Well folks as you can see we made it to our main destination! The mountainous terrain is just spectacular, and the construction carried out here so long ago is amazing.
Now for the story our Machu Pichu experience - awake at 5am, 6am into taxi (a 1980's Toyota station wagon claptrap) for a 80km breakneck dash to the railway station at Ollantaytambo, only to wait there one and a half hours before boarding the train to Machu Pichu station in the village of Aguas Calientes.
The train trip was spectacular in its own right, as we followed the surging Urubumba river northward through mountainous terrain.
Unfortunately just as we got to Aguas Calienties it began to rain - a steady heavy drizzle.We met our guide at the station and he led us to a nearby cafe where he dumped us, along with another dozen or so people, for an hour and a quarter without any explanation. Between the waiting and the continuous rain, patience was running low. Then after a few heated words we soon boarded the bus for the 25 minute climb on a zig-zagging unsealed road to Machu Pichu. After a few kilometres things picked up - the rain stopped, and when we arrived at the site we were transferred to an English speaking guide who was very good.
The first thing you see when exiting the jungle climb is a spectacular overview of the whole site - it takes your breath away. We had the guide's services two hours then explored the site on our own for another two.
Returning to Aguas Calienties we found an all day Happy Hour Bar and had several drinks, discussing our day's experiences to the tunes of indigenous buskers, while waiting for our train departure.
We were pampered in the final taxi ride home in a luxury Toyota sedan which never went over 90kph.
Back at the hotel we downed a glass of red wine and were crashed out by 10:30pm. A magnificent day in a magnificent place!
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