Inti Punku Hotel Aguas Calientes

... wanderung der bahnlinie entlang war ziemlich mühsam, da es keinen normalen weg gab und man meistens auf den geleisen laufen musste. doch als motivation sah man bereits von weitem unser angestrebtes ziel - machu picchu.<br><br>in aguas calientes angekommen erschlug es uns fast ab all diesen touristen. das kleine dorf besteht nur aus herbergen und souvenirläden. die preise sind viel höher als im rest von peru und es laufen wirklich nur gringos herum.

We were well organised today, out the door by 4am into the waiting taxi to the Airport. The early morning light was not yet up on us, late night revelers were still stumbling home and people were already up cleaning the sidewalks. The taxi cost us 30 soles and we were at the airport by 4-30am, plenty of time to check-in and wade our way through the x-rays four our 5-45am flight. The airport had free wifi so a chance to catch up on some emails.<br><br>The flight was comfortable ...

... without much trouble. Unfortunately, Paul wasn't able to get more than a few brief moments of sleep for the rest of the night. <br><br>When we got up for breakfast and the next day's hike at 5:30 in the morning, Paul was feeling decidedly miserable. While the rest of us sat down to breakfast and afterwards packed up our stuff, Paul was at the nearby medical center; the doctor there gave him the ok to continue and hooked him up to an IV drip of electrolytes and other good stuff. Although ...

... of houses and then the place just opens up in front of you. It was a beautiful morning and streaks of sunlight were making the place look even more magical. We worked our way up to the highest view point and stood and admired for what seemed ages. G then heard someone say that they had seen some llamas so she was off in a flash and I was being dragged along. There is a family of 18 of them living up there and we soon realised they weren't to bothered about us and ...

... had signal on my phone and as much as I don't like to admit it, I was missing this little piece of technology and the link it gave me to my loved ones. The trip over to the village would be a good distraction and I wanted to see as much as possible of the local culture.<br><br>On the walk to the village we walked along a steep cliff path dropping down to a raging river below, the village was on the other side of the river and it soon became apparent that we needed to cross ...

... was already at the daily maximum of 400 people, but we wandered over there and were able to get in! I´ve learned signs in South America don´t really mean much =) <br><br>We were on our way to the ´Great Cave´ but were turned back by a park employee. The trail closed at 4pm and it was already 3pm. We worked up quite a sweat hurrying back to the main part of the park. Walked around the ruins a bit and decided to call it a day.<br><br>That ...

... On our way we past several smaller Incaruins which made us so curious of Machu Picchu.<br>On the final day we to got up at 4am to start our last 3 hour walk to Macchu Picchu and to be there as early as possible, to see the first views in the morning as the mist rises off the mountains and the famous side appears. And it was just breathtaking when we arrived we all felt the pain in our legs and each step became more difficult but the view was ...

... rooms and all delve in to the showers (separately agian of course). The town is very tourist ready as everyone who goes to Machu Picchu has to stop here. Al and I have a wander around but quickly find ourselves in a bar with 5 for 1 cocktails....ooops. We deserve it!<br><br>After tea we sit around and drink a couple of rums with jimmy (just to be social) and discuss the exciting last day....oh and I get to dress Alex`s (girls) feet just in case I was missing work (which I`m not!).

... That is until we arrive, remember it´s been nothing but wet wipe bed baths for the last 3 days! You can literally see the looks of disgust as we drag our dusty, humming, sweaty bodies into the complex. Good thing we had a shower before, otherwise goodbye clear water! Anyway absolutely lovely to soak our aching bodies in the hot water, then covering up like we´re allergic to air, we return to the campsite to continue the bugs ...

... replace the ones I left on the mountain and they look exactly the same - see a later blog for a comparison of how the $8 glasses stack up to the $250 alternative that is probably being worn by a Llama looking around a mountain path.<br>Bye for now crazy cats we´re off to Argentina tomorrow - we decided we´d seen enough stones and so we moved our flights forward to get to Buenos Aires sooner. See you then!!!!!