The Vagrant Gypsy Life

Day 192 Thu 10/3 Sta Maria/ Sta Teresa/ Hidro/ Aguas Calientes

The 6 of us had decided to meet up at the San Francisco plaza at 7:30 before catching the collectivo at 8:00.

The day started with a bang – a very pleasant surprise! I was at the square, the place of rendezvous, waiting for the girls (Aurel and Aude made it on time), when who should come by and say hello to me, but a ghost from the past. Well, not that you would call a chap who is 6ft something, a ghost. Jevgeni! I have recorded in these blogs, a very pleasant day I spent with Yevgeni over 5 months ago in El Bolson, in October. I thought he had gone back to Finland. We had a jolly short chat as now we were short on time and the girls made it. The mini was due to leave in 10 minutes, which didnt leave me too much time to catch up. We decide that we’d send each other emails and try and catch up before the two of us left Cusco.

It is time for a 5 hour trip in a collectivo to Sta Maria. There are about 3-4 ways that people make it to Cusco. The most expensive way is to hike the Inca trail. Then there is the Salkantay trek. Folks also take the bus to Ollantaytambo and then a train to Aguascalientes, which forms the base from which you head off to MP. The train costs an arm and a leg too. It costs about 4 times what it would cost for a Peruvian. We decided to go the alternative route since it is cheaper and does include some lovely scenery on the bill as well. The trip to Sta Maria was all that – amazing scenery, with snow capped peaks, green mountains, waterfalls. We must have surely amused the locals sharing the collectivo with us, since we for some reason started singing songs, in Spanish, French and Malayalam. The only bad part of the trip was that a couple of the folks werent feeling that great due to the way the driver was going around the killer curves and the slopes. He drove allright for a while and then went into aggressive mode, with brakes and accelerator both getting abundant use.

We arrived in Sta Maria, which didnt look much of anything, and were immediately able to find a taxi to Sta Teresa. There were landslides on the way which made it a wee bit more exciting than any of us really wanted it to be. One landslide made all of passengers get out and walk. The scenery amazing, but the roads scary!

Lunch and a bit of time to catch our breaths in Sta Teresa, before getting on another collectivo to Aguascalientes. The trip is short. We are required to register with the folks who man the park entry. It is then time to walk along the rail track. We walk into a couple of young lads sittig on the rail. They ask us sweetly : “A donde vas?”, “que tal”. It wasnt till the last of us crossed them, when the wee lad revealed a hidden water balloon that he tossed at Ester. It took us all by surprise and drew a few chuckles. It is carnaval time and tossing water balloons, dousing each other with buckets of water and even coloured water is all part of Carnaval. We had seen a bit of it in Pisaq, but had escaped getting drenched (despite all of Cristina’s efforts in getting little some girl to drop her water balloons on me!)

The hike along the rail tracks was pleasant, due to the company and the scenery. 2.5 hours and we make it to Aguascalientes where we shell out 126 soles (about USD 47) for an entry ticket to Machu Picchu. Aude and Aurel had gotten their tickets in Cusco already, but by the time we reached the office in Cusco, the office had been closed!

We found a hostel, where the 6 of us are packed into one room, cooked some food (I was in charge of cleaning, which is just as well. My “cooking” leaves a lot to be desired!) Off to bed early as the day will start at 4:00 on Friday!

Day 193 Fri 11/3 Aguas Calientes

We started our trek at 4:30; I was awake well before that, even before my alarm went off! We trudge down to the bridge to find that it opens only at 5:00 am. Twiddling thumbs early in the morning is not much fun. Could have gotten twenty more minutes of sleep, my brain yells at me.

Finally, the bridges open, and after an inspection of passport and the entry ticket, we are on our way up the steps to Machu Picchu. The steps does make the climb more tiring. As much as i love going uphill, walking up steps are not my favourite thing in the world! We were told that it would take about an hour to 1.5 hours. We made it in about 50 minutes. (Of course, there is also the option of taking a bus from Aguascalientes, which costs about USD 16 one way!) I much prefer to walk.

The gates open at 6:00. I cant believe that a dream has come true and that I am finally seeing Machu Picchu! The clouds make for poor visibility though! I reach into the pocket where I normally keep my camera to realise that it had fallen down during the night! I guess it is a very unusual way to climb Machu Picchu – without one’s camera! I only could hope that the hotel staff would find my camera and keep it safe. Laura had lost camera in a hostel and it was never recovered. However, I put that thought behind me as I wanted to enjoy my day in MP.

