Aguas Calientas and Machu Picchu

Sunday

What an amazing day!

Our journey began at 6 am when we departed Cuzco for the town of Aguas Calientas, which sits at the base of Machu Picchu. Our three and a half hour train ride winded through the Andean countryside and led to spectacular views of the Urumbamba River and giant pitons carved from the glacial ice age.
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Oops I fell asleep.It's now 12:45 pm on Monday.

So, yesterday we ascended to Machu Picchu via "the bus" that navigates a very narrow gravel road with 12 switchbacks (hairpin turns). I blogged about it earlier and included a photo. I thought it was going to be awful, but it really wasn't. My pre-ride jitters we're largely unjustified. Meeting us at the entrance of the Incan city as our guide Wilma (W pronounced like Ve). She has been climbing Machu Picchu since she was 11 years old and is now 45 (I had to ask). Among the dozens of guides itching for business, I am sure she was the BEST! We didn't choose her, but instead she was contracted through our travel company. She stood only 150 centimeters (4'9") tall, but then, there are very few Peruvians over 5'6". While she is a native of Peru, her English was nearly impeccable except for the word 'and' which she pronounced 'ana' and a few other mis-pronounciations. It was very cute. Her wealth of information was impressive and we learned volumes about the Father mountain--Machu Picchu. Every step you take in the ancient Inca city is pre-meditated. When climbing steep inclines, she would stop periodically and just say "we stop now." Again, very cute.

Monday

So today, we decided to get to Machu Picchu early to watch the sun rise over the mountain ... very spiritual! We then walked a part of the Inca trail to get to the Intipunku (Sungate), which is 300 meters higher than the Inca city of Machu Picchu. It took about an hour and a half of climbing on a somewhat precarious trail to reach the "summit." Both of us are enjoying the feeling of accomplishment.

The town of Aguas Calientas, literally meaning hot water, sits on the banks of the Urubamba River. The river is not navagible due to the thousands of giant boulders laying in its bed. Besides having hot springs, the town is the pass through for all visitors to Machu Picchu. It's cute as a button with its many restaurants and cobblestone streets and, I wish I could have spent more time there.

Upon leaving Aguas Calientas, we learned that our hotel back in Cuzco was oversold. For Pete's sake, we we're only gone one night. The good news is that they walked us to the finest hotel in Cuzco with rooms starting at $650 per night. It was built in the 16th century as a monestary and is actually called Hotel Monasterio. Google it. It still has a chapel here and we heard that the nuns sing every morning. We feel very special here.

Until later, adios and buenos noches.