Amateur Traveler: Monday, May 25 - Travel to Machu Picchu

Today we were taking the train to Machu Picchu. This was certainly going to be one of the big highlights of our trip. After seeing all the photos of Machu Picchu we were finally going to get to see it for ourselves. We had to leave our hotel at 5:45am to get to the train station. Not to get into all the details of dealing with PeruRail, but we had to pick our tickets up at the train station. Special handling was required of our tickets because of various procedural rules and restrictions. We also had to make special arrangements for our luggage at the hotel, as PeruRail did not permit more than a small backpack on the train. The hotel was accomodating.

Our taxi driver, Jesus, met us right on time. He did not speak much english, but was very helpful. He came into the train station to ensure we got on the train. Good thing he came. The station agent did not seem to know anything about our tickets. She pulled up our reservation number on the computer, it said cancelled!! She was pre-occupied with another task and then all of a sudden she pulled out a bunch of tickets from the desk drawer. There were our tickets. We proceeded to board the train with Jesus's direction. Jesus said he would pick us up the next evening when we arrived back in town.

We boarded the train and took our seats. This was a Vistadome train. It had large windows both on the sides and the ceiling. It was cold when we boarded, so we were hoping that the heat would kick in when the train headed out. The train started on its way but it was still cold. The attendants began to hand out small blankets for our laps. I guess that meant there was no heat on the train. We were discovering that heat is not a high priority in Peru. The temperature was probably in the high 30's that morning and the train attendants all wore wool trench coats.

We were a bit concerned about a "strike". We were told by some travelers in Puno that there had been a transportation strike a few days prior. They were calling it a strike, but we would probably call it more of a demonstration against the government. Many of the local residents and farmers were protesting a water rights proposal. So they would block the rails and roads to Machu Picchu. They would do this by blocking paths to Machu Picchu with debri. One of the travelers had told us that they were on a guided motorcycle tour when they reached one of the blockades. They went through anyway but were harrassed and one of the girls was hit in the back as they roded past the blockade. The next strike was to be on Wednesday, we were returning on Tuesday. The exact timing of these strikes is planned out ahead of time, in this case it was to be one day in duration, midnight to midnight, so hopefully we would avoid any problems.

The train takes about 4 hours to reach Aguas Caliente, the main town that services Machu Picchu. There were a lot of Americans on the train and we chatted with a few. Upon arrival we were met by some hotel staff members. We were a little tired so we decided not to go to Machu Picchu on this day. We had all of the following day availble to us. Even thought I was tired I was feeling much better. We were in a subtropical zone at an elevation of about 6,000 feet, the same as Lake Tahoe. They call this area the "Cloud Forest", an area between the desert of the high Andes and the tropical rain forest of the Amazon. Technically we were still in the Andes. But the weather was extremely comfortable, warm and sunny.

Many things were included in the price of our hotel. Three meals and some optional tours. The grounds are beautifully landscaped. We took an orchid tour of the grounds. It lasted about an hour. We then checked into our rooms and had lunch. I was not expecting much from the meals since they were included with the room. But it turned out we had a full menu to choose from and the meals were excellent. We went back to our room for a rest. Then we went to afternoon tea by the pond, followed by cocktails in the lobby, and then finally dinner. Now we were getting comfortable. I booked a half day tour of Machu Picchu for the next day. We needed to meet our guide at 6:30am. One thing I had not anticipated was all the early morning starts we were having on this trip.

It would have been the end to a relaxing day, but we realized that Becky's return train ticket was missing. That meant dealing with PeurRail, a model of efficiency. We went to the train station that evening, it took 3 people about an hour attempting to handle a lost ticket. Finally, they told us to come back in the morning, they opened at 5:30am. We went to bed not that happy with another very early rise the next morning.

Mount Salcantay at 20,574 feet with Mount Pumasillo in the distance at 19,928 feet