November 4 & 5, 2024 - Overland Tour to Machu Picchu - Part II

November 4 & 5, 2024 – Monday and Tuesday         Days 40 & 41 of this journey 

Overland Tour to Machu Picchu – Part II 

Monday – November 4, 2024 

Gerardo picks us up at 8:00 am. We drive through Cusco to the train station for the Hiram Bingham train. Hiram Bingham is who re-discovered Machu Picchu in the early 1900s. The train is in the style of the Orient Express and 1920’s décor. There are two dining cars, and a bar car with open air observation platform at the back. 

We were welcomed to the train station and escorted to comfortable chairs to wait and were offered juice or juice and champagne. Shortly before departure time, we are escorted to our tables in the dining car. It is quite elegant. A small troupe of performers give us a show surrounding the Inca’s use of the coca leaf and what it meant in their society. Everyone in the crowd is given coca leaves and at the end of the performance, we place the leaves on a small fire as an offering.

Accompanying the performance, guitar, drums & Peruvian flute.

We reboard the train and slowly chug out of the station. Cusco is at 11,000 feet. Machu Picchu is around 8,000 feet. So our train descends through the rugged mountains that lie between the two. These are the newest mountains on the planet and are continuing to rise. They are quite dramatic. Much of the trip is along the Urubamba River as it flows down the Sacred Valley.

There is a point that the train needs to execute a maneuver to get to a lower track. The train stopped, a switch was thrown on the tracks, we backed down a spur, then another switch was thrown, and we proceeded forward again, having dropped to a lower track.

You can see the track below us that we need to be on.

A brunch was served around 11:00 am. The food was excellent and served family style. We had Pork Belly along with 3 side dishes, followed by desert. All were excellent. All of the staff are extremely professional, from those that greeted us as we arrived at the train station to those serving us on board.

Lovely 1920s decor. Polished wood and brass

Side dishes - Quinoa salad, potato salad, creamed corn

Pork belly. Excellent breads

Desert of fresh fruit and chocolate mousse.

We arrived in Aguas Calientes, a small town in the valley below Machu Picchu. After a bathroom break, we walked to the busses that are constantly running back and forth between Aguas Calientes and the entrance of Machu Picchu. Omar is waiting for us at the entrance gate for Machu Picchu. We need to show passports as well as our ticket to be granted entry. We will be exploring Circuit 3 today.

The open-air observation platform at the rear of the train

The following photos were all taken prior to getting to Aguas Calientes

At the beginning of the trip from Cusco, we were not in the Andes
Mountain range but a separate range. By Aguas Calientes, we were
in the Andes.

Off we go with Omar constantly pointing out items of interest and giving us the history as it is known today. A lot of the information has evolved as more and more is found and analyzed. In Quechua, (the language of the Quechua people) Inca means “king”, therefore, referring to the civilization as Incan really isn’t accurate. The Quechuan did not have a written language although there are cave paintings. Their history has been passed down through the spoken word. 

The site is jaw dropping. What is referred to as Incan architecture is phenomenal. The blocks of granite are cut so precisely. They also had running water. They cut water channels in rock and buried it. The spring they used is still running and you can see water running in some of the channels that have been exposed. Much of the terracing that you see was for agriculture. They had some very advanced agricultural techniques, including hybridization of a number of plants.

On top of that tall peak in the center is the Sun Gate
with temples and terraces.

Our intrepid group from Viking Octantis.
Our guide, Gerardo is on the right.

Temple of the Sun

How did anyone get any work done with these views.

I climbed these steps. Whew! Well worth it.

Just a few people visiting today. In high season, limited to
about 5500. In low season, 4500. Approximate.

It is believed these were used as mirrors for
astronomical observations. The depression would have
been lined with silver or gold.

In the big rock, there is a crack in the center.

In the crack were two chinchillas.

A comunal dining room.

Temple of the Condor. Huge rocks are the wings,
Head is below. See the collar?

A few years ago, the government introduced llamas to the site. They are not native to this area at all, but they have become quite effective at keeping the grass under control. The llamas wandered about among the visitors and weren’t bothered by the people at all. Our guide did comment that if the grass and vegetation was not kept under constant control, the site would be buried by the jungle again within about 3 months.

After our time at the site, we take a break and are treated to a snack and beverage. It was a bit like tapas. While we were enjoying our “tea”, there was a cloud burst, and it just poured for about 10 – 15 minutes. By the time we were done, the rain had stopped. We got back on a shuttle bus and headed down the mountain to pick up our return train. We are heading back to Cusco via a different train. About halfway to Cusco, we transferred to the van and drove for a couple of hours. We’re not sure if there was a purpose to the van ride. The road was extremely rough, and it was quite dark, so nothing to see. 

We were back at the hotel about 9:00 pm and dinner was scheduled. We weren’t particularly hungry and really wanted to get to bed, but had agreed to the appetizer. The appetizer was supposed to be quinoa ceviche. This had been mentioned several times and we were curious. What was served was chicken noodle soup. Not what we expected, but quite delicious and just the right amount of food.

 

Tuesday, November 5, 2024 

We slept much better last night. No headache like we had the first night, and we were able to get a couple more hours of sleep in as well. 

Most of this day will be travel. 

The included buffet breakfast at this hotel is quite nice and the coffee they serve is excellent. A short city tour was offered for early this morning, since we didn’t get to see much of anything on our first day due to the flight problems. Most of the group declined, but we indicated we’d like to do it. We are to be picked up at 7:00 am. 

Our luggage is ready to go and we leave it with the hotel staff. At 7:00 am, Omar is there, and we begin our tour across the street from our hotel. There are many cathedrals in this city and one of them is across the street. The foundations are Incan. The interior is lovely.

The cathedral across from our hotel.

Incan Temple of the Sun

The Cathedral sits on the Incan foundation of the
Temple of the Sun

The walls of our hotel.

The lobby of our hotel.

We then head to the Plaza de Armas. There is a basilica here as well as several other churches and public buildings. This is a very interesting city and deserves further exploration.

 

Not unusual to see these hats on women here.

This is Pachacuti - Machu Picchu was probably built by this
Incan ruler as a retreat.

The basilica

Wall on the left is Incan. Wall on the right more modern

Interesting balconies like this are everywhere

Cusco - climbing the hills

The trip to the airport was quick and a separate car with our luggage arrives with us. We get checked in, check a couple of bags and head to our gate. No delays on this flight. We are all getting tired after the last three days. It will be good to get home to our ship. 

We are supposed to have a scenic drive-around of Lima and lunch before returning to the ship. One of the couples really doesn’t want to do that. But we have to stay together as a group. The others in the group agree (some reluctantly) to terminate the tour and return to the ship. We are glad to be back aboard. 

In hindsight, the drive around could have been interesting. 

I bought my first souvenir of the trip. I bought a tee shirt with Machu Picchu and llamas on it. A group of vendors had set up shop right on the dock next to our ship.

 

An amazing trip. Lots of miles covered. We got tired of sitting. We got tired of waiting. But seeing and touching Machu Picchu for ourselves and not on the television, or the computer or in a book was wonderful.