April 11th
Left Lima and flew to Cusco. At the airport, I was talking to a couple ladies from LA. We had quite a chat and boarded the plane. The flight was not that full and I was able to go up to them and have a conversation. In an hour we were about to land and I asked the ladies if they were staying downtown and if they would like to share a cab. They indicated that they had a driver coming to get them. I wished them a great vacation and went back to my seat.
After getting off the plane, I ran into the ladies at the luggage carousel. They mentioned that if I would like, I could catch a ride with them if their driver didn’t mind and that my hotel was close to theirs. It turned out that it was on the way. The driver said no problem, but not to say anything as this was really not permitted. I truly appreciated it. It was certainly a great day.
It was a little colder here in Cusco, but I didn’t mind. I walked two blocks to the Plaza de Armas and got dinner. It didn’t dawn on me until I was walking back to the hotel that I was the only one in shorts and a t-shirt while most people were wearing parkas and toques. LOL
April 12th
This morning I was met at the hotel door at 9am for my drive to Ollantaytambo to catch the train to Machu Picchu Pueblo. I left my suitcase at the hotel as I would be back tomorrow evening and they had no problem with me leaving it in their storage.
The drive usually takes two hours, but we made a few stops for me to take some photos. One stop was a textile shop in Chinchero. They still make textiles how they have made for many years. They took me through a demonstration of how they clean the wool and then make it into yard.
They use a variety of items, such as cactus bugs, earth, flowers, etc. to make the dye. It was quite an interesting process and they were very pleasant. They offered tea and stated that it was free. They showed me the process and had some of us try on some of the clothes they had made.
After giving the tour, they invited all of us to see their finished products. I truly appreciated that there was no pressure to buy anything. One of the ladies working there asked me if I knew what bone the tool was that they use. After guessing, she indicated it was from the last tourist that didn't buy anything. She had a great sense of humor. As I was about to head out, I asked to take a photo of the group that work there. They asked me to join them. I really enjoyed my time there.
We arrived an hour early at the train station in Ollantaytambo. The driver dropped me off and I decided to get something to eat before catching the train. At this restaurant near the station entrance, I sat outside and ordered my meal. A dog was lying down under my seat, but once the food was ready, moved under the table with his head by my foot. The dog didn't look like he wanted anything to eat as he fell asleep.
I boarded the train and sat in my assigned seat in my reserved coach.
I met some lovely folks from Belgium and the US. We chatted for the entire 90 minute journey. The train gave complimentary water and a cookie which was nice.
Once we arrived at Machu Picchu, I was greeted at the airport by a guide holding my name up. He took three of us to our assigned hotel and we sat down to discuss how tomorrow would unfold with our visit to Machu Picchu. The guide explained that I didn’t need to be at the bus stop until around 6pm. I decided I wanted to get there early to enjoy taking photos with minimal tourists on site so thought I may go early.
After the discussion, I decided to take a walk around the town.
I walked up to the hot springs, but chose not to go in. I walked around and found many sculptures that were very interesting.
I then walked down to see where the bus stop was and continued to walk to a waterfall. I ended up walking passed a bunch of men chiseling rock by hand making tiles.
They did not use any electric tools except in the last phase when cutting the stones and smoothing the surface.
Quite interesting to watch them make it.
I continued my walk hoping to get to the waterfalls. I walked to the gate and was not allowed to go out to the river on the footbridge to take a photo. However, the guard did take me out and took a photo of me on the footbridge. He informed me that the waterfalls were quite a distance away. So, I turned around and headed back into town.
I walked up to the top of the hill and found a path to another waterfall. After hiking about 2km up the path, I came across this gentleman who indicated that I would have to go through his property and wanted to charge me 10 Peruvian Pesos … I declined and went back down. I headed back to my hotel and headed to bed by 8pm as I was getting up at 4am to have breakfast at 4:30 and then head straight to the bus stop.