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Cusco
This put us a bit late in the day and we had to press to get to Cuzco before dark and again we had to drive directly into the setting sun while trying not to get run over by hundreds of busses, mini vans, and taxis driving 3 wide on a two lane road and jockeying for position.
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3712/...572aa65f_c.jpg cusco 11 https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3687/...87f71aa5_c.jpg cusco 13 Luckily we had the direction to the Hostal Estrellas where many over Landers stay. Dan drove the bikes down the steep ramp they put on the stairs and into the courtyard. Americo from Brazil gave us the lowdown on the place and then offered to take us to a great wood oven pizza place. Despite our poor Spanish and His no English, we managed to have a great time and communicate. His friends Flavio and Edison arrived back from Machu Picchu in the morning and they were headed back to Brazil. https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2935/...e1b1949f_c.jpg cusco 18 https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5541/...39fe2154_c.jpg cusco 22 https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2938/...fdcc0998_c.jpg cusco 23 |
Cusco
We set out first thing to the main square and the Peru rail station. Here you can buy your train tickets to pueblo Machu Picchu (Aguas Calientes) AND tickets to the site itself. We managed to get the train booked for 2 days time and tickets for the ruins and mountain access for the next day. For the return we could only get the train as far as Ollantaytambo, which means a 2 hours bus ride back to the city. We are leaving the bikes here at the hostal for safekeeping and for free.
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3670/...137e2ea3_c.jpg cusco 28 The other biker here was Marius who is a German who has been travelling for several years, but only recently bought his first bike in BA and is headed north. We had heard our buddy Stephen the Tiger was here in the city and we did finally connect up and he moved into the hostal too. The gang then set out to tour the city and get some lunch at the local market. Then we did a bit of walking around the city to take in the sights. https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3819/...8e5b6c49_c.jpg cusco 31 https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3806/...3e0d5e48_c.jpg cusco 32 https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5197/...25838e02_c.jpg cusco 33 https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5311/...8ce10cc0_c.jpg cusco 38 https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3787/...e795c24c_c.jpg cusco 37 https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3799/...2dd135ac_c.jpg cusco 35 https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3706/...fd8a9d1c_c.jpg Cusco 39 |
Cusco
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Cusco
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Cusco
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Tour around Cusco
We decided to take a tour around the area on the F 800. We rode up to the Jesus Blanco at the top of the hill and this also gave us a good view of the Saqsaywaman or Sacsayhuaman archeological sight and well as several smaller sights just off the 3S.
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Saqsaywaman
There are smaller sights scattered along the side of the 3S.
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3805/...a083ae90_c.jpg cusco 7 https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5198/...4543cbb2_c.jpg cusco 8 https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3785/...b4c2467c_c.jpg cusco 11 Saqsaywaman was a fortress that because of its position on the steep slope it only needed defensive walls on one side. This wall is amazing with huge stones that are more than 300 tonnes and are fitted without mortar. https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3675/...f984b9f5_c.jpg cusco 33 https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5156/...d41884ee_c.jpg cusco 24 https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2933/...391abf84_c.jpg cusco 28 https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3813/...620f60cd_c.jpg cusco 21 https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5557/...fbd73084_c.jpg cusco 26 https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2927/...14059013_c.jpg cusco 31 https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3833/...93976828_c.jpg cusco 30 |
Train
Today we were up at 500 am to catch a taxi the 25 min to the train station at Poroy. The train we had was a vista dome and so are mostly widows and a glass roof.
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Train
It is an almost 4 hour trip to go 100 km on this narrow (3 ft wide) gauge rail. The scenery was stunning.
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Train
The Inca trail!
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5486/...574256b4_c.jpg train to Aguas Calientes 20 In one section they do a zigzag maneuver down the mountain to drop 40 m in a very short distance. https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3737/...671ea0f9_c.jpg train to Aguas Calientes 13 We sat with a very nice couple Mike and Lynn from southern Ontario. https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2900/...4dca12fe_c.jpg train to Aguas Calientes 30 |
Machu Picchu
Getting up at 430 we were in line for the bus at 5 am and not even on the first 3 busses!
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3673/...9035fc73_o.png Screen Shot 2014-05-20 at 6.46.34 PM https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5547/...0a2707e0_o.pngScreen Shot 2014-05-20 at 6.47.02 PM https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3715/...2db351b4_c.jpg DSC04447 https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3822/...bf1e71ff_c.jpg DSC04523 We still arrived at the gate before it opened and saw all the poor youth who had walked the 2 hours up from the town. https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5592/...048b1105_c.jpgDSC04449 |
The money shot
Arriving at the first viewpoint we were amazed. We got our few photo ops done before anyone was into the site.
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Machu Picchu
Then we wandered about for the rest of the morning. Highlights included the Inca houses, the observatory, and the Inca Bridge.
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Machu Picchu
After making it back to town we all decided to head to the hot springs. Where else can you sit in the hot pools and gat bar service!
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3748/...8693676f_c.jpg DSC04641 https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5076/...52ee9c00_c.jpg DC04642 Getting up late we had no rush to make out 1055 train the 60 km by train to Ollantaytambo. https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2932/...63963c92_o.pngScreen Shot 2014-05-20 at 6.47.40 PM https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2895/...4212a31c_c.jpg cusco again 3 From there we had to take a collectivo the 67 km to Cusco since the day time trains do not go all the way back there. This takes about 90 minutes and is only 4$ each. You get a glimpse of the ruins there and this crazy rock climber’s hotel hanging on the cliff. https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2896/...8fa75c90_c.jpg cusco again 4 https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3744/...0f5df8f1_c.jpg cusco again 6 |
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