Since we were among the first 200 to get in, we are able to climb up Huayna Picchu as well. Which, I might add, is anotherr fair bit of a climb! Another 40 minutes of uphill work. But the clouds make visibility null. Apparently the view from Huayna Picchu is great and shows the Machu Picchu layout as sort of a condor. We would have to look it up on google, as the clouds refuse to go away even after 2 hours, which pass by fairly quickly as we have breakfast. We celebrate being at the top of Huayna Picchu by having some chocolate which I have carried with me for ages now! We have bread with passion fruit and cheese, some biscuits and some crackers. Rarely do meals taste better… Going down Huayna Picchu is much tougher work than scaling up. Aurel had to fight vertigo and Cristina wasnt feeling that great either. We slowly make our way down without incident and manage to have a few laughs in the process as well. Broken spanglish does help with laughs.

We spent 10 hours inside MP, with an hour for lunch just outside the gates. During that time, it poured on us for about two hours straight. However, we had luck and the clouds parted to allow us the view of MP that everyone knows from photos. We sat and watched it for a long time, till the clouds claimed the mountains again. During the time, a few llamas had made good friends with Ester. For some reason, she couldnt get away from the attentions of Llamas.

We also got a guide to show us around MP and tell us all sorts of interesting tidbits. Walking in the rain, trying to listen to a guide, is an interesting experience.

We have lunch and then head back to MP to walk down to the Puente Inca. On the way back, we discover that the clouds have been generous again. We sit down another hour to savour the scant offering.

We are among the last folks out of MP, and we get a stamp on our passports as a souvenir! We are all awfully quiet on the way down. Tiredness and the need to concentrate on the steps!

Down below, I run off to the hotel to see if they had seen my camera. I am lucky! They did find my camera. Phew, a relief. I had gotten quite attached to the little thing as it has been my constant companion now for 6-odd months on the road!

We tried to see if we could catch a train to Ollantaytambo, but the train only had a couple of seats left. The price wasnt generous either. On the other hand, I could have sworn that the train that only Peruvians can take is half empty. Hmmm!

Check back in the hotel and head out for dinner. We are all tired and conversation is a premium. I savour in my head a day when a dream is realised. I have seen Machu Picchu and it is all they say it is. The ruins, the amazing scenery and the setting in the mountains all adds to the splendour. I am grateful that I have had a chance to see it. It is humbling to realise that not every one in the world can travel, due to many reasons.

Day 194 Sat 12/3 Cusco

We wake up at 6:00 and are out the door by 6:30. This time, the hike takes us only 2 hours to Hidro from Aguas. We spend most of the time talking of food, our favourite dishes and what we like to cook. I am afraid that I am to blame for it, as I started talking of some dish that I liked when I was in Spain 4 years ago. It didnt help us with our hunger, all this talk of food!

A 15 min wait in Hidro before the first taxi shows up. The taxi would take us to Sta Maria. A new mode of transportation for me as I sit in the boot of the taxi. The boot is big and quite comfortable! I do enjoy such eccentricities, as long as they are not for long. An hour and we are in Sta Maria, where we were told there would be a bus soon. However, the bus could only take 3 passengers. We woudl have to wait till 14:30 for the next collectivo.

There is not much to do in Sta Maria. We have a meal, which we stretch out, and then play cards at the table for a long time. Stretching our legs, using the bathroom, playing cards, chatting..Somehow we pass the time. The collectivo which was due to leave at 14:30 follows South American time and leaves at 15:30. Of course, we stop after about 15 minutes due to to some repair work on the roads. Aurel and Aude have a bus to catch at 10 pm. We werent quite sure if we would make it back in time with such delays. The driver didnt seem to be too sure either. We hatch various plans to see how we can help the folks make their bus.

The driver is much better than the chap who brought us to Sta Maria and nobody has any problems. We make it back in 5 hours to Cusco, in good time for Aurel and Aude to catch their bus. We say our goodbyes. Aurel and Aude are off to Bolivia, but Aurel will have a chance to visit Barcelona later this summer and will be able to catch the girls.

While I have a room reserved in a hostel, the girls are without accomodation. We walk around a while and find a hostel for them. Clean and cheap, with hot water 24 hours, internet and breakfast. It is now 11:00 and we are all famished. Dinner is at a pizza place nearby – pizza personal con durazno y jamon. Tasted great. I am not sure if it was the hunger or the food or both.

After food, it is time for me to check in and get hold of my luggage. We then head off to a reggage club to listen to some live music and have a mojito. I even manage to belie my age and dance a bit with the girls. However, around 1:30 in the morning and I am nodding off. Luckily, so are the girls, and we call it a night. 3 days to remember!

Tags: Travel

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011 at 07:36 and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.