26th February 2015 – Machu Picchu

Today we are picked up from our hotel in Urubamba in the Sacred Valley at 9:30 am and taken by bus to Ollantaytambo and our cars stay in the secure car park at the hotel. The bus takes about 25 minutes to the train station at Ollantaytambo where we pick up our train to Aguas Calientes, which takes about 1.5 hours. The train is lovely with huge big windows and a glass roof so we can enjoy the scenery along the way.Once we arrive at Aguas Calientes our bags are taken to our hotel for us as we board a bus to go up to Machu Picchu, which takes about 25 minutes. The road up zigzags across the steep face of the mountain through a lush green rain forest with many beautiful coloured plants and butterflies.When we arrive at the top we have a buffet lunch before we enter the Machu Picchu site. Once through the main gate we walk up to get the typical view over the whole site and soak up the ambience of the ruins of this Inka site that once had a population of 900 people. It’s magical and as it’s the wet season there is a bit of drizzle with low cloud about but it’s not cold.  The site of a rainbow over the side of the mountain is very bright and is a reflection of the many items of jewellery for sale in Peru. Our guide explains about the terraced agricultural west side of the site and takes us to visit the Temple of the Three Windows, Astronomical observatory, The ceremonial Rock and the gate to Waynapicchu, The main square, Temple of the Condor, The fountains, Temple of the Sun and through the various houses. All along the way she explains about the functions of the various places.      When we get to the Ceremonial Stone we can look across to Waynapicchu and see the track up to the temple perched high up on the side of the mountain.We leave at 5pm exhausted but in awe of the setting of Machu Picchu and with a lot more knowledge of the Inkan civilisation than when we entered some 3.5 hours earlier.  We catch the bus back down to Aguas Calientes and walk back to our hotel as the sun is setting for our overnight stay.