- Train journey was enjoyable as we enjoyed the scenery with Dennis and Jolanda, from England and Poland, who sat opposite us. As we shared stories, the 3 hour journey quickly passed and we arrived at the station to find our "pick up" wasnt there.
- Local lad Darcy offered to walk us to our hostel and told us (in perfect English) his own story of where he´s from and how he recently started working in this village for a hotel.
After a walk through a market and a turn of a corner we were at our hostel - Gringo Bill´s. Nicer than expected. Great!
- Stroll down through the village and stop for lunch and a beer beside the train track... "this is the life" we both agree!
- Later that night we headed for the grill restaurant that looke dquite promising earlier. And it lived up! Gorgeous steak and chicken fresh off a large fired up open bbq beside us. Then...complete darkness, apart from candles and the BBQ - the whole town was out! NO light, no electricity anywhere! The band continued to play and a full restaurant ate by candlelight - it was gorgeous!
- No less than 5 hours later we were up (4am) and ready for our big trek up to Machu Picchu. Queuing grumpily for the bus at 5.30am the sleep soon went off us when we climbed high through the clouds on a small windy road.
- Off the bus, queue at the gate, meet our Austrian friends and all 4 of us are pulled aside. Our tickets which we both ordered online seemed to upset our friends at the gate and after a half hour Nicole and Titac got though. Us on the other hand - not so smooth. We were turned away - "no paguar"! On their system it appeared we hadnt paid but after a staff member, who felt sorry for us, pleaded with the official to let us in if we paid at the gate - we eventually got through!
- Luckily, I had to go to the bathroom first, as on my way back in I happened to meet Edgar (or "Ned" as we soon nicknamed him") and we haggled a little until he agreed to be our guide for the day. What value for money! He took us through every nook and cranny and explained in perfect detail, with passion, the story of the Incas and what happened here. 3 hours later as we shared our lunch with him before our climb to see that famous postcard view, we exchange numbers and email addresses and he agrees that if he has time he will take us to his village in Chinchero, where his family still lives and works - quite similarly to how the Incas did!
- So we descent to the village and recount our morning - Machu Picchu that nearly never happened due to a dodgy website - meeting Ned and the possibility of seeing a real part of rural Peru - the beauty of Aguas Calientes but also the boredom and anti climax that sets in there after returning from the mountain. All in all - a fantastic experience... plenty more of such experiences to come we hope!
I see you've omitted the train journey back from Aquas Caliente to Ollata. I would have thought the laughs and stimulating conversation would have been worthy of a mention on the blog. On the off chance you've already forgotten us... it was Brett & Marc, from Australia and Canada, but now living in San Francisco :)
ReplyDeleteHey guys! Of course we haven't forgotten you, it's a pity we hadn't met you in Aguas Cal instead of on the train though for some more laughs and to celebrate your birthday! As you can probably tell from the rushed ending to that post I had already been 2-3 hours uploading pictures with slow internet connection and had an agitated Niall behind me pointing at his watch so we could go eat!! Keep in touch, best of luck with the business and if (when!) we go to San Fran we'll drop in for a cuppa ;)
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