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| World`s no.1 tourist destination |
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| The vistadome train |
So our next destination from Cusco was Machu Picchu - the town was
not easy to reach: first we took a train from Cusco. After approximately three hours we arrived in a town called Aguas Calientes, from
where we either had to walk about two hours, or take a bus on a zig-zag road for about 20 minutes
in order to finally arrive to the largest city of the Incas. But let me start at the beginning.
Although we booked the train ticket when we had planned our travel to Peru (about one month before our trip), we had only the earliest train at 6am left vacant seats (there are about 5 trains per day going to Machu Picchu). The price was not cheap, but the train itself was very comfortable and nice: even breakfast was served, but what I liked the best were the windows on the roof, so we could fully enjoy the hilly landscape on the road. The train descended about 1400 meters from Cusco to Aguas Calientes, so the landscapes changed hugely - while from Cusco the landscape was mainly bare, brown mountains and huge valleys, as we descended the landscape became more and more green, so near to Aguas Calientes the climate was tropical - dense forests on both sides with air plants hanging from the trees.
As we got off the train, a hotel staff was waiting for us in Aguas Calientes. Aguas Calientes, as it's name showns (meaning "hot water"), has hot springs. The whole "city" contains from about two main streets and a small square, but yet it is perfect for tourists aiming for Machu Picchu - lots of souvenir shops, markets, restaurants, even every kind of massage to relax the tired muscles after walking around in the ruins. The thermal springs are only approx. 5 minutes away, but honestly, I would not recommend to those who have been to the Hungarian or Japanese thermal spas; it seems to me, hygiene doesn`t have the highest priority at these local baths - hair is floating on the surface and the water is usually muddy, so the hell knows if it`s really clean...
We planned to spend a night in Aguas Calientes (again, mainly because we couldn`t find a train for the way back), but as the train arrived at 10 o`clock in the morning, we decided to go up to Machu Picchu on that day. The hotel receptionist was very helpful, she gave us a map, explained everything, and suggested that we go up in the morning to see the sunrise. Anyway, we decided to still go in that day (it was already near noon) - and, as it later turned out, we decided well. We took the bus to Machu Picchu, as we didn`t have enough time to walk 2two hours. It was again a good decision, because the road turned out to be mainly for the buses, it is very dusty and a busy road as the buses come and go every few minutes - if we would have walked, we had only swallowed the dust. The view was nice enough from bus as well - as the bus ascended to the 2400 meter high Machu Picchu, the landscape became more and more visible; you could see infinite number of mountains in the backgroun, showing why the Spaniards couldn`t find this place.
Arriving to Machu Picchu, the first time we didn`t know where to start - not only because we were so excited, but also because we we did not get a map (maybe not to throw away and to protect the environment?) Although at the entrance there was a large table with a map, but there were a lot of people at the entrance, so we only noticed it on our way out... Finally, we set off on a road, which turned out to lead farther away from the Inca city. But eventually (after about a half hour walk) we arrived to the gate of the Sun, which gave beautiful view to the entire city.
The Incas worshiped the sun, so its position was the most important in their architecture - the Sun Gate of Machu Picchu was built on the exact place where the sun rises and the first rays of the Sun would break over the city. Machu Picchu is said to had been built for the Incas leaders - priests and other important persons. The city's population sometimes reached 1000 inhabitants. A city on 2400 meters above sea level, surrounded by mountains, rises a problem of food. The terraced lands surrounding the city was the solution for this problem; here, the people grew potatoes, corn and other cereals. And for meat, I think they had the llama, alpaca meat - you can still find alpaca steak in the restaurants. But if are at the food topic, the strangest thing the Peruvians eat, is the guinea pig. Yes, what we have at home as a cute pet, the Peruvians take to the oven and eat it!
