Two half hour journey in v nice coach to Ollantanbo. the other side of the Sacred Valley followed by a scenic train ride adjacent to the river to Aguascalientes which is the town that sprouted up as the gateway to Machu Picchu. There are no roads to this town only the train or one of the Inca Trails.
There is a railway line down through the middle of the main street and just below our hotel room window! Everything here is done by man power, the freight carriages are unloaded by hand onto hand carts and pushed up very steep hills to where the goods are required. No fork lift trucks, winches or cranes it is amazing to watch.
We spent the afternoon walking along the Urubamba river in the cloud forest to a waterfall for about three hours.
Day 5 we took the bus up what is loosely termed a road which zig zags up the mountains to start our guided tour of Machu Picchu. The weather has been just right for each days activity and today was no exception with clear skies and sunshine the remains were clearly visible and spectacular.
The coach drive down the zig zag path was only a little less terrifying than the trip up, The Italian Job came to mind!
Now back in Cusco for the night and tomorrow we fly to Quito in Ecuador via Lima so another early start but a relaxing day sightseeing when we get there.
Apologies for the lack of pictures at the moment due to a malfunction on the IT front which will hopefully be resolved very soon.
Nite, nite.
Just picked up the link and updated, Macchu Picchu looks amazing. living the adventure vicariously.
ReplyDeletexxx