After a nice buffet dinner last night at a nearby restaurant I took a very hot shower at our lovely Inti Inn and read myself to sleep early while a band played Peruvian flutes beneath my window. The alarm was set for 5:30 am. Breakfast was served in a tiny basement cafe of the Inn and featured the usual combination of European breakfast foods like ham, cheese, hard rolls and yogurt. There was also the Peruvian staple of quinoa and good old American favorites of made to order omelets, toast, and jam. And to drink coffee essence to which you add a lot of hot water and hot milk or more Coca tea. I wonder if I can get through the airport with that? It is a constant offering at all times of the day and night.
We set out for the ruins of the Historic Sanctuary of Machu Pichu at 7:00 am with the fog shrouding the mountains and the mist dampening our faces. We found that kidney killing half hour ride up the dozens of switchbacks on the dirt road got us to the Parque Nacional early enough that the lines were not too long and late enough to miss long lines of people who had gone to see the sunrise. I was glad we did not do that considering that the fog was thick.
Mitchell, whose roommate Marshall had stayed back at the hotel, and I set out on our own to explore the lower ruins. We tried to avoid long, steep, uneven staircases as our legs still ached from the strenuous exercise of the day before. We found more of the same homes and meeting halls and explored different views of the mountains and the valley far below. We threaded the needle, found 'furniture' of granite tables and chairs, niches for family altars and alpaca grazing on the ancient Incan terraces.
One of my fellow travelers mentioned an old film that I was not familiar with but might be fun to watch when I get home. It is called The Secret of the Incas with Charlton Heston. The steamy picture on poster indicates it might not be accurate but Heston spent much time here researching the project and scenes were shot on location.
I will keep trying to find ways to add photos and links for you like in the past but the system does not want to allow it right now.
Mitch and I collected up my travel friend, Madeline, where she sat at the base of the ruins with her Kindle and returned to the small base town of Aqua Caliente where he returned to the inn to join his friend Marshall for some shopping for the grandkids and Madeline and I wandered the riverside street. She bought a tee shirt and a gift cookbook for her friend. We joined some of the others on out tour for a snack break and then I found a beautiful courtyard garden with views of the mountains and the river. The afternoon was spent relaxing and strolling and meeting friends here and there to see what they were doing and finding.
At 2:50 were were at the train station to collect our bags that the hotel porter had brought there for us and to meet our group. Only six of us showed up because the others had been in the restaurant when Luis found out the trains were running and hour late. He came and said we could go back to town but we went to the waiting room and enjoyed some people watching. Our train was beautiful and very fancy with comfortable seating and we faced across a table with sisters Theresa, from Peachtree City, and Margaret from D.C.
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The train jolted and jerked its way along the riverside taking five hours to make the three and a half hour trip to Poroy, a suburb of Cuzco. Perurail attendants set our tables with colorful cloths and offered beer and wine for sale. They then came with a snack of nuts, cheese, raisins and flan. After leaving some passengers at Ollantaytambo we were entertained by a Bolaroja, a flamboyantly dressed and masked clown. Then came the fashion show of Alpaca and Vicuna ponchos, sweaters for men, scarves, jackets and coats.The lady attendant strutted her stuff up and down the aisle stopping to demonstrate different ways to wear the garment while the wild music played and the clown clapped and danced. Our friend Carol bought a beautiful full length baby Alpaca coat that reversed from grey to red. I am glad she did because I was so tempted to buy it myself for one of my girls.
When the long delayed train finally arrived we collected our bags and boarded the bus to the Novotel in Cuzco, but not without incident. I tripped at the edge of the busy road we had to cross but Carolyn fell and narrowly missed being run over by one of the many buses in the tight chaos of passengers, taxis, and buses thrown off schedule by the very late arrival of the train from Machu Picchu.
A 15 minute ride through what looked to be darkened slums brought us to the edge of the city with it's yellow street lamps below. We were dropped a couple of blocks from the hotel as the old city streets are too narrow for a coach and walked uphill to a beautiful waiting hotel room, a hot bath and some sleep.
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