But returning to Machu Picchu...The weather was beautiful, the sun shone and it was warm (even hot sometimes) despite the high altitude. After going back from the Sun Gate, we walked around the ruins. Honestly, we didn`t really read the guidebooks beforehand, we just walked around and enjoyed the view as it was - it was more interesting to wonder about the buildings and the almost intact walls by ourselves. (The Spaniards couldn`t find this place, therefore didn`t destroyed it - even to the world it was discovered only in 1913.) Interesting, that to Wainapicchu, the mountain behind Machu Picchu (it is the cone-shaped mountain, that can be seen in the background in every "standard" photo about Machu Picchu), the entrance was limited, only 400 people can climb up in one day. (This ticket was sold, of course, when we went to buy a ticket - we were told that these tickets to Wainapicchu were all sold out in advance months!) To walk around in the ruins took us a good few hours, so we arrived back to Aguas Calientes at around 5 pm. After a long day walking around, we decided to have a hot bath in the thermal bath, but as I mentioned above, it didn`t really work out for me.
We were really hesitating wether to go up again on the next day to see the sunrise - we pretty much have seen all, and the entrance fee was quite pricy (I guess, the whole population of Aguas Calientes makes its living out of the entrance tickets) but the sunrise seemed very interesting. But the weather finally solved our problem - the next day we woke up rain knocking on the roof - it was not only raining hard, but there was thick fog as well, so we couldn`t seen the surrounding mountains, although they were only a few 100 meters away. We were really lucky, because we spent here only two days here, and if we haven`t gone up on the first day, Machu Picchu certainly would have remained a watery memory ...
Although we booked the train ticket when we had planned our travel to Peru (about one month before our trip), we had only the earliest train at 6am left vacant seats (there are about 5 trains per day going to Machu Picchu). The price was not cheap, but the train itself was very comfortable and nice: even breakfast was served, but what I liked the best were the windows on the roof, so we could fully enjoy the hilly landscape on the road. The train descended about 1400 meters from Cusco to Aguas Calientes, so the landscapes changed hugely - while from Cusco the landscape was mainly bare, brown mountains and huge valleys, as we descended the landscape became more and more green, so near to Aguas Calientes the climate was tropical - dense forests on both sides with air plants hanging from the trees.
As we got off the train, a hotel staff was waiting for us in Aguas Calientes. Aguas Calientes, as it's name showns (meaning "hot water"), has hot springs. The whole "city" contains from about two main streets and a small square, but yet it is perfect for tourists aiming for Machu Picchu - lots of souvenir shops, markets, restaurants, even every kind of massage to relax the tired muscles after walking around in the ruins. The thermal springs are only approx. 5 minutes away, but honestly, I would not recommend to those who have been to the Hungarian or Japanese thermal spas; it seems to me, hygiene doesn`t have the highest priority at these local baths - hair is floating on the surface and the water is usually muddy, so the hell knows if it`s really clean...
We planned to spend a night in Aguas Calientes (again, mainly because we couldn`t find a train for the way back), but as the train arrived at 10 o`clock in the morning, we decided to go up to Machu Picchu on that day. The hotel receptionist was very helpful, she gave us a map, explained everything, and suggested that we go up in the morning to see the sunrise. Anyway, we decided to still go in that day (it was already near noon) - and, as it later turned out, we decided well. We took the bus to Machu Picchu, as we didn`t have enough time to walk 2two hours. It was again a good decision, because the road turned out to be mainly for the buses, it is very dusty and a busy road as the buses come and go every few minutes - if we would have walked, we had only swallowed the dust. The view was nice enough from bus as well - as the bus ascended to the 2400 meter high Machu Picchu, the landscape became more and more visible; you could see infinite number of mountains in the backgroun, showing why the Spaniards couldn`t find this place.
Arriving to Machu Picchu, the first time we didn`t know where to start - not only because we were so excited, but also because we we did not get a map (maybe not to throw away and to protect the environment?) Although at the entrance there was a large table with a map, but there were a lot of people at the entrance, so we only noticed it on our way out... Finally, we set off on a road, which turned out to lead farther away from the Inca city. But eventually (after about a half hour walk) we arrived to the gate of the Sun, which gave beautiful view to the entire city.
