Sunrise over the Uros floating island – it was super cold
We didn’t have water until about 9 am. Our host’s water management system need to thaw out as the overnight dip in the temperature had dropped the mercury below the freezing point
Needless to say, there were a bunch of options for non-vegetarians. For vegetarians, the menu reminded me of the menu that My Cousin Vinny got in Alabama (a choice of breakfast/lunch/dinner – for those who haven’t watched this movie, do so pronto)
A parting shot of Uros floating island as we leave
Both the flights to Lima were on the ground concurrently at Puno
Our flight came in first, then the Latam showed up. We were a bit apprehensive as we watched an entire battalion of police in riot gear boarded this plane. But we never learned why! Lima was quite peaceful when we got there
Soon it was time for us to board our Sky airlines flight
For once, none of us got a window seat, but that was ok for a flight that was just over an hour long
On the bus from Lima airport to Miraflores
View from the Lancomar Mall near Miraflores
Atlantic is the peaceful ocean; on the contrary, the Pacific is always angry as we figured from its waves, whether in Australia (Sydney), Pacific Coastal Highway (California), here in Lima or in Hawaii (never been there but have seen photos and videos)
Some vegetation that appears to be holding the cliff together, as it were!
The waves pounded the shore …
… relentlessly
These cliffs are super scary. I don’t know what holds these near vertical faces together
Peru appears to be quite religious
Future Alcaraz maybe?
A monument by the ocean
Parking area for beachgoers as well as surfers
The highway by the cliffs reminded me of Mumbai’s Marine Drive (though there are no comparable cliffs there)
Sorry for the blurry photo – I guess I was in so much of a hurry to get into the food that I took the photo carelessly
Titicaca supposedly means Puma eating a hare, which is what it looks if you turn the map upside down (i.e., north to the bottom)
So, when we boarded the day-trip boat to Amantani Island, the bilingual guide gave us information on how the Quechua people happened to inhabit the floating islands of Uros to escape from the conquests on the mainland. He informed us that he had been born on the Uros islands. He then jokingly talked about how both Peru and Bolivia claim 60% of Lake Titicaca. He drew titters when he asked who wanted to swim in the lake, the water being quite cold. [I had not originally realized how cold the water could get and was kicking myself for forgetting to pack my swimming trunks with my stuff]. Maybe he had a premonition 😉
After travelling for about an hour, we left behind the reefs that were lining our boat’s path to the left and the right. We docked at one of the peninsulas protruding into the Lake. The plan was to get out and get some photos here. Most folks got off before me, including Mrs Porcupyn and Katya as I was looking around at the mesmerizing blue waters.
As I was getting out, I stumbled, my knee hitting against the dock – in hindsight, I probably disregarded Newton’s Third Law and didn’t lift my foot high enough to account for the boat sinking a bit lower when I pushed against it (boat being lighter as most everyone had already disembarked) – but managed to scramble on to the ground, a bit sheepish, none the worse for wear… until I heard Katya shout “Dad! Your wallet!”
I said what about my wallet? In turn, she quietly pointed to the water where, happily floating between our boat and the dock, was my wallet with its collection of credit cards (and the only ATM card that we carried with us), and about 200 Sols! #facepalm
Our guide who witnessed this event was absolutely unruffled. “Let me try!” says he and grabs this oar like implement and – calm as a cucumber – fished out my super wet and dripping wallet. We thanked him – but in the confusion – I never got around to at least rewarding him for his great help! Chalk one against me 😦
We walked around for a few minutes – I worse than others as I still hadn’t acclimatized to the elevation – and then got back on the boat for our next stop in about 30 minutes or so, Amantani Island. First order of business for me, obviously, was to dry the contents of my wallet. As you can see from the photo below, I was successful in cleaning the filthy lucre after I had done my money laundering 😉
Money laundered in Lake Titicaca – drying the filthy (no more) lucre 😉
Lunch on Amantani Island
They ran out of room and we were accommodated elsewhere which was perfect for me as we were the only vegetarians in the group
I loved the quinoa soup so much that I downed a second bowlfull
We also got bread, salsa and the staple of fried cheese, rice, potatoes and beans
Our bus was to leave at 8:30 am – the bus agency had asked us to be there at least one hour prior to departure. We informed the hotel that we needed a taxi by 7 am in the morning and they arranged for one to come by at that time. We woke up early to take a good hot shower and get ready. I was first out and got ready and headed out to the cold terrace to see the sights from the hotel that we paid an arm and a leg (not really) to stay at lol. I was greeted by the sound of a locomotive whistle from the mountainside. I craned my neck left and right but was unable to pick out the train the first couple of minutes, but finally I did just as it disappeared among the buildings. Fortunately for me (and you), I had taken a video while checking out the scene and so was able to catch the train in action, which I realized only after downloading the video on to my laptop.
Cusco countryside with the full moon shining overhead
Lots and lots of buildings all around
In our hotel, we didn’t have a 24-hour receptionist; the person whom we had informed of our need for early transportation had left the building about a half hour after we checked in. Though this person was aware of our need, he had never confirmed that he had in fact asked someone to show up at 7 am. But when it was 6:45 and no one was at the reception, we got a bit antsy as to whether we would have our ride or not. Mrs Porcupyn had the hotel’s whatsapp number, but hadn’t really communicated with them. But now we didn’t have a choice. As a last roll of dice, she messaged them and we were glad that we immediately heard back saying that the driver would show up shortly and knock for us. So we got ready and stood by awaiting the knock.
Fortunately for us, the driver showed up on time, and we were able to inform him not only about the need for our hurry but also that we needed to stop at an ATM to withdraw some money. Within a couple of minutes, we were at the Plaza de Armas and I got some big bills (you will hear more about these in a minute).
One feature I found quite interesting but didn’t quite get around to photograph was these button strips (for lack of a better term) on the pavement. They were across the road in many places to act as mini speed breakers; however, they had strategically removed pairs of buttons spaced exactly a car wheelbase width apart, so if you were to drive in a straight line, you could potentially go straight through without being bothered by them. This photo, of course, is a random photo which does not show those.
By about 7:25, we were at the bus station. It was a veritable beehive of activity, and our first unshielded look at the local population and their standard/cost of living. As soon as we got off the taxi, we needed to pay him the 30 Sols he was promised. Unfortunately, we didn’t have that much in loose change. The smallest bill I had from the ATM – see above – was for 100 Sols.
I looked around; right where we had been dropped off, there were a few shops that were selling food items and asked for a couple of empanadas and a bread item. I thought well, that should be at least 30 Sols or so (that was what we had been paying elsewhere in Cusco and Machu Picchu etc) and she said that would be 15 Sols (or something like that). But she didn’t have change. I felt sorry for the old lady. With the best sign language I could use, I informed her that I didn’t have any cash of a lower denomination. She sent someone off to make change for us. Five minutes later, he came back without change, but then took off in a different direction. Finally, he came back and she was able to settle our accounts, and we were able to settle with the poor taxi driver who had been patiently waiting all along!
For all our fears about being late and missing the bus, we need not have worried. Even though we had been given to understand that we needed to present ourselves an hour before departure, no one showed up at the counter until about 7:45 am. But once the agent came, it was a quick check to verify that our paperwork was all in order and we had the right seats. And soon, there were a few other passengers who also showed up. I did have a niggling doubt that the bus might not leave because there was a clause about the bus needing to have 50% occupancy, which turned out to be a non issue as well.
We had about 30 minutes to kill so first Mrs Porcupyn and Katya, then I walked around looking for stuff to get for the journey. We got some bread, chips, cookies and big bottle of water. It was fun to hear the representatives of the different bus agencies yelling out their destinations to solicit customers. It was a scene that reminded me to India. [I will share a video] I was surprised to learn that the trip from Cusco to Lima was a 22 hour ride – cannot comprehend folks spending so much time on a bus. Train yes, but bus is way more restrictive in movement.
But before we boarded the bus, there was the small matter of paying 1.5 Sol apiece for some tax or something which neither we nor our co-passengers from UK were able to figure out. But once we made that payment, we were permitted to head outside the hall to the bus platform outside. At this time, the weather was pretty nice – neither hot nor cold. Once the bus got there, we got onto our selected seats. We were on the upper deck of the double decker bus. We had not been early enough to get the first two front seats, but we had gotten one front row seat and two seats on the second row. I didn’t see what the seating configuration was like behind us, but the first row was 2+1 ( I was the “1”), and the second row had just two seats, with the space behind me occupied by the stairs to the lower deck. It was very nice indeed.
