Tuesday was another day. It started for us at 5am, and it was raining. Neither of us had slept that well, and Ian was suffering from the altitude. So much so that he did not want any breakfast, and those that know him will realise things were bad. However, after a five minute spell on oxygen, he felt much better. He was not the worst off though, as two of the party had had to be taken to hospital during the night, though they were able to jion us in time to leave.
The hotel was left at 6.00 in minibuses, as the strat of the journey to Machu Piccu (MP) was by road. This part of the trip took a couple of hours, until we arrived in the town of Olyantambo. This is where we began the train journey to Aguas Calientes, the nearest town to MP. Aguas Calientes can only be accessed by rail. It has no road access at all.Much of the railway is alongside a river, and it was in full spate. Apparently, on the day before, the trains could not run, because the river level was some five feet higher. To say it was a raging torrent was an understatement.
Two hours later, and we reached the terminus and transfered to midibuses was the last part, up to MP. Initially following the river vally, the road crossed the river and started the zigzag climb up the mountainside. The climb took about half an hour.
MP is on a finger of land, at a height of 9,000ft. The river, some 1,000ft below, runs around three of the sides. A climb on foot of about ten minutes takes one to the highest point of the city, to a natural view point. Nether Ian or Sue were having any difficulty with any of this, as MP is some 2,000ft lower than Cusco.
The tour of the best bits of the city lasted about two hours, and done in pouring rain. Despite this, it was fascinating. MP is unique in that it was never discovered by the Spanish, and effectively disappeared from view in the late 1500s. It was accidently rediscovered in 1902 by an Andean farmer looking for more land, but nothing more happened until 1911 when an American explorer, Hiram Bingham was shown it by a local headman. He was actually looking for the Lost City of the Incas, which in fact is much further east, practically in Brazil (and had been found by the Spanish around 1580). He returned with a much larger expedition in 1912, and started to map and clear the site.
The railway was built by the Peruvian government in the 1930s, to allow the transport of goods and foodstuffs from the fertile interior to Cusco and then to the arid coastal areas. It actually runs from Cusco, but appalling weather in late December 2010 has closed in parts. It is not due to reopen until late March/early April 2011. It is narrow guage, and during the tourist season runs passenger trains during the day. At night it becomes a freight line, carrying everything for the area of Aguas Caliente and MP, from food to souvenirs, fuel and vehicles. Even construction plant and machinery has to go this way.
After having lunch, there was an option to revisit MP if one wanted, but by now it was raining even harder, so we took a shuttle bus back down the mountain, to explore something of the town, and to await our train (1730) back to Olyantambo. There were a few problems on the way back. it should have taken one and half hours, but took two and half. The track is singler line with passing loops. The uphill train has to wait for the downhill one at each of these, and sometimes it was a long wait. The train crew were very goods. We had a costumed dancer at one point, and a fashion show of beautiful alpaca wool clothes at another. The models were two of the train crew, and the dancer another member.
At the teminus, we transferred back to buses for the return to Cusco, getting back at 10.00pm. Dinner was waiting for those of us who could face it. It had been a long tiring but most enjoyable day. Had the weather been kinder it would have been fantastic.
Following a good nights sleep, departure from the hotel to the airport was at 11.30am, finally getting back to the ship at about four o'clock.
We are so glad we did the trip. It was tiring but an experience not to be missed.