It is 5 degrees Celsius at 06:00 this morning. I realized we cannot place our keys in the lockbox until we have exited the building being the front door to the building is locked from the inside. You either need your key or have the concierge buzz you out. Lana had organized an Uber for 06:30 to pick us up and drive us to the Poroy train station to catch our Peru Rail train. We were packed, washed and dried the remaining dishes, ensured we had put all leftover foods in the garbage and tidied up prior to leaving. It happened that the concierge was there so we were safe to give him our keys in the lockbox.
Online pic of Aguas Calientes
Our Uber driver is a young guy named Alexander Yupanqui and spoke some English. He was slightly early which was appreciated. Not near as much traffic on the road at 06:30! We arrive early at the train station by 06:55 so have about 40 minutes to wait. We seat ourselves in comfortable chairs in the waiting room and it just happens there were three older British tourists heading to Machu Picchu. Good chat and they were travelling to see Machu Picchu today and return to Cusco tonight. Lana splurges on a cuppa tea and has a religious experience drinking it.
There are three different railroads that take you to Aguas Calientes. Why are we heading to this small town? This town is the starting point for travellers who are going to Machu Picchu. The only other option is to hike the Inca Trail as it takes you direct to the entry point. Otherwise, you buy a train ticket that matches with your Machu Picchu entry ticket date.
This is Poroy train station. Pretty small.
The next part of today's blog is my railroad travel diary and is meant to capture the experience this morning of the three and 1/2 hour ride from Poroy to Aguas Calientes. You can fast forward:
- 92 kms from Poroy to Aguas Calientes
- we are in coach
- when the train pulls in each of the cars are not numbered, but by the time we are having our tickets checked with our passports they have placed Letter Cards on each car
- when we boarded it was almost impossible to find a space in the storage area for our two pieces of luggage, but Lana has high spatial ability (at least I have AN ability LOL) and we just managed to get them securely in place!
- we are in seats 11 and 12 but they face backwards and Lana needs to look where she is going otherwise she will get car sick so she moves to forward seats about a row away and all good
- only one more station to stop before Aguas Calientes
- no wifi on train so I use my eSIM internet access
- the entire trip will be in the Sacred Valley of the Incas
- it is sunny and warming up as time passes by
- trees beside the rails and hills on either side
- the farmer's soil is dark brown and I am thinking that means it is fertile?
- red clay roof tiles and most homes are brick
- all sorts of crops in these fields and even some cattle grazing
- lots of greenhouses growing the more fragile vegetables and herbs that either can't take the strong sun/heat or the torrential rain
- the female train attendants are smartly dressed much like the airlines
- during the entire trip we are offered one cup of water
- usual stray dogs roaming around
- pass through various small towns
- around 08:10 enter into a very wide, expansive flat terrain valley with many farms and other agricultural enterprises
- cows, horses, sheep you name it
- hills on both sides of this huge valley
- at 08:30 we are in a narrow canyon and in the canyon we come to a full stop and then for about five minutes we roll backward? Voice comes on to advise of their "ingenious technique" for descending 40 metres over 5 kms
- Andean flute music plays the entire trip in the background
- we stop at Ollantaytambo which is the same town as we visited Sunday and much of this part of the rail trip is similar to the road we took
- about 09:25 we leave the station and our next stop will be Aguas Calientes
- more farms in this area as the Sacred Valley extends to Aguas Calientes
- definitely the grade is going downhill which makes sense as Machu Picchu is actually lower elevation than Cusco
- so much corn being farmed here but Lana saw green onions and other salad type greens that are native here
- we can now see snow capped mountains in the distance
- gentle and then raging river runs parallel with the train tracks
- steep tall mountains with no trees and pretty dry
- cacti on the side of the tracks
- we go through a number of tunnels
- at one point, the train stops and goes backwards!! The conductor comes over the PA and announces that we are in a "zig-zag" zone that helps the train climb steep hills more efficiently?!!???
- definitely in a very steep narrow canyon at times
- as we near Aguas Calientes much more lush vegetation
- the river is much wider and deeper as well
- huge concrete dam with a major power station
- we finish the rest of the Kit Kat that somehow survived being partially melted in the jungle
- arrival at 10:51 so three hours and 15 minutes travel time
Americo from our Airbnb was holding a sign "Randy Schisler" upon our arrival so he will lead us to our lodgings for the next 2 days. No shuttle service as there are no cars here. It is a short walk to Hotel 1911 so it is not the first time an Airbnb posting was actually a hotel. He is very friendly and decent english skills. The Urubamba river runs through the centre of town.
We are in Aguas Calientes so pretty exciting as tomorrow morning we will be at Machu Picchu! Some facts about this small town that basically services the huge tourist economy attending Machu Picchu.
- population around 5000 persons
- 2040 metres elevation in town
- has some winemaking
- 1901 origin
- 9 kms from historic Machu Picchu
- famous for thermal baths
There is no real check-in here as it is booked through Airbnb. We are in Room 203 on the second floor and we think the other three units on this floor and then a third floor. There is an elevator in place, but not working. We get a WhatsApp message from Christophe that Mariluz and Americo will look after us. He is in Cusco. We need to pay $70USD to the hotel as they pay this to our guide Victor Hugo. We or I will meet with Victor later this afternoon to figure out all the logistics for our big day tomorrow at Machu Picchu.