Within ten minutes, we were passing by Cusco airport headed south. While the tourist area of Cusco was clean, there were places here where the garbage was piled up every block or so, presumably to be picked up by waste management folks. Soon, we left the city of Cusco behind. For the next hour or so, a river kept company with us and far away, we could see the railway line which sometimes came close to the road as well. However, not one train was seen for the entirety of the trip. I now understand that the train from Cusco to Puno does not even ply daily.
Too many to choose from, but we ended up not getting any of these
After about three hours and a half, we had a break for snacks and coffee. I got some photos of some curios available for purchase – we got a wall hanging
I did get a coffee but had a tough time finishing it as it was super strong.
There was a long stretch of this sage (?) bushes on the land that we passed through
Nice passing photo of the countryside and grazing animals
Passing through Juliaca (pronounced Huliyaka), we noticed that the tuktuks (autorickshaws) were completely enclosed unlike those we see in India, which are open to the side
Check out the now-you-see-it-now-you-don’t railbus
Almost an hour after leaving Juliaca, we were entering our destination city of Puno, where we were to be met by a taxi driver sent by our host on Uros Island
The wires mesh on the streets were another reminder of India. I cannot fathom how an electrician would figure out which connection goes where (and/or takes out electricity from which area)!
I liked the murals by the Puno bus station. The signs on the ground were still in the process of being painted and the crew appreciated that we took care to steer clear of them, and raised our carryons over them so our wheels didn’t damage their handiwork.
Murals on the wall from a different angle
The sun sets behind the mountainous terrain of Puno
Night falls on Lake Titicaca and the city of Puno
Shoreline of Lake Titicaca on the city of Puno, as reflected on the glass windows of our lodgings
I am the cookie (and most other desserts) monster of the family. As such, there are only a handful of desserts that I don’t like and, when I like a dessert, I usually finish it. Well, in this instance, I got defeated by the dessert – the humongous chocolate brownie that I have mentioned earlier in this travelog.
Undaunted by this defeat, I packed it up hoping to consume it once we got back to the hotel. It didn’t work out that way, as a result of which, it was still among the items I had in my hand as we left the hotel to board the train in the morning. Long story short, it made a good appetizer on the train 🙂
Early in the morning, I was deputed to fetch some moolah, which we knew would come in handy when we had to pay for today’s expenditure, including our transportation to go to Cusco from Ollantaytambo. Having woken up early, I strolled around the area once more, this time spending time in the town square as well as walking along the river front.
Didn’t quite figure out what this refers to
While walking by the river, I saw several signs that prohibited folks from going down to the level of the river. I didn’t quite understand the reason for this caution, as there was not too much water and these rocks appeared to be quite stable. It was only after we returned home that I checked out photos of the area and saw that the river in this area is like a raging torrent. Obviously, the river is not as full of water during the dry season which is when we were down there. And undoubtedly, during the wet season, it would be super dangerous to go anywhere close, swimmer or not, because one slip on the rocks could mean that you would end up hitting your head against one of these. So, caution would absolutely be advised in going anywhere close to the water.
At 6:30 am, I reached my favourite restaurant for the third day running, but it was not open yet. I gave them 30 minutes, because I needed to be back at the hotel to finish up packing and check out before 9 am. Thankfully, by about 6:50 am when I strolled back, they were open and I ordered that fruit pancake. Unfortunately for me, either the day chef was not as good as the night chef, or he was short on sleep, because today’s pancake was more like French toast. I did finish it, but it was nowhere as good as last night’s.
On the IncaRail train which was a small train consisting of only three cars in all, we had a song and dance presentation about an Inca prince and his princess. For this purpose the attendants of our car dressed up for the role, so it was a bit less exotic than it would have otherwise been, if we had actors come out from a different car or something 🙂
We enjoyed a great more or less cloud free day and beautiful sights just like a couple of days ago when we were travelling in the opposite direction.
We got off our train at Ollantaytambo right around 12:20 pm. We were a bit anxious as to what transportation would await us here as we had not seen much movement in this station on our outbound trip We needn’t have worried. As soon as we exited the station, we meta taxi driver who was willing to take us to Cusco at what we thought was a reasonable price. He offered to take us to all sightseeing touristy places in the sacred valley as well. However, we had not researched this trip and took a lot of time trying to figure out ticket pries etc. Suffice it to say that the upshot of it all was, given that we had only about four hours of daylight left, and also didn’t know exactly where our hotel in Cusco was physically (we had the address but had never been there), we decided just to visit the Maras salt mines, have lunch, visit Chinchero where the driver said he could take us somewhere where they would demonstrate how they weave their garments.
The Maras salt mines, set against the backdrop of the Andean cordillera, were quite astounding
The view of the cordillera from the restaurant. The pronunciation I had learned in geography decades ago pronounces the Ls in the word – online dictionaries do so as well. However, our hosts as well as the car driver informed me that the correct pronunciation is cardiyyera.
This was the quinoa based vegetarian food the chef-owner of the restaurant in Maras cooked for me, based on the little we could communicate with him
This was the pasta based dish that my Mrs got
I loved the food of course!
At one of the weaving places in the town of Chinchero, the lady who gave us a demonstration (she spoke good English) and one of her alpacas
This was my favourite piece – I loved the colours – but Mrs Porcupyn went with a baby alpaca mini shawl, which used the hair obtained from the first shearing of the animal
One of the ruins in the city of Chincero
One of the viewpoints off the road on the way to Chinchero
It took our taxi driver quite some time to locate our hotel which was located off a steep road and it was quite tough to get to in the car, but he managed. by the time we got there though, it was quite dark and super cold for us.
On a moonlit night, the view of Plaza de Armas from our hotel. It was too cold for us to spend much time on the terrace here though
Though I had been wanting to visit Machu Picchu for a while, my key focus was not really as much to learn about Machu Picchu and the Incas as it was to spend time in that scenic location and go on a hike or two. Friends who had visited almost a decade ago had painted varying pictures of motion sickness, dizzying heights, and about who had gone on which hike. Not having done any research back then or since then, all my understanding of the area was quite vague.
When we recently met up an old hostelmate (dormmate) from undergraduate school and his wife, who had both been to Machu Picchu, the talk turned to their visit. He was a bit dismissive of his experience, saying (rightfully) that Machu Picchu was only about six hundred years or so old whereas we had way more ancient buildings and monuments in India that were built as well as, if not better than, these Inca sites were. However, we did gather from our discussion that they had not really done any hiking in the area. Regardless, this reinforced my personal desire to focus more on the scenery than on the Inca sites as such.
Therefore, we were glad that we had selected the “Circuit 3” option which would include a climb up Montana Machu Picchu (Mountain Machu Picchu, halfway to the top of which the citadel rested). We had two checkpoints to pass (this I didn’t realize that well until during the day of!) – one at seven am which would be the entry point to the Machu Picchu site and the second at nine am which would admit us to the hike up Montana Machu Picchu. Missing either of the checkpoints would mean that we would be denied entry. So, we essentially had two hours in Machu Picchu proper.
All research and discussions with friends had not really given me more details than this. My unanswered questions (note that all these were before we went up to the site on the bus) were:
Once we come down from our hike, can we go back into Machu Pichhu? In other words, were we limited to the two hour visit or could we return later again?
As we were staying on site the next day till ten am, could we just climb up the mountain and back down (since it is supposedly an hour and a half climb up and probably less to come down), and take photos again the next morning?
Why don’t most tourists just climb up and down the mountain instead of taking the bus?
If we come back quickly from Montana Machu Picchu, could we get tickets to climb up Huayna Picchu as well?
And let me share my personal responses (i.e., how would I would now respond, given my experience)
As far as I understood, this is not permitted – at least to the same location we visited earlier in the day. However, on Circuit 3, we are allowed to go to the place from where everyone takes the “classic” Machu Picchu scene. I don’t know what restrictions Circuits 1, 2 and 4 have. Circuit 3 let us into what I believe was the lower section of the citadel plus the classic location plus the hike up the mountain (though I am still not sure if this was included or an add on). Obviously, the entry fees for foreigners was different from that for Peruvians and folks from the neighbouring countries which share some sort of reciprocity.
Who was I kidding? Once we did our hike, we were done for the next few days for sure. You would need to be a well acclimatized person and/or a mountaineer to even entertain such thoughts!
