before, en route to the town below the site, called Aguas Calientes.
We took a bus from Cuzco to Ollantaytambo, then a train to Aguas
Calientes. On the train platform we spotted another family with two
kids. We've seen very few tourist kids, so they stood out. As we
boarded the train we discovered that the family had a quartet of seats
next to ours.
We chatted with the parents as the kids, Emma (6) and Hugo (9) drew
with our girls. The family, who is from France, has been on the road
for nearly a year, travelling around the world. Peru is their last
leg, and it would seem their kids are ready to be back home. I know
our kids were ripe to have playmates beyond each other, so it was a
nice visit.
Once in Aguas Calientes, we said aurevoir to our new friends and
headed to our hotel room, where we spent what was left of the
afternoon. We left the hotel only to go to dinner, at Govinda's (a
Hare Krishna restaurant - we even have a version of one in Ottawa).
The girls were thrilled to discover spaghetti and tomato sauce on the
menu. Derek and I chose more traditional Peruvian fare (vegetarian
versions, anyway). Our morning was going to be an early one, so we
turned in early.
The buses up to Machu Picchu leave about every fifteen minutes -
mostly they leave once the bus is full. We woke at 5:30, had a quick
breakfast in the hotel lobby, left our packs at the desk for the day,
and caught the 6:15 bus up the mountain.
The ride up is nearly straight up, with switchbacks all along the
mountain, for about 25 minutes. The girls were very excited - as were
we. When we arrived, we hurried up to the entrance and climbed up
toward a high point of the ruins to catch the sun rising over the site
below. It had been light for quite some time, but the high peaks block
all direct light until a little after 7:00. I found a great vantage
point and perched myself with the camera. Derek took the girls a
little higher and watched with them.
The experience was beautiful and magical, so I won't try to describe
it. I may post some pics later; they will tell a better story.
Once the sun was high, we put on our hats and sunscreen and explored
the site.
Machu Picchu is much larger than I had imagined, and visitors have
access to the whole site, which also surprised me. There are maze-like
rooms that most people skip but we explored. That's where we got to
see some lizards, birds and interesting insects up close, since it was
quiet.
The green spaces of the site are mown by llamas, some of which get
close enough to pet. We have lots of pictures of the girls petting
llamas - even a few babies.
Partway through our morning, we spotted Emma, Hugo and their parents.
The kids had hit it off so well, we decided to spend most of the rest
of the day together. The kids played tag, hide-and-go-seek and other
games in a flat, open area of the ruins while we chatted with the
parents, Virginie and Ronald. After lots of play and a little snack,
we were on the move again, parting ways but planning to meet up again
to visit the Inca bridge behind the ruins.
We discovered that the Incas had built in a sophisticated running
water system, possibly for ceremonial baths. We followed some of the
water courses up. In the intense heat of the midday mountain sun, the
sound of running water was refreshing.
The girls were sufficiently awed by the whole site. The size of the
stones used to build everything and the way they all fit together
perfectly, without the need for mortar, was a favourite detail of
theirs. I loved the mystery of the place: it was built at the height
of the Incan empire, just before the Spanish arrived. But the use of
the site is unknown, since it was abandoned before the Spanish got
there. It was so overgrown that the Spanish actually never saw the
site. It was only in 1911 that the Western world "discovered" what may
have been a holy Incan site, a summer residence for the nobility, or
perhaps just a regular town.
The sun was becoming more intense, and Solanne badly wanted to see her
new friend Emma, so we were off to our rendezvous. The eight of us
hiked up a short steep path which then became more even, but much
narrower, with a sheer drop down on one side. It was nerve-wracking
for us, but our friends seemed fine to have their kids skip ahead. We
wound around the mountain and came to a narrow pass below - the Inca
bridge. The path had been built up with stones but had crumbled away
long ago. A wooden plank lies across the pass to connect it to the
rest of the path, which is not maintained and trails into nothingness
about 20 meters beyond. We stayed far away from the path, but snapped
a few pics of a guy testing the board on his hands and knees. I still
maintain he's crazy, but I'm glad he was there to give the scene a
sense of scale.
We hiked back and the kids were starving, so we left the site and
lunched just outside the gates at a picnic table. We said goodbye to
our new friends (not before exchanging blog addresses) and got on the
bus back to town.
In town we went to the market to get some food for our ride back. We
got what has become our usual: some bread, an avocado, and bananas,
plus a treat - chocolate bars! Less than five dollars for our supper.
We took the train that evening to our next stop: Ollantaytambo, which
is a town in the Sacred Valley.
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