MACHU PICCHU - AT LAST

January 3 -6, 2010 (yes 2010)

We were very excited to be off to Peru and Machu Picchu, at last! Consider that our whole reason for taking the cruise was to do a 3 day tour to Machu Picchu off the ship. When it turned out to cost more than the whole cruise, we decided to alter our itinerary to come back to Peru and do a proper tour. The funny thing is that breaking our fare up Rio-Lima and Lima-Edmonton, we actually saved $300 in airfare.

We again faced a long travel day starting at 10 a.m. when we were picked up from the Debret and taken to the airport for our journey to Lima (stopover in Buenos Aires), arriving at 10:30 p.m. Met by an English speaking guide Genero and driver who wisked us off to the Sonesta Posada del Inca Miraflores Hotel and a fabulous 2 bedroom suite!! We were so tired all we did was strip and get into bed.

Barb cooked her curling iron when she plugged it into the 200V not the 110V. Early next morning we were picked up and taken to the airport for our 1.5 hr flight to Cusco. We travelled with a small weekender bag we purchased in Rio and our large suitcases again kept by the hotel.

We changed flight times to Cusco and our assigned guide, who was not informed of the change, was late in picking us up at the airport. This resulted in a shortened version of a city tour and a quick drop off at our hotel the Tera Adina Hotel.

The hotel was located on one of the historic and narrow city streets and was not very impressive from the outside. However, once you stepped inside, the hotel was very inviting and luxurious.

We ended up not far from the main city mercado. Unfortunately we didn´t have much time to explore outside the immediate area of our hotel. But the Mercado was very interesting. It is the one place where centavos can buy something. In our case, a couple of tasty bread buns. We also saw a women sewing aprons (the kind that cover your whole outfit) on an old Singer treadle sewing machine. These markets sell everything from meat and poultry to clothing and kitchen supplies. Fascinating stroll.

As warned by Genero, we had started our altitude sickness pills--they worked as we discovered as the days progressed. Actually, Cusco is about 12,000 feet in altitude as opposed to Machu Picchu at 8,000 feet.

Early morning pickup - up at 5:30 am and off at 6:45 a.m. for the train ride to Machu Picchu!!! We had no idea tht we were travelling luxury class on the Vistadome train and breakfast was included or we would have opted for another 1/2 hour of sleep! Our train took us through the Sacred Valley of Urtumbamba to the Lost City of the Incas. what scenery, what heights, what everything!!

Met at the train station (Peru Rail) in Aguas Calientes by an English speaking guide, Raquel, and a bell hop from the hotel. He went off with our hand luggage and we went off with our guide and 5 other people - 3 from the US and 2 from Vancouver to see the sites. First step was to get on the bus for a 20 minute ride up a mountain. We say up but it was really a very winding road full of switchbacks with no shoulder and no railings.

Raquel, our guide, was an Indian lady and very knowledgeable and spoke many languages including Japanese. She said it was easy for her to learn Japanese because she spoke Quechua, the language of the Incas. She was very short and told us that the Indians prefer a short stature. In fact, in olden days, if they noticed a child was growing particularly tall, they put a basket on its head and two or three years later, voila - a child of the proper height. We think it is because it is likely the Spaniards killed all tall people thinking they were Incas.

She pointed out wild begonias that were in bloom and said there are 245 varieties of orchids that grew in Machu Picchu.

Perched 8200 feet above the valley, Machu Picchu (Old Mountain) was hidden by semi-tropical jungles and mountains since it was built in the 15th century until discovered by Hiram Bingham of Yale University in 1911. Archeologists believe that the Inca "Virgins of the Sun" took refuge from the Spanish Conquistadors here and the pueblo was populated by women. In fact, Rquel told us they had found 85 mummies in Machu Picchu including one they believe to be that of the Chief Priestess. She was 6 feet tall and apparently the Incas were a tall people, judging from various mummies that have been found. Many reached 7 feet in height.

The building was fascinating. There was a pre-Inca culture at this sacred spot and you can tell the difference in building methods. An interesting note is that the structures were supported by stone ball bearings to prevent collapse from earthquakes.

We were impressed with the agricultural terraces cut into the mountainside; the solar observatory, the main temple and the 3 x 7 metre high carved monolith.

We clambered about like mountain goats much to everyone's surprise. We think it is because we have grey hair and all women in Peru colour their hair.

What an experience. Not bad for two old broads as we climbed the stairs of the pueblo and got to the top. We got to use our rain ponchos again as a mild rainfall took over shortly before our walk down. Everyone told us it would be cold - ha! not for us hardy Canadians. We wore T-shirts

We ended the tour with guess what--a buffet lunch--at a swanky restuarant called the Sanctuary. Loaded back on the bus for the trip down to the town and a short walk to our hotel. Got lost as the guide left us at the restaurant, but we did find our way.

A nice hotel called the Adina Luxury, with two very interesting views. One is the railway tracks--that was our view, or a raging river which was the view from the breakfast room. Their definition of luxury is different from ours. But the staff were very pleasant and helped whenever they could.

The hotel was located close to the main mercado so we did get a little exercise going up and down the stairs from the street to the top of the market called the Pisac Indian Market. We also got exercise running down the rail tracks to our hotel before a train ran over us. There is building going on EVERYWHERE. The sidewalks are being torn up to install new pipes, hotels are renovating or new ones are under construction. There are tourists everywhere and this was the slow season!

The next day before we headed back to Cusco with the Inka Rail, again luxury class, which took us to the Sacred Valley, our hotel hand carried our luggage up to the train station. Although our travel info said a tour of the Ollantaytambo Fortresss was included, our taxi driver was in too much of a hurry to get us back to Cusco. The driver ignored our requests to stop so we could take some pictures of a special festival day that was taking place and many of the citizens were in their colourful local costumes. So back to the Terra Andina for one more night before we took off again.


There was some confusion as to the return rail tickets as they were delivered late the morning of our departure. There was a family from Washington, DC who were having the typical North American reaction ... where are the tickets? What is the schedule? Why hasn't the guide contacted us? We had already gone through the "manana" syndrome so were not worried. That is because we cheated and phoned our contact in Cusco the previous night.

The Inka Rail only started operating last year and is the first competition to the Peru Rail monopoly. Peru rail has 3 classes of travel...Vistadome (regular and luxury), Hiram Bingham (utmost luxury) and backpackers. These are the folks who hike the Inca Trail, 5 days from Cusco to Machu Picchu over the mountains. Lots of Australians in the backpacker crowd.

We took pictures but for two poor photographers there is nothing that can match a slide show of Machu Picchu that was sent to Lynne a long time ago. We will email everyone a copy and you can view it at your leisure.