While that is a good question, I am absolutely sure that in our condition (especially mine), it would have been a hike (pun intended) to just get to the Machu Picchu citadel; climbing the top of Montana Machu Picchu would’ve been absolutely out of the question.
See answer to #2 above. Besides, from what I have read, apparently the drops are scarier off Huayna Picchu, so it probably wasn’t have been something I would have wanted to do. Plus, and this is the biggy, after seeing the views from Montana Machu Picchu, I think that the views from Huayna Picchu would be just that much diminished.
Without further ado, let me get into the primary objective of the trip to Peru – the visit to the Machu Picchu Citadel.
Waking up early, we ate a bit at our hotel (as much as our hunger permitted at that early hour) and trudged across to the bus stand. When we got there, it was right around 6 am or so, and a queue had already formed for the seven am entry group, which was behind the sign for the six am entry groups that were still boarding as we got there. We looked around and were glad to see our guide was already there and waiting for us. He was glad to learn that we had purchased the bus tickets and were all set.
Queue ahead of us with the previous groups loading the buses way ahead of us
Soon, a representative of the bus company came along and checked our bus tickets as well as our entry tickets. By this time, we noticed that our queue was starting to move ahead, to get into the bus that was waiting. We followed them and got the last row for the four (three plus guide) of us. I got the window on the right which the guide had said would afford the best views. However, as the bus climbed, I realized that because of the zig zags up the mountainside, each side gets similar views and anyway, with the rattling of the bus and the greenery around, it was not really easy to get good photos or videos. Here is an attempt:
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Several times along the drive, the road crossed the hiking trail that we planned to walk back down on. It appeared to be more like a lot of steps rather than a pathway as such. Anyway, I thought, we would cross that bridge when we got to it (pun unintended).
Shortly, we got to the top and we all alighted from the bus. As we looked around, I noticed the bus ticket office for the trip down (if necessary) and the boarding point, as also a handful of restaurants. Our guide informed us that there is one and only one (really expensive) hotel up here costing hundreds of dollars a night; and though it advertises itself as being inside the Machu Picchu Citadel, it is actually outside the entry gates.
Map shows the road zigzagging through the switchbacks with the hiking trail cutting a swathe straight through to the bottom from the top
It was still a few minutes to seven when our guide led us to the entry gate area and after a quick hello with the attendant, we were permitted to enter after showing our tickets. Immediately, Mrs Porcupyn was struck by the serenity. At this point, no other guests were in this area and we could hear the chirping of birds as they were waking up. Our guide displayed pictures of the flora and fauna of the area from his book of photos.
The sun was just about to rise from behind the mountains. I would guess that it being the first week of June, the sun would be rising at about 6:30 am or so (or even earlier); however, because we were surrounded by huge mountains, it took the sun some time to ascend past those mountains.
Soon, we got our first view of Machu Picchu
Per the timestamp from my smartphone, the sun finally made an appearance over the mountains at 7:15 am
The terraces on the mountainside. One of my issues with the site is that there is not really any way for us to know which portions of the site were existing for the last four-five hundred years and which were added on recently.
By this time, a few other groups had also come over to where we were and we were leapfrogging each other around the area. Our guide did a good job of explaining some of the intricacies of how the Incas had constructed the site, with underground pathways for water, separate housing for different classes of people and how most of the inhabitants in this area were young girls. He pointed out a temple for the sun, the earth, as well as how specific construction details allowed the folks to understand when the sun was at its northernmost or southernmost point of the year based on how the rising sun illuminated water in a specially constructed chamber.
According to our guide, this wall illustrates the results of an earthquake that struck this region. Some of the stones had shifted here, as compared to elsewhere in the area, where they were sealed pretty well without the use if any cementing substance.
Some of the dwellings were of a bilevel design. On the slope of the mountainside, each level had its own separate entrance so folks in the two levels could live independent lives. I did comment on the height of each storey – folks were probably shorter than five feet; taller folks would find it tough to enter.
This photo gives a scale of the area; the mountain in the background is Montana Machu Picchu, which we would attempt to ascend later
Our guide gave us a summary of the known history of the Incas and then, of how the site was discovered. What he told about that upset me a bit.
All along, I had been given to understand by media (again, I didn’t research online so that’s on me) that the site was discovered by Hiram Bingham, the great American explorer. But from our guide’s account, not only did he come upon the site by stealth, but he also stole artifacts from the area – how else would you reconcile the facts that while the Incas were known to treasure gold and silver, only one artifact made of gold was ever found in this site? Apparently, according to our guide, the original discoverer of the site, a shepherd who was employed in this area found it by accident, and endeavoured to keep his findings a secret, except when he used to get some artifacts from there and either keep them in his house or sell them.
Once, Bingham happened by and was invited by this shepherd for dinner, wherein he discovered these artifacts in the latter’s house; upon enquiry, he found out the source and wished to be taken there. At that time, because of the passage of time, most of the area had been taken over by nature with trees having grown over many of the dwellings. With the help of locals, Bingham had gotten the area cleaned up – our guide showed up before and after photos. Allow me to reiterate the misgivings I expressed earlier – how much of the clearing was done and how much of it was reconstructed in the last century?
Be that as it may, it does appear that Yale University is in the process of returning artifacts (or has already done so) acquired via Bingham (I did this armchair internet research after returning … and am still not done lol). My hope is that one of these days, all the items that belong to Peru are returned. Surely, we can make good enough reproductions for the museums here in the USA?
This photo was taken at 9:02 am, and we had not yet reached the check-in point/entry gate for the hike to the top of the Machu Pichhu mountain
At about 8:45 am, our guide bundled us out of the area and led us out to where we had entered from. Struggling (straggling?) behind, I wondered why he didn’t let us stay till 9:00. Like I believe I mentioned earlier on this thread, at that point, I had somehow not realized that we needed to be at the next timepoint/entry gate to check-in for the hike.
Be that as it may, we stopped for a restroom break. While the guide and I were outside waiting for Mrs Porcupyn and Katya to come out, he educated me that we needed to be at the entry gate asap else we might even be turned away (though he would speak with the agent at the gate and plead our case). In the meantime, he suggested, we had better get some water as he thought that we might be running low with just the one litre bottle plus a 500 ml bottle of coke. So, we decided to get a couple of bottles of water (which ended up being a very wise decision indeed).
When we were all together once more, the guide informed us that the typical time required to get to the top from the entry gate was about an hour and a half. Even if we were to assume that we take an hour more, that should put us at the top before noon when, he said they had a deadline past which no one was permitted at the summit. Everyone would be shooed off the summit and those still on the way up would be turned around, having to abandon the rest of the climb.
Though I was panting badly (again) by now, I thought that I (the slowest climber of the group) should not have difficulty in getting to the top in two and a half hours, which would still be like 11:45 am (it was now 9:10 am when we checked in, after a short discussion with the staff at the entry), giving us a good 15 minutes at the top before we would have to turn back. So we decided we were good to go and parted ways with the guide. We didn’t have on us what we owed him in local currency, so we promised him that we would meet with him later that evening or tomorrow morning with the money as we would hit the ATM upon our return. For his peace of mind, he took a photo of our passport and also the name of our hotel and the info about the train we were planning to leave on the next day.
We also got a photo with him here. He dived into the shrubs and found me a stick which he said I could carry with me as it would prove useful – it was the first time ever I have used a walking stick lol. I was reluctant but he advised that I had better hold on to it as I could discard it later should I not need it.
For the hike, I’ll let the photos speak for themselves for the most part. I will add the timestamp a the caption, so you can walk along with me … without the huffing and puffing lol. I will revisit sometime later this week to add some commentary 🙂 Please do note that these were absolutely not the only stops. There were quite a few stops before we even got to the first view point, but all along that stretch, we were under a canopy of trees and there was limited visibility of the scenery.
9:37 am
9:42 am
A video at 9:47 am
9:48 am
10:01 am
10:20 am
10:51 am
11:28 am
Video at 11:50 am
11:51 am
11:52 am
When I finally got to the top (3rd of three in the family lol), I realized that it was time to start heading back down. Not only was it time to start heading back down, that time was nearly an hour ago – the deadline to get to the summit was 11 am and not noon as we had been given to understand both by our guide and by the person at the checkpoint/gate. My limited research after returning has been insufficient to confirm which of the two times is/was the real deadline. I would love to hear from anyone else who has been there – or has been curious enough to research online – as to what the real deadline is to get to the summit of the Machu Picchu Mountain. I felt that 11 am was too sharp a deadline, especially for folks who passed the checkpoint at 9 am (or shortly thereafter, like us).
