Of all the places we have visited, I wouldn't have bet on this one as the one I would forget when blogging. I didn't forget for long but long enough to get Lima and MP out of order.
So, firstly, this belongs with the saga of the travel agency and the rep at the hostel. We had booked a tour but, to cut a long story short, it was actually a 'package'. there was no group of fellow travellers that we would get to know. there were no couriers or guides to explain things as we went along. basically, it was a trip where you paid the agency to book everything for you. Now, that's okay but nobody thought to tell us this. Even when we starting asking questions about the group, it never occured to anyone from the agency to let us in on the arrangements! So, we got picked in the morning and were led down the hill (that was okay as it was difficult to get a mini-bus up that hill.) where the rep hailed a taxi. Hmmm!- well okay this may be a quick way to round everyone up to take them to the central point for the bus. We drove to an unknown part of town where we got out of the taxi and the rep pointed at a mini-bus and told us not to pay any money.
Only after a few minutes of getting funny looks from other people did we suss out that this was an ordinary service bus. Hence, the driver was going nowhere until he got a full bus. That was all very well but this bus was only taking us to Ollantaytambo where we had to catch a train. Time dragged on as more and more people out for shopping were harangued and assured they really wanted to go to somewhere else. However, people seemed to be adamant that they were only walking past the bus to get to the shops beyond. Eventually, obviously heart broken, the driver left with one empty seat. however, he knew that Cusco was a big city and if he looked for long enough he find someone to fill that empty seat. So we trawled around until he found someone who possibly hadn't previously known that they had wanted to go in the direction of Ollantaytambo until the drivers mate had convinced them.
We had been told that the journey was about 2 hours and 20 minutes and we had less time than that to get to the train. However, bus schedules (and traffic laws) were clearly an irrelevance to this stout-hearted man as he put his foot down and aimed the bus in the right general direction.
It's amazing how fast ancient and withered old ladies can run when in danger of being mown down on the Peruvian highway.
After about an hour of this we were probably on time but it was having an effect. A rather putrid smell began to gather in the bus. The whole experience was obviously too much for one passenger. I began to give disapproving looks at the boy sat next to me. Eventually, a woman behind us leaned over and spoke softly to the conductor. An emergency stop was made and the woman gingerly stepped out and carefully made her way to a shop across the road.
She was gone for a while!!
This stop was a bit of a setback for our nerves as the clock ticked on. Also by now we were reaching the places the other passengers wanted to go to. This meant.... EMPTY SEATS! So on we went and poor old men watching the world go by were suddenly awakened from their reveries by men leaning out of a mini-bus shouting, " OLLY OLLY OLLY TIIIIIE TAMBOOOOOO!It must have been very distressing!
After realising that on this occasion demand was insufficient to fill the bus, the world land speed record was attempted. So we arrived with 5 minutes to spare - ran down to the station, were welcomed by about 5 people on to the train and waited....
And waited........ the train, of course, was late leaving.
Unknown (naturally) to ourselves we were booked on the Inca express -
a sort of semi-chartered train with people in smart uniforms feeding
you and making you comfortable. The carriage was also decorated with
Inca motifs.
The journey was rather stunning with
towering peaks and thundering waterfalls, not to mention the rushing
river that ran alongside the tracks nearly all the way. It should be
pointed out that the train is the only 'official' route to Agua
Calientes (the base town for Machu Picchu)- it cannot be done by road.
views from the train
We eventually arrived in Agua Calientes and found our way to the
hotel. You know that scene in old films - perhaps it's the reception of a
hotel that 'rents rooms by the hour' or of a hotel in an unknown city
and the guest is a spy and there are shadows everywhere and the
receptionist is sitting in his vest with a cigarette that's barely a
stub dangling from the corner of his mouth- well that's what this hotel
reminded us of.
Undaunted we stashed our bags (the room
wasn't too bad except it had a large window facing the corridor and the
curtains were not big enough to cover the window) and went out to
investigate. We were quite hungry and chose one of the many restaurants
along the street. Forewarned by the guide books, we were ready for the
inflated prices and accepted the situation. However, we weren't ready
for the 18 soles (£4.50) 'local tax'. no such local tax existed and the
waitress admitted as such.
After lunch we wandered down
to the main square, which is about 10metres sqare. Aguas Calientes is
not a town with a history. It is a service point for Machu Picchu and
for a HEP station about a mile back down the track, so it has few
attractions. Nearly all the people you see will probably not be around
the next day. Thus it was sort of appropriate that the 'Christmas' tree
was not actually made of wood and branches of pine needles but in fact,
recycled green bottles.
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| up to Inca baths! |
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| recycled tree |
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| tree - detail |
We were informed at reception that our guide would arrive at about 7.00 to brief us about the next day's arrangements. In the meantime we were tired and fancied a 2 hour kip. We went up to the room and covered the gaps at either side of the curtain with our coats. At 7.00 sharp we went downstairs in to the lobby a dark environment with a sofa very close behind the hotel computer- just to add atmosphere someone with stomach trouble had recently used the conveniences.
We waited and waited and at 8.15 our guide arrived. When booking this trip we had been promised an English speaking guide. After a minute of communication in Spanish he had recognised our shortcomings in the language and suddenly demanded, "why can't you speak Spanish. all the rest of the group do. On the one hand this may seem a fair question - after all we were in a Spanish speaking country. However, we were able to communicate in basic spanish and were able to understand more when listening. The point for us was that MP was one of our highlights and we wanted to grasp more detail. AND an English speaking guide is what was promised.. He endeared himself to us even more by saying that he wasn't sure it was worth doing it in 2 languag3es. However he spoke to us for a further 5 minutes, telling us stuff that was bleedin' obvious and then went off to speak to his spanish speakers. So 1and a quarter hours wait for nothing!
We went out for a meal and informed the waiter that we weren't paying local tax and later gave him the usual tip. Much later we went for coffee and chocolate cake. These came to 18 soles but the bill....you guesssed it 36 i.e. 18 soles 'local tax' - we negotiated that with the waitress and then she told us that the owners didn't pay them but told them they had to rely on tips - hence the 'local tax'. She then went on to tell us that the waiting staff in the town were going on strike in January and demonstrating outside the town hall in order to change things.
So off to bed as breakfast was from 5 to 7 and we had to get the bus at 6.50.
In the morning I chose to wear a Crewe Alex T-shirt so what should happen at breakfast in Aguas Calientes, Peru but we sat at the same table as another Crewe Alex fan, from Nantwich! So a bit of chat (not nuch as we'd got up at the last possible moment) and then off for the bus. The bus journey itself was brilliant one continuous climb up a succession of hairpin bends. To Machu Picchu....
