Monday 2nd

Today was a day that held the possibility of being disappointing. Machu Picchu is a place that is on everyone’s bucket list, and possibly the most Instagramed place on earth. What if it didn’t live up to the hype and expectations?

The day started early, very early, a wake up call at four a.m. early. Our wonderful hotel had breakfast waiting for us, with the option of a take-away. It was difficult to drink enough coffee to wake me up properly. I filled the largest cup available to take with me.

We had to be in a place called Ollantaytambo to catch the train to Machu Picchu. The bus journey there was uneventful, I dozed most of the way. Well apart from when we hit random speed humps placed in unexpected places. We travelled down the Sacred Valley, also called the Urumbamba Valley, as it follows the course of the Urumbamba river.

We arrived in Ollantaytambo in time to catch the 08:00 train to Aguas Calientes.

The train journey takes about an hour and a half. We travelled along the banks of the fast flowing Urumbamba River, through spectacular Andean scenery. On the way we were entertained by a shaman who gave us some of the history of the place. There was also quite a lot about the spiritual and practical uses of coca leaves. I didn’t quite follow all that he told us about the spiritual significance. Still, the practical uses are helping relieve altitude sickness and keeping you awake. There were coca teabags in our hotel room for that purpose. (For relieving altitude sickness, rather than keeping you awake). They are also the raw material for the manufacture of cocaine, but he didn’t dwell on that.

After we arrived in Aguas Calientes, we took a short walk from the station. We then caught a bus to Machu Picchu itself. It is a very long and winding road up to the ruins. Spectacular, but it can also feel slightly scary. Especially if you are not keen on looking down vertical drops of a few hundred meters. After about twenty five minutes we arrived safely at the ruins. But it was the easier way. Well compared the the route our daughter, and also a couple of our friends, took to get there. They walked the Inca Trail. I would point out that they were a lot younger than we are now.

The number of visitors to the site is carefully controlled. Likewise, the parts of the site we were allowed to visit were regulated. There are three designated routes. I went on route two, which has a fair amount of climbing. Diane was still having some trouble with her knee. She chose the low level route three. She also had her own personal guide.

My one piece of advice to anyone planning to visit Machu Picchu is make sure you have decent footwear. You need at least a good pair of training shoes. This is not a place for flip flops.

Now that I had arrived, what did I think of Machu Picchu?

I was not disappointed. It is as spectacular as the publicity suggests, possibly more so. The choice of my photos below only hint at how spectacular the site is.

Our guide was very knowledgeable and entertaining, but I did not absorb everything he told us. This Wikipedia Machu Picchu page link offers a more detailed account of the site than I could manage. It is also more accurate than I would have produced.

One thing I do remember though . The tree pictured in one of the slides above is there because someone put their walking stick in the ground. Then forgot about it. It took root and grew into the tree that is there now.

It took about two hours to walk around the site. I don’t know that we saw everything, but we saw enough.

The trip back down to Aguas Calientes was slightly less scary than the trip up. This was possibly because I knew what to expect with the views of the drop offs. After we arrived back in the town we had a short walk to a restaurant for lunch. It was fine if nothing memorable.

After lunch we had about an hour or so to kill before we caught the train back to Ollantaytambo. So naturally we spent it looking for toy llamas for our grand-kids. Diane also liked the look of some of the silver bangles that were for sale. So she bought some.

The trip back to Ollantaytambo, was similar to the trip out. We had entertainment on the way back as well. This time, we had a theatre group. They presented the tale of two star-crossed lovers from the pre-Columbian times. It was entertaining.

It’s also worth noting that the train had an observation car. This car, with its glass roof, gave an amazing view of the valley.

We arrived back in Ollantaytambo after about ninety minutes. It was beginning to get dark. We found our way back to the bus to take us back to Cuzco. Two hours later we were back at our hotel.

We had dinner and then straight to bed. Ready for another early start the next day,

It was a very long day. It was worth it though. Machu Picchu was every thing that I hoped it would be. It was visually spectacular. It was historically and architecturally interesting. Possibly arriving at dawn, having walked the Inca Trail, might have made the experience even more memorable. Even so I will remember the day for the rest of my life. A genuine bucket list experience.

Please note that the feature image is AI enhanced.