Be that as it may, we took a few quick photos and a couple of videos and started heading back down. Unlike the way up, when Katya was with us for at least half the hike, this time she wanted to find out how quickly she could descend without any constraints. So, we “let her go” all by herself. On the other hand, we painstakingly put one aching foot ahead of the other, slowly but surely lol. And we had company. After roping off the summit (thereby officially closing it for the day), the ranger at the top of the mountain came down right behind/with us.
I felt a little sorry for the guy. Now he had to maintain our pace. When asked, he said that it took him about 45 minutes to get to the top. So, you can imagine how slowly he had to walk down with us, for it took us nearly an hour and a half – with many stops in between (“uno momento, senor” was the best Spanish I could muster) – to get back all the way down to the checkpoint. We parted ways with him there, and that checkpoint was also officially closed behind us.
We thought that there would be a lot more folks climbing the mountain, but it appeared to us (who knows if we were correct in our analysis) that most folks choose Wayna Picchu as it is advertised more and/or probably because it is a shorter (though more terrifying) climb. Be that as it may, it was to our advantage that there were fewer folks on the mountain. Else I really think they would have closed the summit earlier. It is easier to close it, I would assume, when a lot of folks are still climbing up and many are on the top, as opposed to when only two people are on the top and the third person from the same group is still climbing and almost there.
It took me two and a half hours to climb the mountain but “only” an hour and a half to descend. I was glad about the improvement, though I still had to take quite a few rest stops on the way down. Once we crossed back past the entry check point to the mountain, we took an immediate left to get to the “classical Machu Picchu” picture spot. As we had anticipated, it was overrun with a whole lot of folks who were busy with multiple selfies and other poses. We also got a few photos in all permutations and combinations lol.
But by this time, it was painfully evident to me that I was not in a shape to try to save $12 and make yet another descent, this time all the way down to Machu Picchu Pueblo. Neither Mrs Porcupyn nor Katya was more keen than me to hike down, so it was a no brainer to go purchase bus tickets for all of us.
But before that, we felt like we needed to recuperate with at least some water and something to eat. We had taken our empanada up and down the mountain without getting a chance to eat it, so I quickly indulged. While I was doing that, Mrs Porcupyn and Katya set out to find out a place to sit and eat/drink. The first place they visited apparently had a long queue, so they decided to go to a second place to first get a bottle of water. The second place was the restaurant fronting the high class hotel, so it turned out that the cost of the water was also “high class.”
So, they decided to head back to the original place. By then, I had gulped down my brunch, and I joined them as well. Though I was not hungry, the desserts caught my eye and I decided to get a yuuuj brownie. We sat on some bar stools that overlooked the mountains the valley. I really forget what Mrs Porcupyn and Katya got, so engrossed was I in my brownie 😉
Taking the bus back down was anti-climactic, except that we skipped the first bus down because it was almost full and we wanted to get choice of seats. Once that first bus had departed, we stood back and then took our places at the front of the queue. In between, our passports were checked – when we got the tickets – and our tickets were checked when we entered the queue.
I got the front (jump) seat on the bus while Mrs Porcupyn and Katya took one of the rows behind. Not that I really wanted to, but anyway I was unable to really take good videos because my old camcorder refused to function properly (its lens closing mechanism went kaput earlier in the day). No worries, it is a bit old and I had it mainly for the zoom. One thing I was unhappy about was that I had put that in the backpack which Katya took with her, so I didn’t take any zoomed in videos from the mountain which would have been nice to look at.
Once we reached our hotel to freshen up and rest, the first order of business was to contact our guide to agree on a place and time to meet so we could pay him the money we owed. That was quickly done, and it was decided that I would go to an ATM and get the money, then meet him near the bus stand at 6 pm. He was quite happy to see me (though I was the one who waited ten minutes for him) – I hope he didn’t think we would skip without paying him lol. He was happy when I told him that we made it to the top and we hugged each other.
After parting ways with him, I walked back to the hotel. By now, we were ready to head right back for dinner. The decision was a no brainer; Mrs Porcupyn said that she was not too hungry but would come with us for company, and as both Katya and I liked our risotto so much, we decided to hit the same place for dinner once again.
Place of worship in the town’s main square
Walking to the restaurant
We got the same staff and we gave her our repeat orders. Mrs Porcupyn decided to get a fruit pancake. I didn’t hold out any hopes on the pancake, but knew that Katya and I would have a good dinner. As it turned out, the risotto – though quite good – was not as excellent as it was the night before. Didn’t stop us from cleaning off our plates though.
Risotto the Third (or maybe Fourth) 😉
But the revelation was the pancake. Unlike the thick pancakes served in the USA (that we are used to), this was more like the French version (like crepes). Mrs Porcupyn was not too hungry, so Katya and I both got to tuck in a piece each. It was delicious – it had bananas and yummy mangoes as the filling. And if you know me, I am a mango fan if there was ever one.
Sliced and diced – the fruit pancake
So I asked the lady what time they opened in the morning. Because our train was only at 10:30 am tomorrow, I thought I could stop by early for a pancake breakfast. She said they opened at six am. As we left, I informed her that I would be there in the morning 🙂
Walking back to the hotel, we observed a clear sky with the full moon shining behind the tall mountain (which is dwarfed when you look at it from the top of Montana Machu Picchu – it is the little mountain you can see to the right on the photo looking down toward Machu Picchu from the summit)..
Full moon as seen from Machu Picchu Pueblo
Full moon as we walk back
All along our trip, we were impressed by how industrious the common Peruvian appeared to be. Most folks in the tourism industry, it appeared to us, would be up early in the morning and still at work late in the evening. However, like I think I have stated before, we did notice the dual economy where tourists were charged more than locals were – for a better quality of service, of course. Take for example the trains – we tourists had the run of our train, with reserved seats (though I admit, we could not really go to the next car of the train – we were kinda confined to our car only). However, on the other hand, locals were packed into trains which, once full, had standing room only. I watched a couple of local trains that were way more full than the trains we tourists travelled in.
I would appreciate it if anyone could shed light on this. I especially would love to know where these folks come from to Machu Picchu Pueblo and go back to. I mean, it appears that many of these Peruvians use the train as a local train to come to Machu Picchu in the morning and leave at night. Where do they reside at? Surely it is not Cusco as it would probably be past midnight by the time the evening “local” train returned from Machu Picchu. Where do they work? I am assuming in Machu Picchu, but then they would also need to be back by say seven or eight in the morning as well, no?
Anyway, as we walked back to the hotel, we noticed these humongous queues of Peruvian folks waiting patiently for their turn to board their local train back to wherever, from Machu Picchu Pueblo. Surprisingly, all were accommodated in the train, because there was no one sleeping on the sidewalk or something the next morning.
I was a bit hasty in taking the photos as I was a bit antsy about taking photos though it was in public, so the second one is blurry
On the way to the hotel, we passed this soccer field which Mrs Porcupyn later informed me belonged to a local school.
Maybe this sign does say it is a school – I just didn’t realize that it does
Local food was available along the road we walked on. But we were quite full by then (besides most of these items were not vegetarian).
We woke up bright and early – well, I confess I was not feeling too bright because I had had one of the worse nights of sleep in the last few years. Ordinarily I am a sound sleeper; in fact, I proudly state that I am one of the few folks who can have a cup of tea or coffee and fall asleep within a half hour of that. But here, because of coughing, waking up, coughing and wheezing a bit more then getting back to bed, I was not really good.
We moseyed out to see if they had opened the restaurant yet – it was not yet six am, but we needed to get out of there by 6:40 after checking out. So back we went to our room. It was still a bit cold outside and we didn’t particularly want to stay out. I decided to take a quick shower, and we went out again at about 6:15. The restaurant doors were open but they were only now placing the bread etc. We had inquired whether we could skip and get refunded for the payment we had made the previous day; unfortunately, we couldn’t do so, we were informed.
Anyway, my stomach was in no mood for anything except tea, which I duly had. My wife and daughter got some bread and cheese, in addition to tea. We were all set by about 6:30 though we still had the bags in our room. At about 6:35, I messaged our driver who said he was on his way. By the time he came, we were just about getting ready to check out so he ended up having to wait a couple of minutes.
Based on our walk yesterday, we had thought that it was a straight drive to the station which would take five or maybe ten minutes. However, immediately after leaving the hotel, he started driving in the opposite direction. I got a bit alarmed and confirmed that he knew we needed to go to Estacion San Pedro (because it looked to me like he was driving towards Wanchaq station, the point for departure of the train to Puno).
