| Machu Picchu day 1
Apr 27, 2005 | (click to enlarge)
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 | | This is the lovely view you get when you walk in to Machu Picchu | | Us with Jane and Graham at the caretaker's lodge | | The view from the caretaker's lodge |
| We got up at 4.10am today for our 5.10 transfer! We were taken by minibus to Ollaytaytambo station. On the way we saw some of the rubble that the train drivers had put in the road the night before. We definitely made the right decision to come back. There wasn't that much left and it was still pretty bad. Anyway, we arrived at Ollaytaytambe where we caught the train to Machu Picchu village. We then got on another bus which took us up the mountain, using little winding roads, and right to the entrance to the city.
We entered the city at abou 8.45 and were amazed from the point where we walked in. It is much, much bigger than we imagined. It really is a city. There are probably hundreds of buildings and as the weather was really clear the views were fantastic.
After spraying ourselves with loads of insect repellent (it's a really bad area for mosquitoes) we started our tour. There were quite a lot of people in our group, and the guide had to explain things in Spanish and then translate them into English but I don't think anyone minded because you were usually so exhausted by walking from one spot to the next that it was nice to have a rest.
We went round all the main points - we had a look at the temple of the sun from above, but you're not allowed in. The stonework on it is amazing, really precise and not a bit of mortar in site. The stones are carved to fit together perfectly. We also went to the temple of the Condor which was very impressive - they had used two enormous slabs of rock that were already present to represent the wings of the condor, and then made a kind of sculpture to represent the body and head.
There was a pretty big climb up the hill to see the sundial, which also gave you a lovely view of the city. And there were lots of fountains - the Incas had strategically placed lots of stones with little gutters in them all the way down the hillside, interspersed with stone pools, so that the water flowed from the top, down the gutters and through the pools, all the way to the bottom. Really impressive.
We had lunch about 12, which we were more than ready for having been up for 8 hours and walking up and down stairs in the heat.
After lunch we went back in without a guide, and we climbed up to the caretakers lodge with Jane and Graham and an American couple called Frank and Carol. It was a really hard climb, and we had to keep stopping for rests, but it was well worth it as we got spectacular views from the cottage - it's the highest point without going on up into the jungle and back along the trail. We stayed up there for ages just admiring the view.
We left the citadel at about 3, met Catherine from our Colca Canyon trip on the way out, and then said goodbye to Jane and Graham at the train station as they had to go back. Then we went to our hotel, had a snooze, washed off all the sunscreen, insect repellent and dirt, put on more insect repellent, and went out for dinner with Catherine, Carol and Frank. Frank is mad keen on taking photos and even took one of us all having dinner!
Then we went back to our hotel, and on the way I fell over. I'd thought there was no one about, but suddenly a police woman and about 5 other people came running over to check I was ok. Not embarassing at all. Anyway, we were in bed and asleep by about 9.30 - a very tiring but fantastic day! |
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