Cusco to Machu Picchu: Week 11 / Day 77 / March 28
Aguas Calientes, Peru: Feeling somewhat more like humans this morning, we left Cusco for Aguas Calientes. Below is the courtyard of the hotel we stayed at for the last two nights, which I have not mentioned until now since I was too tired to take pictures or notice.
We took a taxi for the short ride to the train station where we will depart for Aguas Calientes. Although we are starting at the train station, we are actually taking a bus for the first half of the journey. Because it is the tail end of the rainy season, the risk of landslides along the path of the train tracks is still high. Therefore, Peru Rail adopts a bimodal transport service for Jan – Apr, with a bus taking us from Cusco to Ollantaytambo, and then a train ride from there to Aguas Calientes.
The bus ride was quite impressive (albeit difficult to photograph) with the high peaks of the Andes all around us. We climbed up out of the valley Cusco is in and over a plateau before heading down into the valley formed by the Urubamba river. The mountains would be alternately visible in all directions and then obscured with their peaks shrouded in clouds.
At Ollantaytambo we got off the bus and made the short walk to the Peru Rail train.
The train we are riding is the Vistadome service with large panel windows and windowed ceilings enabling good views of the surroundings.
The train tracks followed the path of the Urubamba river as it winds its way through the Andes towards Machu Picchu. Although it is a long journey for this river, it eventually joins the Amazon before emptying out into the Atlantic nearly two thousand miles away.
The mountain walls of the canyon we rode through were quite close the entire way, with many spots where the train tracks tunneled through the rock as there was not enough room for a track between the mountains and the river.
As we rode along we could see the power of the river, hikers heading out on the Inca Trail that leads up to Machu Picchu, and local residents who lived along the railroad tracks.
After a total travel time of about 4 hrs, we arrived in Aguas Calientes and headed over to our hotel. The only interesting thing about that part of our journey was that as we stood on the sidewalk trying to figure out which to go, an old lady directly in front of me suddenly turned around, yelled something at me, and pushed me away hard in the chest. As I looked around to figure out what I may have done wrong, a local resident standing in front of a restaurant looked at me and kind of rolled his eyes as if to say, “Who knows why she did that?” That will remain one of life’s little mysteries for me. I guess she is not familiar with my natural charm and many fans on the Indian sub-continent.
After figuring out where our hotel was, we headed down and settled into our room.
From our window we could easily see the nearby river and the constant roar from it was quite loud.
We went out to explore the town (although there really is not much to see), and take a look at the flowers along the riverside.
There are actually two rivers that come together at Aguas Calientes, the other being the Rio Alcamayo. As far as can be seen on maps there are no roads that lead anywhere from town other than up to the hot springs that give the town its name, and the road up to Machu Picchu. Both roads terminate at those points and the only transport into or out of this location is via train.
Around town there are multiple statues of Inca people alongside the rivers and in the square.
We went to dinner at a Peruvian / Italian restaurant for dinner before heading back to the hotel for the night.
I cannot say for certain if the Alpaca I had for dinner was good or bad Alpaca (first time I have had it), but it was delicious.
