From Cusco to Aguas Calientes

November 22, 2013

Cusibackpacker Hostel, Aguas Calientes

The sound of the Willkanuta River ('House of the Sun', further downstream called Urubamba = Sacred River) is a constant background music here in our room in the Cusibackpacker Hostel in Aguas Calientes, a sound almost like rain. From time to time the loud rumble of a train is added to the noise, the whistle echoing in the narrow valley. Trains run frequently during the day and evening here since they are the only way to reach this little town that is also called Machu Picchu Pueblo.

We are indeed very close to one of the highlights of this year's travels, the sacred Inka site of Machu Picchu, which we will visit tomorrow. I say 'highlight', but really, every day is filled with interesting experiences and encounters.

For the last three days we were in Cusco, at 3400m above sea level the highest city we have visited so far. We were a bit worried about altitude sickness, but aside from some initial fatigue and some shortness of breath we thankfully were spared the effects. We didn't over-exert ourselves, just walked the cobbled streets of the city, enjoying the hustle and bustle of everyday life in Peru, rested on a bench in the Plaza de Arma or some other, smaller plaza, and visited the Museo del Inka with its huge collection of Inca and pre-Inca artifacts.

Yesterday we went to the office of Peru Rail at the Plaza de Armas and bought tickets for the train ride from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes. Coco, our friendly and knowledgeable host at the El Tuco hotel, had suggested we should not take the train right from Cusco, but get on in Ollantaytambo. For the first leg of the journey he recommended taking a 'collectivo', a small bus, since it would be much cheaper that way. Peru Rail has a monopoly and makes good use of that. Trains are running frequently, starting at five in the morning to allow for an early start to Machu Picchu, with the last one leaving at 9 pm. Two types of trains are available, the luxury 'Vistadome', with a glass dome for viewing, as the name suggests, and the more modest 'Expedition', and prices also vary according to the time of day. We had decided to spend two nights in Aguas Calidas and start early in the morning from there, so we didn't need to leave before 1 pm and so our tickets cost $94 per person for the round trip.

We re-packed our backpack and left part of our luggage at the El Tuco to travel lighter: we are going to return there on Saturday. Only a few minutes from the hotel, a bit further down Av. Grau, is what I will call the 'collectivo area' for want of a better description. We had passed through several times on our way to and from the centre of Cusco and had been hailed every time by the employees of the small bus companies looking for passengers to fill their vans. The first time we hardly knew what was happening when we were bombarded with 'Urubamba, Urubamba? Ollantaytambo, Ollantaytambo?', one, two, three, five 'spotters' following us for a few steps. The vans leave as soon as they are full, starting at three in the morning. Tourists make up only a small portion of the business; most travellers are locals. 

We had inquired about the price with one of them yesterday afternoon, just to have an idea, and were told that it would cost ten soles (not quite four dollars), unless we wanted to take a 'taxi', a smaller car, in which case it would be fifteen, and Coco confirmed later that this was the going rate.

This morning we headed to the place where we had been quoted the price, intercepted, of course, by several other company spotters before, one of them asking 40 soles for a taxi. They really have no scruples taking advantage of naive foreigners, and of course it is very tempting to do so. Still shaking our heads we were immediately picked up by another guy who asked the customary ten soles for his collectivo. It took maybe fifteen minutes more, plus some effort from the about seven employees, until most of the van's twenty seats were filled and we could be on our way.

For quite a while the road led uphill through the outskirts of Cusco, brown hillsides crowded with houses that looked, for the most part, not as poor as many of the hovels we saw in Guatemala, Colombia and Ecuador. Yesterday's rain had made the roads branching off the highway slick with mud, and it isn't hard to imagine how heavy rainfalls can create mud slides.

Once we had left Cusco behind, still climbing slowly, we entered an amazing fertile high plateau. Fields stretched as far as the eye could see towards the mountains in the background, the deep red-brown soil almost free of rocks. Corn and beans, potatoes and what I assume to be quinoa in different stages of growth were interspersed with freshly ploughed or tilled fields. Teams of oxen were hitched to ploughs, less often a tractor was doing the work, and the fair sized farm houses, mostly built with bricks of the same beautiful dark brown as the fields, looked well kept. Donkeys grazed in the ditches, oxen and cows were tethered by their horns, pigs by their hind legs. Women in traditional dress sat at the edge of the field herding sheep, women and men were working in the fields – it was a pastoral scene. With everything that is growing here it is really hard to imagine that this is almost 4000 m above sea level.

Sunshine on the way back to Cusco

 

For the second part of the 1 3/4 hour trip the road descended towards Ollantaytambo, and by the time we reached this nice looking city, 'only' at about 2,800m above sea level, the vegetation had changed. Now, there were yellow-blooming cacti and agave as well, and the flowers looked more tropical. We had about two hours to walk around a bit before the departure of our train, and decided to check out if it would be worthwhile to visit the Inca ruins at the edge of town. A cobbled street leads uphill from the railway station along the Urubamba river, and after passing through the obligatory accumulation of stands selling crafts and knick-knacks we were at the foot of the ruins. Most certainly it would be interesting to visit them, but there is no single entry ticket available to do so and for us it would be too complicated to visit the other widely scattered sites.

View of the ruins at Ollantaytambo

Half an hour before the departure of the train the crowds started to line up in the light rain: Peruvian school classes and loads of tourists were admitted single file through the gate. At least three times the tickets were checked until we could finally enter our railcar. This was by no means a rickety affair but quite luxurious, with comfortable leather seats and big windows both along the sides and on top.

The interior of the 'Expedition' rail car

The one-and-a-half hour ride led through a magnificent landscape, turning more and more into rainforest with bromeliads populating huge trees, lianas dangling from rugged cliffs along the sides, the raging river brown from the soil it picked up along the way. Steep mountains rose to both sides, veiled in mist and clouds, their peaks hardly visible from where we sat. The train swayed from side to side, descending steadily towards its final destination. After about half an hour crew members came through to serve hot and cold drinks and cup cakes, and after a short break again to sell books and memorabilia. They were met with much more enthusiasm the first time around. One crew member stood in the open rear door of the car for the entire trip, stepping inside only when a tunnel approached. I'm not quite sure what his job was, but he obviously enjoyed being admired by the passengers, sharing stories of his experiences.

We arrived in Aguas Calientes at about three in the afternoon, rain still falling steadily, but not very heavy, and headed uphill to where a helpful policeman had pointed out the Cusibackpacker hostel I had found online. With a trainful of people – just one of several today – Johann had become a bit concerned that we might not find a room easily after all while I trusted the opinion of Coco's employee who had told me that it would not be a problem now, in the off-season. Indeed it wasn't; we found a comfortable room and – Eureka! - even have hot water again, something supposedly not to be taken for granted in Peru.

Arrival in Aguas Calientes

In just a few hours we will be on the final leg of the journey to Machu Picchu.