As I write this, the rain is teeming down and 10-man Arsenal are getting thrashed by Spurs. But that is all after a magical 24 hours spent in Machu Picchu. We left Urubamba yesterday (Wednesday, May 11th) morning to drive to Ollantaytambo to board the Belmond Hiram Bingham train to Agua Calientes. Think Orient Express with wood and cut glass panelling, with waiters in waistcoats scuttling up and down the aisles. The journey was 90 minutes through the Urubamba valley with spectacular views up either side to the mountain tops.
On arrival we boarded coaches to our hotel, the Sanctuary Lodge, which is located up next to the fabled city of Machu Picchu. After 30 minutes of innumerable switchbacks with vertiginous views down the valley, we arrived at our hotel. After we settled into our rooms, our guide, Efrain, took us for a 4 hour tour through Machu Picchu.
Machu Picchu is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and listed as one of the seven modern wonders of the world. “Discovered” in 1911 by an American explorer, Hiram Bingham (hence the name of the train), this is the Inca hideaway that the Spaniards never found and was abandoned by the Incas over 500 years ago. Why it was abandoned remains a mystery, yet its construction was so solid and longstanding, that many of the buildings and plazas are in remarkable condition today. Yes, there has been restoration by the Peruvian government which has its detractors, but we found it all very well preserved and well maintained, even if the rangers insistence on us wearing face masks was tiresome. Access to the site is now strictly controlled with no more than 2,500 visitors permitted per day. We had a warm sunny afternoon to wander around the site, before back to our hotel room for an early dinner as we were up before first light.
Today, the alarm went off at 5:10 am as we had to meet Efrain at 5:50 am at the main gates for our hike up Machu Picchu Mountain. This is not the mountain in the background of all the iconic photographs. That mountain is called Huayna Picchu, and looks like an altogether different degree of difficulty for hikers despite what the guidebooks say. Instead, after a beautiful early morning walk around the site again with the sun rising over the eastern ridge, we embarked up the Inca-made stone steps to the top of Machu Picchu Mountain. Ascending from 2,400 metres to 3,100 metres on steep irregular steps, Kirsty and Douglas reached the summit after 2.5 hours. I made it about 3/4 of the way, which is pretty good for a 61-year old asthmatic. We returned to the guardpost (where we had signed in for the hike) just over 4 hours later.
We returned to the hotel to rehydrate, then a cleansing shower, and lunch. At 4:45 pm today we take the coach back down the switch-back mountain to the railway station to board the Belmond Hiram Bingham to Cusco. We are there for two nights, with much more Inca history yet to discover. But this has to have been one of the highlights of the trip so far and will live long in our memories.