Machu Picchu Hotels
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Speechless in Machu Picchu
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We have journeyed thousands of miles, crisscrossed countless countries, came upon many great cities, learned our steps and earned our scars. Today our sacred journey would pass through Machu Picchu, the Lost City of the Incas.
We arrived at Cusco's main train station around 8am. It was raining and we were cold. The train was full of travellers, not a single Peruvian or Inca was in our carriage. It was my first train journey since China in '99 and surprisingly this tourist train was in very good shape, and clean. With a crisp whistle, we departed. First we climbed, then we passed through Inca corn fields on either side until we reached a river valley and started to descend. The river was extremely close to our tracks, occasionally we can feel the force of the flowing water as the rapids pounded the boulders and cliffs on either side; sometimes the river was moving faster than our train as the locomotive zig-zag its way down the valley. The water was milk chocolate brown as it picturesquely cuts through the lush green valleys.
When we reached Ollantaytambo, a small town by the river banks of the Rio Urubamba, we unloaded some of the passenger who were doing the Inca Trail from Km 82. I bought a corn on the cob from a Inca woman during our brief rest stop. Suddenly I fell in love with this Corn. The ears of the corn were larger than normal, the aroma was mesmerizing, and the taste was fulfilling. No wonder the Inca Empire worshiped its corn, and its rise and fall depended on the harvest of this golden crop. We arrived in Aguas Calientes after 11am, our final stop. We transferred to one of the tour buses for our ascend toward the Ruinas of Machu Picchu. The climb was quick and the view of the valley below was pure vertigo.
As soon as we got off the bus, we bought our tickets and enter the gates of the heavens. At the South Terraces, the perfect view was undescribable. Both me and Juiette were shocked at how incredible it looked. Just like all the postcards and pictures, Machu Picchu looked self-obsessed in its own beauty. I guess we both expected the ruins to be less spectacular when compared to all the postcards we have seen, but the reality was better. It was as if we were dreaming and we were stuck in a 3D IMAX movie. For once, we were speechless!
The sun sneaked out of the clouds occasionally as me and Juliette played hide and seek among the Prison Quarters. There weren't too many tourists today, so we were alone most of the time. The Central Plaza was a nice place to relax a little before we visited the main Temples. In the middle of our self-guided tour, our camera battery died, so we had to exit briefly and bought new batteries. It was probably the only low moment of the day.
An hour before our train scheduled to depart, we descend this sacred mountain. Along the way, an Inca boy dressed in traditional clothing ran down the mountain as our bus zig-zag down the dirt road. He danced and chanted as he followed our bus, at the bottom, everyone on the bus kindly tipped him for his tireless efforts. The train departed on time and arrived in Cusco after sunset.
Back in Cusco, we rested and took a usually refreshing hot shower in our hotel. We didn't regret about not doing the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, perhaps next time....but we were certainly surprised how wonderful the Lost City of the Incas turned out to be.
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