Peru Day Three: From the Andes to the Jungle

On Wednesday we loaded up our busses at 7pm and drove about two hours to Ollotaytambo, where the Inka fortress was that we went to on Monday. Just below the fortress is a train station where we boarded and traveled another two hours. Our course followed a river that descended into a canyon from about 12,000 ft about sea level to 7,000 ft above sea level. As we travelled the landscape changed from the Andean mountains into a jungle. Our destination was Aguas Calientes. At Aguas Calientes we boarded yet another bus and drove 20 minutes to Machu Picchu, and highlight of our four day tour in the regions around Cusco. Our group of approximately 40 people was divided into smaller groups of 10. My little group picked the guide who wanted people wanted to hike. Nillo lead us high up on the western terrances of Machu Picchu where we were treated to amazing aerial views of the ancient village. According to our guide Machu Picchu was one of the few Inka settlements that was not razed by the Spanish conquerers, and so has remained intact from when the settlement was abandoned by its original inhabitants. Machu Picchu sits on a ridge above almost verticle cliffs. The terrances were used both as retaining walls and for growing crops. We walked around looking at the various interesting buildings and artifacts for about four hours. Our guide was very knowledgable about the history as far as archeologists are able to guess.

This is the view of the Peruvian Andes through our bus window travelling from Cusco to Ollotaytambo.


Our "Vista Dome" train at the Ollotaytambo station.

Following the river. This river has to be one of the great kayaking rivers in the world. It is about 70 miles of class two, three, four, and five + rapids.

On the train-ride down the canyon we had a couple spectacular views of mountains that were over 17,000 feet high.

Everyone in our train car were AMCIS conference attendees so we had lots of great opportunites to network.

Someone has a sweet little spot on the river. I'd hate to be there during flood times though.

A fun shot out the window. I saw the tunnel coming and took a quick picture; the focal point should have been the tunnel, but I really didn't have a lot of time to set up the shot, nor was I looking through the view-finder!

On the way down our train stopped on a spur to let another train pass. I guess it is a regular occurence because this little old lady came by trying to sell her flowers to people through the train windows. I didn't want the flowers, but I gave her a couple of solises. I showed her the coin and she took her hat off and I dropped the coin into her hat.

I took this shot as we were pulling into the town of Aquas Calientes. There are hot springs there, and I'm guessing that this little stream might have warm water; hence this woman doing her laundry in the stream.

One of my first pictures of Machu Picchu.

This picture was taken high on the southern terraces looking down on the villiage. Notice the steep drop-off.

This view shows the relative height of each terrace, and how high we were.

This is one of my favorite pictures but it looks totally fake, like I am at REI and grabbed a backpack off the shelf and am standing in front of a big poster or something.

I love doorway pictures for some reason. The Inka doorways are always trapazoidal.

If you were an Inka mommy, would you let your kids play on these steps? In the background in the distance are the terraces where I took some of the earlier pictures.

The building is original, the roof is a reconstruction

Towards the end of our visit I spotted this chinchilla (a South American rodent) sitting on one of the walls. Like the guinea pig, the chinchilla is considered a Peruvian delicacy.

Another fun doorway picture

Machu Picchu looking southwest showing how extensive some of the terraces are.

This little doorway was a tight squeeze

Machu Picchu in the setting sun (and failing light)

The end of an amazing tour, but not the day. See below for more details.

By the time we got back on the train it was dark. The train ride back up the canyon was uneventful, but the bus ride home will always be memorable. Our bus driver didn't know how to work the dashboard controls, so as we drove the windows all fogged up inside, including the windshield. When an oncoming car would approach we were literally blind. Imagine if you were we are in a bus going much faster than it appeared to be safe (think Mr. Toad's Wild Ride), on winding one-way mountain roads crossing the Andeas, punctuated with brief periods where the driver is blind. Occasionally our driver would stop and wipe the windshield with rag, which didn't appear to help much. Happily we arrived safely back to the hotel, which I am sure is far more the result of heavenly intervention than our driver's courage or skill.