When we awoke yesterday morning in our lovely hotel, Pat tried to turn on the electric heater in our room with no effect. The power was out. The staff were unperturbed. It came on a few hours later, too late for a shower or shave; I’m now wilding. Breakfast was easier when the sun rose over the mountains.

After breakfast we boarded a train at Ollantaytambo to bring us to Aquas Calientes and the gateway to Machu Picchu.

After breakfast we drove 30 minutes to catch the train to Aguas Calientes and Machu Picchu. The Inca Railway train arriving.

Just like Amtrak and the Smart Train, they had entertainment during our two hour ride. These two re-enacted an Incan love story about a commoner, but naturally a great warrior, who overcomes impossible odds to wed the king’s daughter.

The whole journey from our hotel and on the train followed the course of the Urubamba River. As we progressed, the steep mountains came closer and closer creating a narrow valley. We passed the beginning of the 26 mile beginning of the Inca Trail. The trail gains 1500 feet, but with many ups and downs, the total elevation gain is much more. We saw Sherpas carrying loads and previously we saw the locals cleaning and drying the camping equipment that they carried.

When we arrived at Machu Picchu we joined many other visitors. A fleet of buses ferried visitors up the mountain. The skilled drivers negotiated many switchbacks, some hairpin with ease and speed. It is a busy road. Some hikers trekked up, sometimes using the road. I recall one young woman’s horrified face as she stopped at a sharp turn while two buses passed simultaneously seemingly inches from her face. Our guide, Cesar Nunez was able to get us to the front of the line as he did for the train. He does it all with a smile. He seems to know everyone wherever we go. I call him the “Mayor of Peru”. Cesar once again led us on a slow hike up the mountain. One man in our group is having some health issues and had to be taken back by an assistant who joined us for this part of the trip. This hike was much shorter and easier than our previous hike at the Ollantaytambo ruins.

Machu Picchu (Picchu means mountain) was discovered by an American archeologist, Hiram Bingham in 1911. At the time it was completely overgrown. He discovered it while searching for a different spot, the site of a battle between Incas and Spanish. Even though the Spanish had many collaborators (converts), no one told them about this site, Bingham named it Machu Picchu, but this is actually the name of a nearby mountain. No one knows the actual name.

The peaked structures created the roofs, the larger ones were used to store grain for the 500 to 800 people who lived here. The roofs were steeply pitched because the reeds used for roofing were not waterproof, so the steepness sped the water away hopefully before it could soak through. To feed the population they created aqueducts to bring water to the many terraces that they constructed. They created the terraces using gravel, sand and topsoil. The aqueducts brought water from a spring at the mountaintop. Many of the terraces were on the other side of the mountain; these folks had no trouble hauling stuff long distances. Speaking of hauling, llamas are no good at it; twenty pounds is about their maximum load. However, there were many llamas, so the theory is that they used many llamas to haul loads, like sand from the river below to us in the terraces.

This is the kind of rock, granite, that the Inca’s used to build Machu Picchu. It is extremely hard and difficult to shape without metal tools.

Of course, the Inca were focused on the movement of the sun, celebrating the solstices and equinoxes. The structure below has windows that exactly align with the sun on each of these solar events.

If I could only use one word to describe Aguas Calientes, it would be steep. The mountains rise right up from the river that runs through the center of town and most of the streets are steeply pitched. Fortunately, I can use more than one word.

Part of the morning bus line for Machu Picchu.

They like statues and fiestas. They are celebrating the 70th anniversary of the opening of Machu Picchu. There were different contingents of school children of all ages preparing to march in the ceremony; each dressed and eager to go.

One resisted grooming

At least for a while…

I stood up to take pictures and this lady stole my seat. I kindly let her stay.

The tracks run right in front of our hotel. We were startled at dinner last night when the first train rumbled past our open air restaurant.

We head back to Cusco shortly, taking the train back to Cusco. We are eagerly awaiting the entertainment. Here in Aguas Calientes, the altitude is a bit under 7,000. I can solve word puzzles and bound around the streets. At Cusco we will be back at 11,000, so the blog may go dark for a while as my brain has less oxygen. The good news is that the next morning we fly to Quito, Ecuador that is in the lowlands at 9,500 feet. We love Peru. Ecuador here we come.