We had a 5:30 wake up call. Dennis picked us up and they took us to the train station for our 3 hour train ride to Machu Picchu. The train was quite nice and comfortable, but rocked a lot from side to side. It is the only train we've been on that did a rail switchback. They served free drinks and gave out a little bag with a snack (dried plantain and chocolate biscuits). For most of the way, we followed the very pretty Urubamba River along the Urubamba Valley. We started out in flatlands and ended up in mountains. The train made 2 stops to let people off for the Inca Trail. One was a 4 day hike, the other was a 7 hour hike to Machu Picchu. After seeing what the trail is like, we were quite happy to take the train.
Once off the train, you had to walk a very narrow path through a bevy of market vendors, just to get to the bus. This village only exists to service Machu Picchu tourists, and there is no road access into the town. We had to take a half hour bus trip up some wicked switchbacks to get to the top. There are 24 buses running up and down all day. It is a single lane, so meeting another bus was always interesting.
We walked through the ruins of Machu Picchu for about 4 hours while Dennis explained about different parts. Machu Picchu means "Big Mountain" because the locals didn't know what it was called. The Spaniards destroyed most of the Incan structures, but for some reason missed this one. Hiram Bingham discovered Machu Picchu in 1911, and thought that it was the missing El Dorado, City of Gold. He found around 128 human skeletons and mistakenly thought only women lived there, because the remains were so small. But the Incan people were smaller in general.
Machu Picchu is believed to have been the home of the most famous Incan king, Pachacuti (1438-1472). The whole structure is built on layer upon layer of terraces, all the way down the mountain. It is about 8000 ft above sea level. The stones were very precisely cut, and they had a system of water aquaducts. There were temples and common houses. The houses had 2 stories.
When we got to Machu Picchu, it was overcast and there was a cool thunder and lightning storm. Then it started to rain and it rained pretty steady for an hour, so we all pulled out our raincoats. It did clear up and we got some sunshine towards the end. It was interesting to experience Machu Picchu in all weather, and it created beautiful clouds among the mountains.
At 3:00 we went back down on the bus, and Dennis took us to lunch (dinner?) at a very nice restaurant. They used a clay oven to heat up the garlic bread. Our meals came with french fries stacked in towers and carrots carved in the shapes of Incas and llamas.
Got back to the hotel and crashed.
Sent from my BlackBerry.
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