Although this is a small place you need some reference to navigate and not get too lost. We were given a handy map by the Hotel although difficult to navigate using it.
Incredible scenery of tall steep mountains surrounding this small town on the riverside.
These are the prices for a two-way bus ticket to Machu Picchu and a one-way bus ticket. We had no idea you needed to provide your passport to purchase a bus ticket so that was another trip back to our hotel. We decided to pay $US cash for both two-way bus tickets. Much cheaper and not using our Sols. It took our second visit to purchase our bus tickets.
A highlight today for Lana was getting a Machu Picchu stamp for our passports! First one for both of us in our new passports--yayyyy!!
OK, on the street below it is a constant procession of buses leaving and buses arriving.
We make about three trips this afternoon. Eventually, we decide to stop for a later lunch. Lana mentions something about waffles. Hmmm, I haven't had that comfort food in a while. We use some ratings guides, but stumble upon La Boulangerie de Paris near one of the three bridges. It advertises for waffles and crepes. The menus are in English and Spanish. We are seated on the perimeter overlooking the Mercado across the river and right beside one of the pedestrian bridges. The service was excellent. Total cost = 75 Sol.
One of the fascinating unique aspects to this busy town is the motorized carts. This town is very steep and very narrow corridors. To get goods around they rely on these motorized carts. Check out the Video from Lana of downhill procession.
This Video is uphill procession.
Lana is tired and we return to our room. I load more pics into today's blog and make contact via WhatsApp with our guide. He must be up the mountain today. Victor shows up at the hotel and I head downstairs to meet up. Lana still groggy and trying to get in a nap. Still sunny in town and he wants to show me where we need to be tomorrow for the bus. I am thinking the bus queues are organized chaos as at first he makes no sense when we are at the spot where the queues can form. At first he is not making any sense. He has told me we should be at the queue by 08:00 and the bus trip up to Machu Picchu is 25 minutes. Our start time at Machu Picchu is 10:00. He then realizes he isn't making sense with which queue we need to be at. The queues are organized by your entry time at Machu Picchu.
Victor then realizes we need to queue in the 10:00 line. The earlier we arrive for the queue the sooner we will be loaded for that time slot and probably make it to Machu Picchu in time for our entry. He will be up the mountain already waiting for us. Once we are on the bus I need to WhatsApp him to confirm the number of our bus. He will be waiting near the stairs where you enter Machu Picchu. There are no toilets inside of the entry point, but toilets before you enter. Plus, he knows we purchased tickets for Circuit 2.
When I return to the room Lana still pretty groggy so that gives me an opportunity to update today's blog and enjoy the sun and breeze filtering in through the open window behind me. We are right above the street below so it can get pretty noisy although not a lot of tourist attractions here on the street. I think it is mostly local kids having fun.
Time to head out for dinner. Lana finds a well rated spot "Full House Peruvian Food & Craft Beer". On the way to our restaurant she comes across another stall that sells t-shirts with the title "Inca Kola". In Peru, they drink Inca Cola with Chinese food--not chinese tea! She's been reading a book called "Have You Eaten Yet" about the chinese diaspora and impact of chinese food and restaurants all over the world. It is a cool looking t-shirt and has meaning for Lana because of the chinese connection. We've been drinking 1-2 bottles of this soda which we've talked about in previous blogs--it tastes exactly like cream soda with a fluorescent yellow color. Lana says she doesn't want to know what makes it that color. We had tried to get the t-shirt earlier today in a combo deal at another stall, but the seller wouldn't lower her price to what I thought was more reasonable. At this stall the seller quoted 35 Sol, but quickly reduced to 30 Sol. We bargained down to 20 Sol, based on starting to move forward and leaving as that seems to work most often. Lana got her shirt!
On the confusing way to this restaurant we discovered other train tracks and a huge crowd that had just disembarked the train as it was mass chaos. We found our place and went inside. We ended up beside the window after our second move. The server was attentive and our food came reasonably quickly. Large menu in Spanish and English. Let's face it, this town is swarming with fellow tourists otherwise it would not exist. Very subdued lighting although we had a small candle in the middle of our table. Overall, our meal was pretty good and Lana actually finished most of her dish. Total for the bill was 147 Sol and of course the server wanted to know if we wanted to leave a tip? Nope.... they do not tip in Peru.
We ordered fancy non-alcoholic drinks. On the left is Lana's "Trilogy" drink (lime, ginger ale, soda) and Randy's "Tia Santa". Both were enjoyed and actually came with much appreciated cubes of ice.
Our stats for today using my Garmin watch are 8550 steps and 29 floors. We are both pretty excited about tomorrow and being up at Machu Picchu. We are aiming at being in our queue for 07:45 which will help us be one of the first of the 10:00 group up top. We need to shower, get dressed and grab our free breakfast down below. Then a short five minute walk to the queue line. We are hoping this smallish room is not noisy and we can get a decent sleep. Watching European Champions League match on the tv. 😀
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