Machu Picchu y Aguas Calientes

We`ll we`re in La Paz, Bolivia now - an absolutely wonderful place. It`s been a while since I`ve had a chance to sit down at a computer and make a blog post (apologies), but this one is about Machu Picchu and the little town about twenty minutes on foot away, Aguas Calientes. Basically there`s one word to summarize Machu Picchu: spectacuar. We were both affraid that after seeing so many pictures before hand that actually being there wouldn`t be such a big deal, but we were thankfully wrong.

We had to take a miserable 4 hour train from Cuzco which took us out of the altiplano and in the cloud forest. It was kind of strange looking out the window seeing modern Incans working their farms, giving us a creepy colonial India feel. But as we decended the landscape became more and more enchanting, especially following the river. We stayed one night in Aguas Calientes then in the morning made the twenty minute walk to the base of the mountain, then the hour and a half climb to Machu Picchu. We could have taken a bus, but though the feeling of doing the climb would be worth it. Once we got to the top we went through ruins, listening to other people`s tours, then made the hike to the Incans Bridge (not the one we saw in Mendoza) then to the Sun Gate.

I have way too many photos to upload, but here are some highlights:

This is Aguas Calientes. Pretty much this town exists to serve Machu Picchu tourists. It was very pleasant even if it had a theme park feel.


This picture was shot on our way up to the ruins.


Here`s Antonia posing in front of the ruins.


Here`s a shot from inside the complex showing the beautiful landscape surrounding the site.


Here`s another from inside the complex.


This is the Incan Bridge. You can`t go across anymore, but the walk there was really nice.


Here`s a picture taken from the Sun Gate, the end of the Incan Trail. It was about an hours walk from the ruins uphill.


Here`s a shot of Machu Picchu mountain. You can barely make out the ruins on the the upper left hand side.

Cuzco

We´ve made through Machu Picchu so we´re a little backlogged on the blog. We spent three days in Cuzco and yesterday we came to this little town called Aguas Calientes. Machu Picchu is just down the one road in the town. You have to take a train to get here as there are not road, except the one connecting it to Machu Picchu. Cuzco was pretty incredible though. We´re going back in a hour then tomorrow we´re going to Puno, Peru on Lake Titikaka.

Cuzco is pretty crazy though. It use to be the Incan capital before the Spanish took over. A lot of the building still have Incan foundations. Now though, the Incans are relageted to chasing you down the street asking you to buy goods made from Alpaca wool or to come to their restuarant. If you just walked by the say "Okay friend, maybe tomorrow". It´s really pretty sad the poverty. Especially outside the town. We took a bus up to these Incan ruins and walked back into to town. On the walk we saw some houses people were still living in that might as well be ruins as well.

This is a woman and her daughter downtown. They ask you if you want to take a picture. If you ask how much it costs they say its voluntary. After you take the picture though they get really mean and demand at least a sol per person.


This is a little village by some of the ruins.


Here´s the Plaza de Armas at night.


From a distance, here´s the "Red Fortress", one of the ruins outside of Cuzco we saw.


Okay, that´s all for now, folks. We got to go catch the train back to Cuzco.