October 6, 2009

Pat and I rose bright and early today as our ride to the train station was departing our hotel at 6 am. We were taking the train from Cusco to Aguas Calientes. The train ride was about 3.5 hours long and took us through the changing landscape of Peru. The train made the initial climb out of Cusco into the surrounding hillside and then descended into the Sacred Valley. We passed many colorful villages in the foothills of the Andes. We descended further into the plateau of Anta which contained many of the typical Andean crops. We passed by several Inca ruins and agricultural terraces. Many of the terraces are all that remain of Inca cities that were lost forever during the first years after the Spanish conquest. The great plain narrows dramatically as the tracks enter a deep gorge that was carved by the Pomatales River. The Pomatales River runs into the Urubamba River and heads to the Amazon. Just past where the two rivers join we passed where the guys started their trek on the Inca Trail. As the train continued toward Aguas Calintes the surroundings became more lush and green, almost tropical. It was weird to see so many tress as there are not many tress in and around Cusco. As the train continued the hillsides were covered with trees and Spanish Moss. We arrived in Aguas Calientes and went to our hotel. Because we arrived at 10:30 we were not allowed to check in to the hotel but were able to leave our bags there to wander the town. This town is significantly smaller than Cusco but still had the charm of Peru. The people here were friendly, just as everyone else we had encountered on our trip.

After noon we checked into our hotel and decided to buy a bus ticket and take it up to Machu Picchu as we thought there were some trails to walk on outside of the park. The bus ride up the mountain was crazy. It is a dirt road that switch backs up the mountain that is essentially one lane. You never knew when you were going to meet a bus coming from the opposite direction and you might need to go in reverse up or down the mountain in order to make room for the other bus to pass.

Upon arriving at the top we found out there were no trails to walk on outside the park. It had just started to rain so we decided to grab a quick bite to eat at the cafe. I enjoyed the soft serve ice cream. While we were there we were joined by a couple that was originally from Great Britain but had relocated to New Zealand and a recently engaged couple from Germany. We had a great visit with them while waiting for the rain to pass. Once the bus lines decreased we decided to head back down to town.

We enjoyed our dinner buffet can called it a night early as we had another early rising scheduled for the next morning.