RM was confident that he'd booked us on the Inca trail - four days of very hard treking, with three nights sleeping rough in basic tents We then discovered there had been a typo in the booking and we were not on the trail, but on the first class, luxurious train! Imagine our disappointment!
Our day started with a 4.30am call and a transfer to the Cusco bus station where we boarded another bus to Ollantaytambo Station where we had an hours wait for the 8.40am train to Machu Picchu. The vistadome train (i.e. with a glass roof) was very new and luxurious with cream leather seats and lots of leg room. We were served breakfast of fresh Andean fruit salad, smoked trout sandwich, spinach and bacon pie followed by cookies covered by bitter chocolate. We then sat back and enjoyed the scenery. The track follows the River Urumbamba as it crashed and meandered through a narrow mountain valley all the way to MP. We were then met and boarded yet another bus, which took us up the steep and winding track to the MP entrance, a journey of 30 minutes. We eventually arrived 6 hours after setting off - we hoped it would be worth it.
As we were waiting for our guide, the constant rain stopped and the sun came out and stayed with us all day until boarding the train home when it started raining again. How lucky can you be!
Augustin or guide first took us up to the view point that provides the classic view where many photos were taken. It was a steep climb but we kept stopping to admire the scenery and at least it got the hard work out of the way at the beginning when our legs were fresh. We took a different track down into the MP city stopping to admire the different temples, walkways and all the marvels of Inca stonework and how it incorporated various aspects of the sun such as the summer solstice coming through wndows perfectly on time for the relevant ceremonies.
The two and a half hour round trek brought us back to the beginning and the comforting sight of the Temple of the Lunch - sadly no photos allowed!
Aftewards it was time for the journey back, where we enjoyed afternoon tea on the train plus a display of Peruvian dancing and fashion show of alpacca jumpers etc, all down the aisle.
We finally arrived back at our hotel at 8.30pm after a fantastic but exhausting day. We adjourned to the Norton Rats Tavern for a bottle of SB before retiring for the night.
 |
| Trainspotters - please note the steam from this train! |
Our day started with a 4.30am call and a transfer to the Cusco bus station where we boarded another bus to Ollantaytambo Station where we had an hours wait for the 8.40am train to Machu Picchu. The vistadome train (i.e. with a glass roof) was very new and luxurious with cream leather seats and lots of leg room. We were served breakfast of fresh Andean fruit salad, smoked trout sandwich, spinach and bacon pie followed by cookies covered by bitter chocolate. We then sat back and enjoyed the scenery. The track follows the River Urumbamba as it crashed and meandered through a narrow mountain valley all the way to MP. We were then met and boarded yet another bus, which took us up the steep and winding track to the MP entrance, a journey of 30 minutes. We eventually arrived 6 hours after setting off - we hoped it would be worth it.
As we were waiting for our guide, the constant rain stopped and the sun came out and stayed with us all day until boarding the train home when it started raining again. How lucky can you be!
Augustin or guide first took us up to the view point that provides the classic view where many photos were taken. It was a steep climb but we kept stopping to admire the scenery and at least it got the hard work out of the way at the beginning when our legs were fresh. We took a different track down into the MP city stopping to admire the different temples, walkways and all the marvels of Inca stonework and how it incorporated various aspects of the sun such as the summer solstice coming through wndows perfectly on time for the relevant ceremonies.
The two and a half hour round trek brought us back to the beginning and the comforting sight of the Temple of the Lunch - sadly no photos allowed!
Aftewards it was time for the journey back, where we enjoyed afternoon tea on the train plus a display of Peruvian dancing and fashion show of alpacca jumpers etc, all down the aisle.
 |
| RM contemplates the breakfast menu! |
No comments:
Post a Comment