Thursday 1 October:

Itinerary: Sacred Valley to Aguas Calientes. Early departure by train to the fabled Machu Picchu with an option to get off the train early for an all-day 8km walk to Machu Picchu, starting from the valley floor and ascending to the beautiful site of Wiñay Wayna. Much of the walk is through cloud forest with an abundance of birds and orchids, culminating in a memorable first sight of the city of Machu Picchu from the Gate of the Sun, high above it. Those who choose not to do so will take a bus from Aguas Calientes up to Machu Picchu and meet the walkers at the Gate of the Sun. Accommodation in luxury hotel on the edge of Aguas Calientes, set in rainforest gardens alive with hummingbirds and orchids.
1 October
So this is what is meant by early departure! Up at 4:45 to have brekky and be packed up to take the bus at 5:45 to catch the train at Ollantytambo. Somehow it didn't seem that much of an issue - possibly this is due to the excitement about what is to follow?

There was no stopping for birds en route today: our driver was firmly pedal to the metal to make sure we caught the train. Some annoyance occurred when a few of the group had to get their bags weighed before getting on the train. This appeared to be a potential revenue raising effort by Orient Express who are now the concession holders for this line. (I will return later to the outcomes of privatisation of tourism services in Peru - do not expect a favourable comment!)

The train left exactly on time at 7:06. Who was it who made the Italian trains run on time?

The ride was for about an hour up a very spectacular gorge, with white water below the tracks for most of the time. We got off at the final stop to start our walk along a section of the Inca Trail, just doing a 1 day extract rather than the full 4 day epic. (Apart from the added length, the epic goes over a pass at 4200m which would add a major challenge.)

I think there were 9 of us, plus Juan and Ribellino ( a specialist in birds and the wildlife of Manu - later), doing the walk. The image to the left shows us at the Sungate , with the site of Macchu Pichu behind us. The others went with a further guide - Santiago - directly to Aguas Calientes and thence to Macchu Pichu. We had a small bit of difficulty getting going. This was not due to the checks by the managers of the track - the number of walkers is strictly controlled - since Ian and Juan had sorted that out well beforehand. Rather it was because there were birds in abundance at the start of the track. The first section of the walk climbed about 600m in some 4km (ie at an average slope of 1 in 7). It took about 3 hours, with many birds being seen, to get to the junction with the 4 day track from where, after a bano break, we went to an Inca site at Wiñay Wayna for lunch. The image to the left is looking down into the canyon including the hydro plant which provides power for at least Cusco Province.

Here Juan pointed out the difference between some of the terraces being concave (ie built into gullies) while others were convex (erected across spurs). Further experimentation into microclimate manipulation by the Incas. We were actually above the canopy for a fair bit of the forest around here so good looks at many birds. There lots of them, with a articular spectacle being the Collared Inca Hummingbird: the collar sparkled a brilliant gold when th light hit them at the right angle: no wonder some folk call them winged jewels!

Then we had the final 6km of undulating walking. We were slowed up somewhat by zillions of orchids of which 450 species have been identified in Macchu Pichu. After what we saw, I am inclined to say there are a bunch more yet to be described. Lots more birds. Also on the plant side were many begonias, and many bromeliads (which weren't so photogenic so haven't been included). As well as the example images included, here I have posted a page full in a separate post.

After about 5 km of undulations (why are undulations always upwards?) we got to a flight of very steep steps: the final defensive effort. At the top of these we:

1. Regained our breath; and
2. Nailed a few more birds.

As we were a tad late we didn't spend much time in the actual site of Macchu Pichu but caught the last bus down the rather exciting road (see image below). I was rather pleased to see a sticker referring to something about "high quality brakes" on the side of the bus.  A very nice effort on this trip was the bus driver spotting a family taking the walking track down: he stopped to give a lift to la nina and her mum.  When asked if the father could come as well this was agreed and there was no effort by the others in group to also jump on.


The hotel Inkaterra was excellent. This is more than could be said about the rest of the town, which was in Fiesta mode. This involved disgustingly loud, and very poor quality music being played until 5 am. It appears it was a celebration of the centenary (I think) of the founding of the town and thus unlikely to recur - especially if the Alcade receives the many complaints that should have been lodged!

As usual, the Itinerary was met in spades, doubled and redoubled!