Peru - Day 7 - Machu Picchu!

Thursday, May 22, 2008 – Aguas Calientes, Peru – Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel

I tossed and turned a lot throughout the night – seems to be a reoccurring theme on this trip! But I was up at 6 and ready for pick up at 6:30. Then it was back through the Valley to the train station and I hopped on the 7:45 train to Aguas Calientes. The train ride was about 1 ½ hours long and they served breakfast so I felt like I was traveling in style! The scenery was, again, magnificent and I spent the whole time looking out the window.

We passed by the “start” of THE Inca Trail, when in reality there are hundreds of Incan Trails in Peru. This particular one is the infamous one and now, in hindsight, I am sad I didn’t hike it. I really thought about it quite a bit but in the end decided against it knowing I was traveling alone and not knowing how I would handle the elevation. Oh well.

But the train ride was nice, too! I was almost sad to pull into the train station!

Next step was to find the bus stop. Aguas Calientes is the small down at the base of the Mountain, so you need to take a 25-minute bus ride to actually get to the ruins at the top of the mountain. The buses were really easy to find and so the journey began!

I hired a guide for a ½ day to help me navigate the ruins, but it turned out to be a HUGE waste of money and my time. I was so disappointed. He didn’t know anything worth anything, was rude to other tourists and I think he was making things up - I actually ended up eavesdropping on other tours to get an idea of what structures I was looking at as well as their significance. My tour agency helped me find this guide and I’ll most certainly let them know that he was useless! He was even an accredited guide – they have to take a 5-year college course to be “official”. He was “officially” worthless! Thankfully, I had only hired him for half the day and I was so eager to get rid of him, that I skipped lunch and sent him on his way. I could have done without a guide – the logistics were all easy enough – but I was hoping for history and stories!

So, I took the afternoon and explored the ruins myself! Suffice it to say that pictures I have seen of the ruins don’t do it justice! NO picture I have ever seen captured what I was able to see, touch and climb today! The evidence of human erosion is sad and there is a pretty strong movement to close MP to tourists and build an observational balcony for the future. That would be sad to see, but it would also be sad to see MP ruined because of an overflow of visitors. Either way, I am lucky enough to have walked the grounds, touched the rocks and smelled the flowers! I climbed all over the ruins and again, eavesdropped on various tour guides, and just tried to learn everything I could! Finally, near the end of the day, I just sat down and looked over the Valley and ruins and watched the sun start to set. There really is something to the “vibe” people mention when visiting Machu Picchu – it is something to reflect on!

And right before I left, I ran into more Aggies! 3 men proudly wearing their Aggies’ hats – they really are everywhere! But it was fun to chat with them and talk about where we had been!

I could spend paragraphs and paragraphs describing everything I saw, but nothing I write would come close to capturing what is Machu Picchu! Over 300 pictures! Even on the pictures, I didn’t put captions - you’ll just need to visit it for yourself! It was just a peaceful day and I left a little before 5, found the bus and rode it back to town.

I still hadn’t checked into my hotel. I had a general idea of where it was and so I started to wander. There are street vendors everywhere, restaurants on every corner, but… no Starbucks! :) I stopped in a few shops and bought a few little trinkets. I wasn’t able to find an ATM so I needed to conserve the $ and decided to make my way to the hotel. Naturally, with my sense of direction…I got lost. I did ask a few people for directions and they got me on the right path, or so I thought. Apparently, I misused a word – so here is a fun fact I learned along the way – a red light above a door means it is a brothel. Prostitution is legal in Peru; although, you need a license… – all part of the adventure :). Eventually after a few wrong turns, I made it to the RIGHT hotel and got checked in.

This hotel is AMAZING – so far it is my favorite. Checking in is actually a “process”, where you have to listen to an orientation. Apparently it is very eco-friendly hotel and every possible amenity you would/could want is here! There are only 85 individual bungalows and the views are spectacular. Plus the rooms are very luxurious. I’ll be sad to leave it in the morning! Apparently I got upgraded – I have a sitting room and a fireplace, which they lit for me!

So I am just going to relax this evening. Tomorrow I am going to head into town to do a little shopping and then catch a 12:30 train back to the Valley and then on to Cusco for a quick city tour!

So far this has been a fun trip and it has been over a year since I have been out of the US. It was about this time last year I was biking through the Irish countryside with Simone, Leslie, Dan and new friends – fun times. But this trip came at just he right time – I was going a bit stir-crazy being stuck in the US! I blame my parents – they are the ones who emphasized the importance of traveling and seeing the world!

I have been going out of my way to try to be friendly to everyone, attempt the language and smile at anything that moves. Of course, as I said, I am having a ton of fun so it is hard not to! But growing up overseas, one of the many lessons I remember my mother adamantly enforcing was to never be the “Ugly American.” So I try to leave people with a positive impression (and tip well) but I have noticed a lot of rude tourists, not just Americans. They don’t seem to have any regard for the culture and it is a bit unsettling to watch – we are visitors in someone else’s country and we should behave like polite guests! My mom also taught me to always carry Kleenex because toilet paper is a luxury many don’t have, including many Peruvians! So Momma - thanks for that tip, too!

Love, Kathleen