The Incas worshiped the sun, so its position was the most important in their architecture - the Sun Gate of Machu Picchu was built on the exact place where the sun rises and the first rays of the Sun would break over the city. Machu Picchu is said to had been built for the Incas leaders - priests and other important persons. The city's population sometimes reached 1000 inhabitants. A city on 2400 meters above sea level, surrounded by mountains, rises a problem of food. The terraced lands surrounding the city was the solution for this problem; here, the people grew potatoes, corn and other cereals. And for meat, I think they had the llama, alpaca meat - you can still find alpaca steak in the restaurants. But if are at the food topic, the strangest thing the Peruvians eat, is the guinea pig. Yes, what we have at home as a cute pet, the Peruvians take to the oven and eat it!
But returning to Machu Picchu...The weather was beautiful, the sun shone and it was warm (even hot sometimes) despite the high altitude. After going back from the Sun Gate, we walked around the ruins. Honestly, we didn`t really read the guidebooks beforehand, we just walked around and enjoyed the view as it was - it was more interesting to wonder about the buildings and the almost intact walls by ourselves. (The Spaniards couldn`t find this place, therefore didn`t destroyed it - even to the world it was discovered only in 1913.) Interesting, that to Wainapicchu, the mountain behind Machu Picchu (it is the cone-shaped mountain, that can be seen in the background in every "standard" photo about Machu Picchu), the entrance was limited, only 400 people can climb up in one day. (This ticket was sold, of course, when we went to buy a ticket - we were told that these tickets to Wainapicchu were all sold out in advance months!) To walk around in the ruins took us a good few hours, so we arrived back to Aguas Calientes at around 5 pm. After a long day walking around, we decided to have a hot bath in the thermal bath, but as I mentioned above, it didn`t really work out for me.
We were really hesitating wether to go up again on the next day to see the sunrise - we pretty much have seen all, and the entrance fee was quite pricy (I guess, the whole population of Aguas Calientes makes its living out of the entrance tickets) but the sunrise seemed very interesting. But the weather finally solved our problem - the next day we woke up rain knocking on the roof - it was not only raining hard, but there was thick fog as well, so we couldn`t seen the surrounding mountains, although they were only a few 100 meters away. We were really lucky, because we spent here only two days here, and if we haven`t gone up on the first day, Machu Picchu certainly would have remained a watery memory ...
For more pictures, click on the link here →Machu Picchu
Cuscoból a vonatot már az út tervezésekor (az utazás előtt kb. egy hónappal) lefoglaltuk, de így is már csak az első, reggel 6 órás vontra volt hely (kb. 5 vonat megy egy nap). A vonat bár borsos árban van, nagyon kényelmes és szép volt: felszolgálnak reggelit is, de a legjobb, hogy a tetőn is van ablak, ezért a dimbes-dombos tájat teljes mértékben lehet élvezni útközben. A vonat Cusco 34OO méteres magasságából ereszkedik le Augas Calientesig, ami 2OOO méteren van, így a három órás úton többféle klíma változott - Cusco környékén még kopasz, barna hegyek között vitt az utunk, míg Aguas Calienteshez közeledve egyre zöldebb lett a táj, a célállomásunk közelében már kifejzetten trópusi volt a táj (sűrű erdők mellett haladt a vonat, ahol a fákról indák és légnövények lógtak.)
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| The vistadome train |
Aguas Calientesben egy éjszakát terveztünk tölteni, de mivel a vonat már délelőtt 1O-kor megérkezett, úgy döntöttünk, hogy még aznap felmegyünk Machu Picchut megnézni. A szálloda recepciósa nagyon aranyos volt, adott térképet, mindent elmagyarázott és javasolta, hogy reggel menjünk fel a napfelkeltét megnézni.
