Urubamba, Aguas Calientes, Putukusi

The train from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes follows the Rio Urubamba. It is a beautiful, powerful, river that the Inca believed to be the earthbound counterpart of the Milky Way and thus a direct connection to the heavens.














Aguas Calientes is little more than a shanty town at the base of Machu Picchu. We got off the train and set out to find a hostel. Pretty much all there is in Aguas Calientes are hostels and restaurants. When you disembark from the train you are met by a plethera of "hawkers" wanting you to come to their hostel. Grant did a much better job than I did at ignoring the protests. In this picture you see him on his way to find a hostel and escape the hawkers.
We got a very basic hostel and shared it with Valentin---there was only one towel---there was hot water, but no shower curtain, so that made showering interesting.






We arrived in Aguas Calientes in the early afternoon and there just wasn't much to do in terms of sightseeing. I read in our guidebook that Mount Putukusi, just outside town, offered some commanding views of Machu Picchu. It said it was an "athletic feat"---that didn't phase us. Valentin had been up all night the previous night and just wanted to sleep, so we left him in the room and headed out.
The hike to the top of Putukusi was supposed to take 90 minutes---it took us closer to 2 hours. It was the most strenuous trek I've ever taken. It starts with mainly a path up stone steps like those you see in the picture on the left and winds back and forth and then you are encountered with 6 sets of ladders. The ladder pictured at the left had 112 rungs! The others ranged from 12 to 60. It was pretty scary.
We met some people coming down about 30 minutes in and they were concerned that we wouldn't have enough time to make it u and back down before dark. Then about 20 minutes later, we met another group of 4 with a guide who said a storm was moving in. Grant had been very patient with me waiting while I rested after the ladders and steep climbs, but at that point I told him to head on and make it to the top. We had gone through all the ladders and were just climbing on paths. He headed out and got to see Machu Picchu before the clouds moved in. I made it, but we didn't have much time to sit and soak it all in.

This is what it looks like looking down from the top of the 112 rung ladder!

Here is a view of the Urubamba from our climb up Apo Putukusi. It winds its way through the Andes.