He laughed and said that he knew we needed to go to Machu Picchu. A couple of right turns later, we were on our way – I am assuming that our hotel was a one way street or maybe there was some other reason for him not to go the way we had walked. But the “wrong way” driving did take some extra minutes which made sense why he had suggested getting us out at 6:40.
At any rate, we got out at the station right after seven am. As soon as we entered, Perurail officials checked our tickets and pointed us to a waiting room. I hate waiting in a room, so immediately set my stuff down and walked out where I was not permitted to be yesterday :-). Today also, they didn’t appear too keen on my being out there, but they were outmanned – in the sense that they needed to be checking tickets and couldn’t really afford to come chasing me off the platform lol. Their behaviour was opposite of what we later experienced in Machu Picchu Pueblo, where the folks didn’t mind me standing by the train tracks.
After a few minutes, I got my wife and we walked up and down the platform (this didn’t really have the train on it), so it was not like we were going to jump in or anything. By now the waiting room had started filling up and we decided to head back and stay seated inside.
Soon, we were motioned to come out and get into the train. Our tickets were checked and we were allowed into the train, group by group. The train had four cars and everyone was assigned the last car. I don’t know if this – sending everyone to the last car – is what they normally do, but it turned out to be very nice for us (though I didn’t realize that rightaway). They announced that the train would fill up later on the trip, in Poroy and Ollantaytambo. My memory fails me, so I don’t remember if the seating was assigned or not – it probably was. We were literally on the last row of the train – behind us was the toilet.
Looking around the inside of the train as we entered, I was really thrilled to see how open the design was. Even though this was not one of the highly touted panoramic cars, this had huge windows and there were glass windows on the top too (in my book, this would meet the definition of panoramic, but I guess there is a higher class – I never really figured out what more scenery those cars would have shown).
A view of the train … or should I be more specific and say our car? We were seated on the opposite side of the train but at the very back
Some shrinelike exhibit(?) in the station located at the end of the platforms
Another view of the exhibit
Our train left Estacion San Pedro right on time – in fact, my smartphone is showing 7:29:56 as to when it departed. If this is a normal occurrence (and there was nothing to indicate to me that it was not), the Swiss have good competition.
Within a minute after leaving the station, the train started climbing. I had thought that it would at least run on level ground for a few minutes and give us time to get situated a bit, but no Sir! In no time, we were at least a storey or two above traffic level. That was quite impressive for a normal train (i.e., not a rack-and-pinion arrangement), albeit with three (not four as I had earlier reported) cars.
This is our train at the station (without the engine)
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The train climbed quickly after departure
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The train goes backwards … and upwards
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This photo and the one below are five minutes after we left the station
A further ten minutes later, we were way above the city!
To recap: we left Cusco at 7:30 am; within an hour, we had gained height, crossed out of Cusco through the mountains (no tunnels, only switchbacks), and reached Poroy within an hour. After a stop for a few minutes, we departed.
Cusco suburbs before we got to Poroy
At Poroy, noting that the door had been left open by the brakeman, I took a quick step out of the train, an action that has got me grief on Amtrak stations and a couple of other places outside the USA too, but here no one was bothered, probably because no one was boarding our car
Now that I think about it, I believe this is exactly the time when I realized that the window in the bathroom could be opened (it was open, to be precise) and could be used to take photos and videos without the window glass coming in the way.
(At Poroy) These are the tracks to Cusco where we came from
Photo from back inside the train
By this time, we had realized that we were free to move about lol, and it was allowed for us to stand by the rear-window (we wouldn’t be yelled at, like we would in, say, Amtrak – been there, done that haha!). I would assume that if all passengers were railfans like me (and my neighbor), it would have been an issue. In any event, starting from Poroy, I spent more time on my feet than my butt. For the first 15-20 minutes out of Poroy, the train took a straight line course and travelled the fastest that it did in the entire trip. Nice farmlands stretched out – more to the left of us than right.
This is about where the grasslands started to our left
For a short while, we did streetrunning where the train was quite close to the road and dwellings
Next, we had a couple of switchbacks as we were still needing to descend towards Machu Picchu. By now, the two of us had gotten friendly with the brakeman who also doubled as point man – he was switching the points on the switchbacks as well as the train crossings. These happened more later in the route – there is limited service between Cusco and Ollantaytambo (I should say Pachar, to be precise, but I am getting ahead of myself here)
The brakeman was giving a lot of explanation; unfortunately, though my neighbor who was from Colombia was lapping it all up eagerly, I being Spanish challenged understood practically nothing. My only takeaways were when he pointed out photo spots and I smartly leaned out and took a photo (while staying behind him, I should add) – he was hanging out of the open door (right or left) most of the time. Wherever the train slowed down, it was clue to him (he did have a walkie talkie) to get ready to jump off and reset the points.
Soon, we were travelling along the Urubamba river which was to our right, with a mountain to the other side. Shortly our friend informed us to get ready for a photo op. Sure enough, the train made a quick right turn and we were on a bridge crossing the Urubamba. Within a couple of minutes we were at Pachar, the town I had referred to earlier.
Recently, I was conversing with a fellow railfan who had been to Machu Picchu a few years ago, and he was lamenting that when he visited, foreigners were not permitted to travel by train from Cusco so he never got to experience those gorgeous switchbacks. In fact, back then it appears all tourists were bussed to Pachar from where they would take the train to Machu Picchu Pueblo (then called Aguas Calientes).
Nowadays, tourists have the primary options of either getting on the train from Cusco (either Estacion San Pedro or Poroy) like we did, or board it at the next stop (Ollantaytambo). In case you were unaware, the “l”s in Ollantaytambo are pronounced as “y”s so, the proper pronunciation is Oyyantaytambo. Better yet, I’ve seen a shortened form in use – especially in train stations – “Ollanta” (pronounced: Oyyantay I would think).
Once we crossed the Urubamba, the rest of the journey was right by the river – on its way to meet the Amazon – and we had huge mountains on either side (though not close by). Some of these mountains had snow on top and made for some nice photos and videos especially with the river also in the backdrop, with the train winding first left then right then left again.
At Ollantaytambo, which didn’t look like a big station, we wondered if there was any civilization outside of the station ;-). Our thoughts were for our return trip, in a couple of days, when we would need to exit the train here and we didn’t have any advance reservation of any kind to get back to Cusco. The minimal research we had done gave us rudimentary information about something called the collectivos which, we were given to understand, were similar to local buses which didn’t really run to any set schedule. We were not sure if we could do any sightseeing on the way back on those.
Because we hadn’t seen any evening trains, we had decided to take the earliest train the next morning, i.e., the day after tomorrow. However, we had then received an email that the 8:30 am departure had been cancelled and our only option was to take the 10:30 from Machu Picchu Pueblo which would set us at Ollantaytambo right after noon. And that would mean we really had less than about six hours of daylight in which to see what we could in the Sacred Valley before returning to Cusco.
Anyway, before we could spend too much time wondering, the train was off once more. Between Ollantytambo and Machu Pichhu Pueblo, there were quite a few crossings. We crossed a couple of PeruRail trains and a couple of IncaRail trains (though I didn’t realize that’s what they were until later).
And then the train stopped and we were at Machu Picchu Pueblo. We took our time getting out of the train, double and triple checking to ensure that we had not left anything behind. I waited by the train to get a few photos, then realized that these folks meant business. Within five minutes of our exiting the train, along came an engine that they attached to the rear of our train (i.e., the car we had just exited) and then the train pulled back out of the station. I never learned how exactly they marshal their rakes here. But within a few seconds of the train leaving, our original engine also followed. Needless to say, they were making space for the next train to take its spot, but what I mean is that I never figured out whether there was a separate shed for this rake (which I had not noticed) or whether they were going to be cleaning it elsewhere.
Anyway, it was time for us to leave the station, but we were all kinda hungry and there was a small cafe right outside the station building before we exited the station proper. So, wife and daughter sat down to have a sandwich apiece. I helped myself to a brownie.
We then walked out and inquired an official looking lady where we could get a taxi to get to our accommodation. Imagine our surprise when she said that there was no taxi to be had. Everything was within walking distance and we could walk to our hotel. But that she couldn’t tell us where our hotel was.
So, we left the station premises and were ambushed by a few guides who all wanted to help us figure out our destination. After we told them that we were not planning to get any guide service right now and we just wanted to get to our hotel, they looked at the address and said that the place was close by. Go up the market, make a right turn, walk a few blocks, and the hotel will be right there. We thanked them and went our merry way.
