had a good breakfast! Next, when I arrived at the Poroy station, the place was just bursting with energy!!! All these tourists from all over the world standing and chatting, some buying breakfast, water, snacks to get ready for Machu Picchu ! It was an awesome scene!! That energy just gave me a jolt and I felt much better being in the middle of this big crowd, though I don't know anybody there! That hardly bothered me, I just felt that all these people are heading the same direction with the same goal; to visit the lost city of the Inca!!! I said wow, I am not the only one nuts about this place I have actually a lot of company from all over the planet!!
We boarded the train at 7:30 am and were on our way by 7:45 am! I have to commend Perurail for their punctuality and good service, way to go Perurail!! The train had windows everywhere including the ceiling to let everyone enjoy the magnificent views of the Andes mountains and what views they were!! Just spectacular!!! All along the ride I was watching the country side, the villages and the beautiful scenery around me and at times I was just wowed by the beauty of it all! I was snapping pictures like there is no tomorrow and in all directions! The similarities between the villages I saw to those in the Atlas Mountains of North Africa were so real that I couldn't believe it at times!! Two indigenous populations thousands of miles apart and yet having the same exact way of life!! They must be connected somewhere in the heavens I thought!!
Enjoy the pictures and see for yourselves the beauty of the Andes ....
View from the train
View from a ceiling window of the train of snow capped peaks
Urubamba river seen from the train
Rapids in the Urubamba river
Awesome views from all windows
A mountain peak seen from the ceiling window
We also got train service with drinks!!
Country side seen from the train
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| Aguas Calientes |
Aguas Calientes
Aguas Calientes at night, restaurants, cafes and hotels everywhere
Aguas Calientes at night: with train load after train load of tourists, this small town squeezed between these giant mountain peaks and along the Urubamba river has lots of accommodations to please everyone
Somewhere up there is Machu Picchu
Well, I am resting in my room today! I need to conserve energy to face the hike of Huayna Picchu tomorrow morning! My goal is to get up at 5:00 am and take the first bus to Machu Picchu, but that is the goal of every tourist in Aguas Calientes so!! The good news is I have my bus tickets purchased already so no waiting in line for that. There is a bus every 10 minutes so if I miss the first bus it is not the end of the world, I just want to catch sunrise up there on top and start touring the gigantic site in addition to hiking Huayna Picchu!! I need to stock up on water and snacks for tomorrow as there is not much up there! Time to go have dinner and buy lots of water and whatever else I can find that is not going to make me sick! ttfn
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