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.

Ollantaytambo

One of the things I loved about Ollantaytambo was the quiet, small town atmosphere. In this picture you see an Inca courtyard. Ollantaytambo is a wonderfully preserved Inca settlement. The streets and homes have been maintained in the same style as they were built by the Incas. One of the ways that the Inca designed homes was a "cancha", or block of homes. This is an example---the opening from the street opens onto a courtyard, off of which are 4 houses. Our guidebook told of a family who opened their home for people to see. It wasn't easy to find, but I followed the directions and found the house.
Notice in the picture the canal down the middle of the courtyard---stone lined from Inca times. In the background on the mountain you can see ruins of Inca storehouses and the Inca face that I posted in the previous post. Grant and I climbed part way up that mountain---to the storehouses on the previous day. It is where the cactus I posted was. I also found some tiny shells on the side of the mountain. They looked like tiny sea shells.




These skulls were on the mantle inside the house pictured above. I spoke in my limited Spanish to the woman, who told me they were skulls of her Inca ancestors. She was very personable and welcoming. I wish my Spanish had been better so I could have asked my many questions.
















The husband was preparing a fire to cook the cuy, guinea pigs. The cuy seemed so happy living in the house with the family. See the one perched on the stone overlooking the fire? He doesn't know what his future holds....








The woman shows me her bowl of cuy ready to be roasted. "Cuy al horno" is a dish available in the restaurants. I didn't want to try it.

This old dog was laying on these steps every time we walked by. He never lifted his head to check us out, even when I talked to him He reminded me of Champ, our 14 year old dog, who mostly sleeps these days.

Well, good-bye to Ollantaytambo. Grant is shown here waiting to board PeruRail for Aquas Calientes. Grant and I rode the "Backpacker", which was the cheapest and slowest of the three trains. The middle choice, the "Vistadome", was considered 1st class, and the most expensive, the "Hiram Bingham", named after the man who rediscovered Machu Picchu in 1911, was luxury, costing about $450 for a one way ticket.

Our ride to Aquas Calientes was comfortable, lasting a couple of hours. We met a kid from France, Valentin ---you can see him getting his ticket out in the picture. We ended up sharing a hostel that night with him.

More Ollantaytambo...

These are some photos which show the beauty of Ollantaytambo. We spent only one night there, but I could have spent several nights. It was a beautiful location as these photos show.
In this picture two cattle are grazing at the base of the ruins. You can see the cloud forest floating over the Andes in the background.






Several little mountain streams flow through Ollantaytambo towards the Urubamba. In this photo, you can see how close we are to the tropical jungle. The vegetation is becoming more and more dense and very lush.
The Inca were very advanced in their engineering skills and harnassed the power of these streams.












These are ruins of the baths at the base of Ollantaytambo. Water from the stream above was diverted into these pools. Behind you can see the bathhouses.










This picture shows a part of the mountain which thrusts out and to me looks like the profile of an Inca. Grant was not totally in agreement.
















This is the carving of an Inca in the mountainside. He overlooks the valley and the temple.

Trip to Ollantaytambo

On Sunday morning, we left Cusco on a collectivo, a taxi for a group of people. We were going to take a bus, but this proved to be a good choice. In our collectivo were Juan Manuel, his mother Terecia, a lady from Japan, and some guy who lay in the back. He got off in Chinchero. Juan Manuel and his mom were going to Ollantaytambo to Juan Manuel's soccer game. It would have been fun to go see him play, but since we were only going to be in Ollantaytambo for the day, we had lots we wanted to see. Terecia was very nice and told us lots about the things we saw on our journey. The only problem was that she spoke only Spanish and I understood about 1/4 of what she said. I enjoyed the trip and it was fun meeting Juan Manuel.

This is a view of the Sacred Valley. It was beautiful and I could have taken tons of pictures, but our little taxi was going fast. We did stop once and I got to take this picture. It's pretty obvious why the Incas made this their home.







This lady carrying a bundle of sticks made for an interesting picture. Everywhere you went you could see people who still lived much the same way they did hundreds of years ago.

















Sunday afternoon on the plaza---
life is good!










Our hostel in Ollantaytambo---"Ollantay" to the locals--- was quite scenic--- $15 a night and we had hot water in the sink and the best hot shower of the whole trip! The Andes mountains loom in the background. In the courtyard you can barely make out a stand with a game somewhat like washers. Some of the residents were playing as we headed out for a hike up the mountain overlooking the town.