From Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes
The trip from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes is simply "spectacular". The left side of the train provides the best views. Mike got lucky with his left window seat and was snapping photos like a Japanese tourist. This trip is great because one goes progressively from the arid highlands of the Andes towards the Amazon where the vegetation is more lush. So the views are out of this world with a combination of very high and vertical snow peak mountains, vegetation, the Urubamba river, stone terraces build during the Inca and pre-Inca times and huge stones. One minor thing was that Peru Rail has too many trains running on a single track, so the train has to stop several times and wait to let trains pass from the opposite direction. About 4 minutes from the Aguas Calientes station and our final stop we were informed that there was a broken train ahead of us and we had to wait for almost one hour to move again. We finally arrived to Aguas Calientes and the tour operator from Viajes Pacifico was waiting for us to coordinate the excursion to Machu Picchu. The hotel people were at the station waiting for us too to carry our luggage all the way to the respective hotels. Now, that's service!!
Aguas Calientes is a happening little town, but a bit disorganized and not very inviting. The train used to stop at the following station at Machu Picchu, so most tourists except those on tight budgets bypassed Aguas Calientes. Today Aguas Calientes is the main stop for Machu Picchu and the town is slowly developing into a popular tourist destination. Despite the fact that it was dark when we arrived, knowing that Machu Picchu was at the top of the steep mountain in front of us made it very inspirational. Mike, Lynn, Delphine and Alberto retreated to the beautiful Inkaterra Hotel (see picture - it has one of the most complete orchid gardens in the world - some orchids are the size of a pin head and you need a magnifying glass to see them) and Mark and Cindy left for the Hatuchay Towers Hotel (the Inkaterra Hotel was full and we could not get any more rooms there).
The trip from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes is simply "spectacular". The left side of the train provides the best views. Mike got lucky with his left window seat and was snapping photos like a Japanese tourist. This trip is great because one goes progressively from the arid highlands of the Andes towards the Amazon where the vegetation is more lush. So the views are out of this world with a combination of very high and vertical snow peak mountains, vegetation, the Urubamba river, stone terraces build during the Inca and pre-Inca times and huge stones. One minor thing was that Peru Rail has too many trains running on a single track, so the train has to stop several times and wait to let trains pass from the opposite direction. About 4 minutes from the Aguas Calientes station and our final stop we were informed that there was a broken train ahead of us and we had to wait for almost one hour to move again. We finally arrived to Aguas Calientes and the tour operator from Viajes Pacifico was waiting for us to coordinate the excursion to Machu Picchu. The hotel people were at the station waiting for us too to carry our luggage all the way to the respective hotels. Now, that's service!!
Aguas Calientes is a happening little town, but a bit disorganized and not very inviting. The train used to stop at the following station at Machu Picchu, so most tourists except those on tight budgets bypassed Aguas Calientes. Today Aguas Calientes is the main stop for Machu Picchu and the town is slowly developing into a popular tourist destination. Despite the fact that it was dark when we arrived, knowing that Machu Picchu was at the top of the steep mountain in front of us made it very inspirational. Mike, Lynn, Delphine and Alberto retreated to the beautiful Inkaterra Hotel (see picture - it has one of the most complete orchid gardens in the world - some orchids are the size of a pin head and you need a magnifying glass to see them) and Mark and Cindy left for the Hatuchay Towers Hotel (the Inkaterra Hotel was full and we could not get any more rooms there).
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