Travelling next to the Urubamba river west of Ollantaytambo
Beautiful snow capped mountains are the perfect backdrop to the river
https://youtu.be/dTk6PcQ5UG4 Waiting at one of the wayside stations for crossing (I believe that locals use these stations, but the tourist trains don’t drop off or pick up passengers here). Here we were crossed by the Incarail railbus. On our return trip, we were on a three car Incarail train.
The next few videos are me trainfanning at Machu Picchu Pueblo station. An interesting anecdote: when I got out and folks said everything was within walking distance, I panicked a bit. Because I thought we had to get the bus to “Machu Picchu Citadel” from Aguas Calientes and I didn’t know how we would be getting to Aguas Calientes from Machu Picchu Pueblo especially with a) there being no taxis for transportation and b) our early entry reservation at “Machu Picchu Citadel” at 7 am. Later that afternoon, when I got WiFi access in the hotel. I verified that Machu Picchu Pueblo and Aguas Calientes were one and the same! #facepalm
Though we had been informed that the hotel was close by, we were still not convinced, especially because the directions had not been unanimous, rather by committee. So, when we came upon a decent looking hotel, I decided to go in and verify the directions we had. And the receptionist said that we were going the wrong direction. In fact, we needed to right back down to the station and take the road up to the rail tracks then make a right for our hotel.
So, we did an about turn and went right back where we had come from. Whereas we had walked through a market getting here, this time we walked past the market and walked down a road. As we walked, I commented as to how thankful I was that we needed to walk down and not up the road, as I was unsure if I could handle the walk up that incline. Something I definitely didn’t fancy.
Well, we got up to the train tracks, made the right and walked further down (another incline, though not as inclined as the previous one). No sign of the hotel or the street. This time Mrs Porcupyn decided to take matters into her hand and enquired some ladies in a store. In spite of the obvious language problem, it didn’t take long to figure out that the second set of directions we (or more specifically I) had gotten were wrong.
So back we went, on a U turn the second time (thankfully we were not in The Amazing Race, else we would’ve been behind the eight ball). As it was, we had the entire afternoon to kill… though once we started climbing that incline we had just climbed down a few minutes ago, I realized that I would probably kill myself walked up it!! I was so breathless it was not even funny. I thought that at Machu Picchu I would be much better off compared to Cusco – I couldn’t have been more wrong.
As wife and daughter walked up nonchalantly, I had to hold on to the railings by the side of the road and stop every few steps to catch my breath. I was not painting a pretty picture in the town’s landscape! I was wondering how I would do tomorrow, not just walking around the ruins but also climbing up the mountain as we had planned to do!
Fortunately, we got to the hotel without much ado this time.
So, we get to the hotel and try to open the glass door. We push. We pull. The door refuses to budge. Inside in the reception area, there is not much light (it is about 1 pm) but we can see a little kid maybe four years old glued to his smart phone’s little screen.
We pause our actions and hope he notices us. A minute or two later he sees us, saunters over, and slides the door open with us looking at each other sheepishly! After a few minutes of waiting, he was back to his phone the minute we stepped in, a lady walks in and we are checked in a few minutes later, though she then runs up to prepare our room.
As far as US hotel costs go, the place was quite inexpensive. We had been looking for budget accommodation (like we do everywhere lol) and maybe we could have splurged a bit more – suffice it to say that if we had paid the equivalent of what we would pay for a room here in Orlando, we probably would have made out like kings over there. I had assumed that it being a tourist place, accommodation would be way more expensive. In retrospect though (I believe I have alluded to a dual economy earlier in this thread), I believe what we ended up paying for this “budget accommodation” was still probably a king’s ransom for a Peruvian local (citizen), especially one who didn’t work in the hospitality/tourism industry.
Anyway, we got our basic necessities accounted for. A bed and WiFi … and a bathroom with hot water. The bonus was the proximity to the train station, and more than that, the train tracks. I was in seventh heaven because I could walk down a couple of blocks and would be staring at the train tracks!!
After we freshened up a bit, we decided to check out the area and purchase our bus tickets for tomorrow. We had read that it is better to purchase the tickets the previous day to avoid wasting time the day of, especially when we needed to be at the Machu Picchu Citadel before 7 am. Also, we thought we might as well check out the hot springs at Aguas Calientes (now that we knew, thanks to WiFi, that we were not that far away from that place), though none of us had been smart enough to pack water/swimming gear.
So, we left our passports and almost everything else at the hotel, and armed with only our phones (wife and daughter) and waterproof camera (me), we walked over back to where we came from – the center of town where everything converged: the little market, the train station, the river, restaurants, the bus stand and ticket office.
When we got close to the bus stand, we were greeted by a person in official looking uniform, whom we asked where we needed to purchase the bus tickets from. He immediately showed us the ticket office and attached himself to us, announcing that he was a guide. He said he would love to guide us at Machu Picchu tomorrow, and we said we would not confirm it right now but talk about it later. He came with us to the ticket office and told us that we needed to show them our entry tickets so they knew what time we needed to be taking the bus the next day.
One look at the tickets on my wife’s smartphone and the ticket agent asked for our passports, which we didn’t have. No amount of convincing from us or our guide (to be) helped the agent change his mind – he needed the physical passports to scan, and photo images were no good. After we confirmed that the ticket office would stay open till ten pm, we decided to come back later in the evening (it was only about three pm or so).
We started to walk towards the hot springs but were unable to shake off our tail aka guide… until the last bridge across the stream, when he finally parted ways with us after exchanging whatsapp numbers so we could confirm tomorrow’s program. He did tell us to keep walking straight up the path maybe about ten minutes or so to get to the springs.
As we walked up the slope, I didn’t feel as tired as I had felt earlier in the afternoon; I thought I had gotten over my altitude issues. But I later realized (two days later) that the incline on the road to the right of the stream (looking upstream) is probably slightly steeper than the one to the left of the stream.
At some point on the way, we reached an entranceway that was manned by a lady selling tickets to enter – the options were 20 sols apiece for the hot springs and the waterfalls and 10 sols apiece for the waterfalls alone (locals had half price tickets if I recall correctly). I wanted to go to the hot springs as well, but I was the only one in the family with shorts (let alone swimming trunks), so we decided to just get the waterfall tickets for now – if it was a nice place, I could come back later in the evening or tomorrow evening (a choice afforded by the fact that we were staying in town for two nights) … though I wanted to go , I was ambivalent because of reviews we had read.
As we neared the point where a bridge on our path crossed over the stream, we came across a few statues which were likely created within the last decade (there is a reference to some event that took place in that timeframe, though I didn’t research that). Here are a few photos…
Here is where we crossed the stream …
Soon we came across the hot springs. One look at it and we realized it was not for us. The water from the hot springs appeared to be redirected into little pool-like hot tubs similar to what we see on cruise ships, and a lot of folks in each such little pool. I was thinking/hoping for more natural spring where the water would keep flowing rather than being relatively stagnant. So it was a quick decision that I would not be back for that.
Further along the path, we saw the waterfall and took some photos and videos. It was a short but sweet waterfall. Needless to say though, we did not enter the water. Here is a video of the waterfall.
As we walked back, we decided to stop at a place for coffee – my wife went around and took a few photos while Katya took some extra time to finish her chocolate milkshake.
A map of the local area
A photo spot in Machu Picchu Pueblo
I prefer my coffee to be very light
Coffee store we visited
The name didn’t ring a bell to me; however, I learned about the importance of it later on in the trip
After coffee, we walked around scouting for a place to have dinner – as we are vegetarians, we typically have a smaller choice of cuisine. Having had some risotto for the first time ever a year ago (and enjoyed it, but never had it since then), I suggested that we dine at a place that offered the dish, specifically quinoa risotto. However, the others were not hungry enough yet, so we decided to go back to the hotel, freshen up, get our passports, then come back to first get those bus tickets then have dinner.
Once we got back to our hotel, I decided to be the first to shower. The water was nice and warm; however, the exhaust was not too good and the bathroom fogged up. No worries, but I did notice that there was no separate shower towel to lay on the floor. As a result, the floor was wet with the water that was dripping off. As I got ready to come out, I warned wife and daughter to be careful because the floor was wet.
Then happened something that I now look back and find comical, in retrospect. Any Tintin fans here? You would know what happens when the Thompsons let out a warning – the next frame, they are doing the very thing that they had warned against. For instance, Thomson tells Thompson “Watch out for the lightpole!” and the next frame he’s smacked against it himself.