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| Mountains after mountains... |
Felérve végre Machu Picchura, először nem is tudtuk, hol kezdjük - ez köszönhető annak is, hogy nem kaptunk térképet (talán, hogy ne dobálják el a turisták?) és nem tudtuk, melyik út merre visz. Bár a bejáratnál van egy hatalmas tábla egy térképpel, de odafelé annyian voltak, és mi is annyira izgatottak voltunk, hogy nem is vettük észre. Végül elindultunk egy úton, ami mint kiderült, egyre távolabb vezetett az inka várostól. De végül (kb. fél órányi séta után) kikötöttünk a Nap Kapujánál, ahonnét gyönyörű kilátás nyílt egész Machu Picchura.
Az inkák a napot imádták, ezért minden építkezésüknél fő szerepet kaptt a Nap pozíciója - Machu Picchuban is a Nap Kapuja éppen arra a helyre esik, ahol a nap felkel, és az első sugarait bontja a városra. Machu Picchu (bár még sok részét homály fedi) állítólag az inkák felső "vezetőinek" a városa volt - itt laktak a főpapok illetve más fontos személyiségek. És természetesen, ezek környezete. Ezért a város népessége néha elérte az 1OOO főt is. 24OO méteren, hegyekkel körülvéve azonban probléma volt ennyi ember élelmiszerezése - erre szolgáltak a várost körülvevő teraszok. Itt termesztették a város lakóinak a burgonyát, kukoricát és más gabonákat. Húsnak pedig, gondolom a láma, alpaca szolgált - még ma is normálisan lehet rendelni az étteremben alpaca húst. Persze, ki kellett próbálunk! Őszintén, az íze inkább vadhúshoz hasonlít, akármennyire is háziállatosították már több ezer éve. De ha már az ételeknél tartunk, a legfurcsább, amit ettek (esznek) a peruiak, a tengerimalac. Igen, amit mi otthon simogatós háziállatként tartunk, azt a peruiak sütőbe teszik és jóízűen megeszik!
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| Even now there are llamas in Machu Picchu |
No, de visszatérve Machu Picchura: gyönyörű időnk volt, a nap hétágra sütött és a magas fekvés ellenére meleg volt. Ebben a gyönyörű időben jártuk végig a várost, a Nap Kapujától visszatérve. Őszintén, nem igazán bújtuk az útikönyveket, hogy mi micsoda volt - bőven elég volt csak látni is a még szinte érintetlenül megmaradt falakat. (A spanyolok ugyanis nem találtak rá erre a helyre, és nem rombolták le - a nagyvilágnak is csak 1913-ban fedezték fel.) Az érdekesség az volt, hogy a Machu Picchu mögött fekvő hegyre (a Wainapicchura - az a kúp alakú hegy, amelyik mindegyik "sztandard" fényképen is látható a város hátterében) csak korlátozott számban lehet felmenni, naponta 4OO ember engednek csak fel. (Ez a jegy persze már elkelt, amikor mi mentünk jegyet venni - állítólag hónapokkal előre már nincs jegy a hegyre!) Az egész romváros körbejárása is jó néhány órába telt, délután 5 körül érkeztünk vissza Aguas Calientesbe. Az egész napos járkálás után úgy döntöttünk, jó lesz egy meleg fürdő, de mint fent említettem, nekem nem igazán jött be.
Igencsak gondolkoztunk, hogy másnap felmenjünk-e reggel ismét a napfelkeltét megnézni. (Hiszen aznap már mindent láttunk a városból, és bizony a belépő igencsak borsos áron volt - szerintem az egész Aguas Calientes a belépőkből él.) De az időjárás megoldotta a problémánkat - másnap eső kopogására ébredtünk, kint ömlött az eső és olyan köd volt, hogy a környező hegyekből semmi sem látszott. Igazán mázlink volt, mert csak két napot töltöttünk itt, és ha az első nap nem megyünk fel, bizony Machu Picchu vizes élményként maradt volna meg...
További képekért kattints az itt látható linkre! →Machu Picchu
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