Well, I did the same. The bathroom was about six inches higher than the room, and as I (maybe not so) gingerly put one foot out of the bathroom, and then the other, my feet gave way under me in the slick(er) bedroom floor and down I went like a sack of potatoes. One of my toes caught the foot of a coffee table while my towel-covered butt hit the ground with full force. Thankfully, no damage done physically, except my toe lost some skin (which I found out only an hour or so later), and my ego took a beating. We then used a bath towel to wipe down the floor a bit and got a couple extra towels.
While my wife and daughter were getting ready, I stepped out for some more time railfanning at the train station.
Perurail – specifically, now that I am looking at the standing room only passengers, a local(s) version of the train
Incarail – while there, I saw the three car and the single car version of this train
When we got to the ticket office at about seven pm or so, we didn’t have any issues getting our bus tickets for the next morning. We decided to get only the outbound bus tickets thinking that we would walk down from Machu Picchu Citadel after our visit. Anyway, if we should need to, we had the option of purchasing the return tickets while we were up there. An hour or two of a hike back didn’t appear to be that daunting, especially as it would be all downhill.
The Quinoa Risotto turned out to be a big hit for my daughter and me. Wife got some other vegetarian dish instead.
Quinoa Risotto 1
Other vegetarian dish
Quinoa Risotto 2
Mural at the restaurant
After dinner, we walked back to our hotel and turned in early, as we had to wake up really early. We had communicated with our guide and he had suggested that we get to the bus stop by 6 am if we could. And that he would meet us over there.
There was a Perurail office there, which was located quite close to our gate. I wanted to get some literaturefor our train trip; the office opened right on time at 4 am, and I moseyed over there; however, the sleepy employee said that she had nothing that she could share with me 😦
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Beautiful mural at our gate. We had to take a bus from here to get to our plane.
I got the window seat that I requested; however, it was only 25% as useful as I wanted, as this huge shiny engine blocked half of the view below. One thing though, the early morning sunlight nicely reflected off of it.
Upon landing in Lima, I took this photo among many typical touristy photos that one takes when one lands in a new airport (or at least I do lol) – but this turned out to be serendipitous (read on…)
… when paired with this photo I took, once I was outside the airport
I observed a couple of days ago – more than a week after we returned from Peru, I confess – that the name of the airport matched the name of the pilot pictured in the first photo above. At first, I didn’t pay much heed except that Peru had bucked the popular trend of naming airports after politicians (JFK, Ronald Reagan come to mind very quickly) in naming an airport after a pilot.
Then I started reading the (incomplete) caption that was in the pilot’s photo and what stood out first to me was not just that he was the first pilot to fly over the Andes but also that he died young. And then I realized that the poor guy had lost his life probably not because of “pilot error” but because of the foolish actions of the crowd gathered to welcome him. I wonder if that is why Puno is not the city that has an airport closest to Lake Titicaca, but Juliaca is!
Once we are out of the airport, we hail a taxi to take us to our hotel. He quickly figures out the location and we are on our way. All the talk of high altitude issues are bunkum, I think. I have no issues with walking, talking or breathing, and neither do Mrs Porcupyn and Katya. Cusco has a lot of stray dogs around, we observe, who are up and running around this early in the morning (it is yet to be seven am). The dogs appear well fed and healthy and, may I add, quite spry and ‘handsome’ as well. They are chasing each other up and down the street, ganging up on one another, trying to get at the garbage left out on the street every couple of blocks or so. Taxi driver assures us in his broken English that the garbage and street dogs are not going to be found in main (touristy) Cusco area. And he turns out to be right.
Once we leave the neighbourhoods, the streets are that much better, garbage is nowhere to be seen, and neither are the dogs. We are now being shown some statues and some buildings which I have no clue what they are (remember, this is a trip I barely researched – all research has been Mrs. Porcupyn’s). Traffic is impressive for this early in the morning; we cross some railway lines which we are given to understand are for the Cusco-Puno trains. Trains on this section, from what I recall reading on seat61 are about once or twice a day. For a train fan, that is as rare as trains in the USA. 😦
Shortly thereafter, we are driven through the main square – the Plaza de Armas – and arrive at our destination, the driver pointing out (not that we would remember lol) the offices of Perurail where we need to validate our tickets for tomorrow. I see a maze of streets climbing the mountainside all around, some with cobblestones and some without, some with steps and some without. And I am thinking to myself – now this is going to be challenging. While walking on level ground is one thing, coming from (flat) Florida, walking on any slanted roadway (or stairs) is going to be different. Especially, with the work from home situation, I rarely take stairs now – used to do so daily before Covid as my office was on the second floor (British) aka third floor (American), and I rarely used to take the elevators.
So, we got dropped off at a quaint little place on a (no kidding) just off an incline of a road. We thanked the driver, paid him in sols (I had used an ATM before exiting the airport), took a selfie with him and bade him goodbye.
Once inside, Mrs. Porcupyn was able to quickly get our room confirmation to come up and we got started with the check-in. This place was quite accommodating. Originally, she had gotten a three-day reservation but then we fudged around the itinerary a bit, dropping plans for a day in the Sacred Valley in favour of an extra day in Machu Picchu (one of the reasons being there was no afternoon train departure – it was either in the morning or at night, or maybe I should say “in the dark”, which I was totally against, for good reason). She was able to cancel and re-reserve for just the one day stay. The other thing we liked about the place was that they allowed us to check-in in the morning; as it was, IIRC, it was not even seven am when we got there.
If you think this is too much of a digression, give me a couple of minutes and I’ll explain!
So, we (me and daughter, to be precise) kept our carryon bags on the floor and sat down while Mrs. Porcupyn continued with the check-in process. Next up, our hostess needed our passports, so it was a short break for me (aka passport holder). I opened my backpack, took out the passports, kept my camera bag on the reservation “desk” (for lack of a better phrase) in front of the lady, and handed them over. She leafs through the first passport and exclaims, “Didn’t you guys get your passports stamped?”
Now, I like my passport stamped; however, I had been more worried about catching our 5 am flight in Lima and didn’t pay much attention to the customs and immigration officer, once he had taken my photo with a spiffy Canon camera attached to some gizmo and waved me through (though both Mrs Porcupyn and Katya were right behind me).
So, the lady looks at all three passports and none of them has a stamp. She asks where we came in from and we said in unison “Lima!” After shaking her head, she proceeded to check us in and gave us our room key. We walked up to the room shakily (Mrs Porcupyn warned me to hold on to the handrails conveniently placed on the stairs, reminding me of our family friend who had apparently gotten caught unawares by the altitude and had a fainting spell and banged her head on the ground). The room was quite spacious and we had four beds between the three of us. Quite nice indeed – and we confirmed that hot water was available for showering, as advertised. What more did we need?
Yes, we needed breakfast. Mrs Porcupyn went downstairs and checked out the restaurant. The place offered free breakfast, but we could avail of it only once, as we were there only for one night – and we were planning to use that for the next day. Upon enquiring, we were informed that we could pay 20 sols per head for breakfast and we decided to go ahead and do so, as Mrs Porcupyn and I (at least) badly wanted something hot to drink aka Tea! 🙂
Once we sat down, we realized (or at least I did) that the fare was sparse for someone who was a vegetarian and didn’t eat eggs in omelets, etc. Mrs Porcupyn and Katya got an omelet apiece and we all had bread etc. but I was underwhelmed – even by the avocado toast that I thought I had requested, which ended up as bread with tomato and avocado slices lol. Oh well..
Refreshed, we went back to our room and I decided to take some photos and get on the internet with my phone … if I could find it. It was not in my jacket, it was not in my carryon, it was not in my backpack, it was not … you get the point, even if you are not Dr Seuss. It was nowhere to be found. My mood went from good to bad very quickly!
I had purchased this (original, vintage) iPhone SE 128 GB model three years ago on Swappa. However, I had eked out as much as I could from my previous phone, also a vintage iPhone SE but this one had only 16 GB in it. About two months ago, it had gotten quite low on space, which was more of an issue than the battery life. So, I had finally switched to my new old iPhone SE (the 128 GB one). Because I am quite good with backing up photos, I didn’t really have any photos that I would have otherwise worried about – except for the handful that I took enroute. And I am sure I had taken a couple at least of the sunrise that very morning.
So it was very easy to figure out where it might be:
left behind in the Sky airlines plane
left behind in the taxi we took to the hotel
left behind during check-in
We crossed off the second and third rather quickly. I had the driver’s whatsapp number and asked him if we had by any chance left the phone in the car. He sent photos of the car seats and confirmed that the phone was not in the car. Lady at the front desk also confirmed that no phones had been left there (*we will revisit this shortly). Left with no other alternatives, we requested the driver to come back to the hotel and take us to the airport to see if we could find the phone there.
[Shades of Switzerland came alive in my memory – a few years ago, I had forgotten my (then) brand new camera in the airport and discovered its absence only about 45 minutes later upon check-in. I had gone right back to Zurich airport in the same shuttle bus that had brought us to the hotel. And within 10 minutes, I got my camera in the bag exactly as lost – I had apparently left it in the luggage trolley.]
Well, that was then and this was now. No luck this time around. Though the helpful driver talked with security personnel who then allowed us back into the terminal and then talked with Sky Airlines staff, there was no phone found anywhere – thankfully, in the three years since I purchased it, its face value had gone down – for whatever that was worth! But I still had (have) the 16 GB version which also I had carried with me, in addition to my old Android, whose camera is better than the SE first edition.
Back we moseyed to our room for some rest, when Mrs Porcupyn exclaims, “Where are my (wired) earbuds? I am so sure I had them with me when I exited the taxi!” That led to a frantic search of the room. This was not to be found either. She decides to go downstairs and ask if front desk lady has seen them – I don’t hold out too much hope. In all this excitement, Katya has been fast asleep in one of the beds – she didn’t even come to the airport to look for the phone (remember, we didn’t have a good night’s sleep during the travelling).
After a few minutes, Mrs Porcupyn makes a triumphant re-entry … with the earbuds. Apparently, the front desk lady had found them and kept them in her drawer of stuff. I asked if Mrs Porcupyn had asked her if the front desk lady had seen the iPhone (remember, we had never asked her point-blank if she had seen/taken the phone from the counter top. We had only said that we had forgotten the phone on the plane). She hadn’t. But now, (even today I am) I was wondering where exactly did I really lose the phone!
After our second trip to the airport, I paid renewed attention to this statue and realized that it was a sign from the heavens! *shrug*
Cute inner courtyard at the place we stayed in on our first night in Cusco
This was some sort of a corn based cereal among the breakfast items.
There were two juices and two types of yogurt but I believe I only took one of the yogurts for taste.
Yup, I used that yogurt with my cereal and had my hot tea as well, maybe not the best breakfast combo.
Unique tapestry hanging by the wall in the restaurant
Katya was fast asleep; Mrs Porcupyn was taking it easy. I knew that if my head hit the pillow, I ain’t waking up until evening and that would just be ruining the entire first day in Peru. So, I decided to go on a walkabout. I had no takers for company; not before noon anyway. I knew we were supposed to acclimatize, but I didn’t think having a whole day in bed was really the way to do it (and I am still not sure if that’s what I should have done that first day).
Before I get any further, I need to address one thing: in my mind’s eye, Cusco had been a sort of a primitive little village/town with some ramshackle places to sleep. Needless to say, I had done zero research – the only thing I recall reading/hearing about was that there were two ways of going to Machu Picchu. One was some sort of a hike; the other wasn’t a hike but a train instead! Cusco turned out to be way bigger and more like a Tier Two city in India (which is saying a lot, the way India has changed over the last decade or so).
Back to my plans – I decided, as no one was coming with me, to walk up to the San Pedro station which was supposedly quite close to where we were staying, and also check out the PeruRail office which was supposedly on the way to the station – we needed to have our online tickets validated by them. I set out.
By the time I reached the head of that street, not more than a couple of blocks (less than 100 metres for sure), I was huffing and puffing, feeling like an old man with heart issues. After a minute to catch my breath, I soldiered on. After a quick left turn, I was now on a slight downward slope. You would have to pour water for me to agree with what my eyes told me, because my chest refused to believe that I was walking downhill. Heave ho! Heave ho! Another 100 metres and I was at the Plaza de Armas. I don’t think I’ve ever made heavy weather of about 200 metres of walking on an overall height gain of zero!
Again I paused a few minutes to catch my breath then crossed the courtyard that was full of people – more folks than you would ordinarily see out and about in one place in the USA, unless you were at Disney World or some such. I asked around and was pointed to the PeruRail office (which was on the other side of the courtyard i.e. where I had come from). After inquiry in the office, I learned that validation of the tickets was just a formality as we had purchased the tickets from their website. However, we did need to bring our passports with us for this purpose. The staff there then directed me to the train station – Estacion San Pedro – for which I would have to cross that courtyard once again – still huffing and puffing – then go on a slight climb for about four blocks, then turn left. I would then be at the San Pedro Market – Mercado San Pedro – opposite which I would see the train station.
After a lot of ‘breathtaking’ pauses, I got to the station only to learn – assuming I understood their Spanish and sign language correctly – that there were no trains leaving then. Also, I would not be allowed into the platform area even to take photos just of the tracks. Oh well, at least I figured out where the station was and could bring Mrs Porcupyn and Katya back with me in a few hours.
I retraced my steps back towards our hotel, only getting a little lost once. I had not carried anything other than a camera (and the hotel’s card with its address) on me. I hadn’t wanted to take chances on losing anything. I managed to correct my misdirection and get back a couple of hours or so after leaving. Both ladies were fast asleep.
After about half an hour of still catching my breath, I woke them up – it was about when they had said they would want to take a stroll.
Counting the day of departure from Orlando as Day One, our first day in Peru is Day Two of our trip 🙂
Plaza de Armas, Cusco. From other travelogs, I have since learned that there are probably many Plaza de Armases in Peru
I never quite figured out what this statue and this structure is supposed to represent
One of the cobblestone streets that empties into Plaza de Armas
I was hoping to get some PeruRail related literature, either at their Lima airport office or at their Cusco office. I was stymied. They had no brochures, pamphlets or literature of any kind. I was specifically interested in their switchbacks leaving the town of Cusco. Staff advised me to take a photo of the maps that were on their wall.
As you can see, these maps scarcely show any information on the switchbacks.
One of the streets leaning away from Plaza de Armas towards San Pedro
I took this photo just for the giant sign on the mountain
This was a very interesting one-lane two way street; signals on both sides of the arch gateway permit only one way operation of the road per green signal
Unfortunately, we didn’t really have a lot of time to explore the local markets – we were all too tired after all that walking (I would guess that at most, I probably walked a kilometre or two #facepalm) and the rest of the family maybe half that.
One of the traders on the footpath – among others, I think he is selling turmeric or some such product
OK I lied when I said I could not take a photo at the train station. But this was through a fence. I was not permitted to enter the station past the fence
Store selling all sorts of souvenirs. There were a lot of stores like this all over the place
We went right back out – me still catching my breath every few steps but they were not doing too bad – looking at the storefronts, watching the hubbub around Plaza de Armas. We got the tickets validated at the PeruRail office, then continued strolling along the same path I had taken earlier all the way up to Estacion San Pedro. Had I been feeling better, I might have purchased some goodies from the street vendors; as it was, all I bought was a few churros.
On the way back, we stopped to eat. This is one dinner I have not a lot of memory of. All I know is that we all ate something – I believe I have photos of what Mrs Porcupyn and Katya ate, but as for myself, I am drawing a big blank. Oh well. We then got back to the hotel and it was about six pm or so. But I did not feel like going back out and neither did anyone else.
We had already agreed that going to the station tomorrow morning by seven am would be too much of a hike for any of us and had contacted our taxi driver from the morning to come pick us up at 6:40 am. By about now, we realized that we would probably not in any shape to have breakfast the next morning – even if it was ready and available at six am. So, we tried to see if we could get a refund of this morning’s breakfast as we wouldn’t be having any tomorrow. It didn’t really work lol. Oh well, at least we tried.
We turned in early, but – I don’t know about the others – I did not have a good night’s sleep at all. I kept getting weird nightmares and kept waking up almost every hour (part of the reason was probably because I didn’t want us to wake late and miss the train, but most likely because I was affected by the altitude.
Taking off from Bogota, Colombia for Lima, Peru
The landing approach to Cusco is through a whole range of mountains
Our Sky airlines flight lands in Cusco
Video of kids up and about in Plaza de Armas having fun
This photo was taken at 9:02 am, and we had not yet reached the check-in point/entry gate for the hike to the top of the Machu Pichhu mountain
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