In the Footsteps of the Incas: From Mountains to Jungle to Ancient Ruins - Page 12 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Just found your TR and read it all of the way. You made the trip sound so inviting (what with the potty breaks and the insects.) I was glad to hear that you did not allow anything to get in your way. As you say since we are reading this TR, you obviously did not die on the trip even though it would seem that you felt like you were close to that end. Looking forward to reading more.
More beautiful scenery! I could hear the "dun, dun, dun" music when you said you thought your intestinal problems were over. Sorry they came back! Glad to hear you could still keep up . . . I mean lead the group!
Wonderful, wonderful updates Douglas - the hot springs looked so beautiful.
The hot springs were beautiful. I was truly surprised by this oasis in the mountains. I thought it was just going to be literally a big hole in the ground filled with hot water.
Colexi's Mom -
Quote:
The springs sound divine!
"Divine" is an excellent and appropriate adjective. My g-i issues never went away, they just had moments of easing up I guess. I just didn't want to harp constantly about them in the report even though it was something that was ever present in my mind throughout the trip.
pamcarey - Yeah, I think Samantha Brown did take the Hiram Bingham and then stayed at the Sanctuary Lodge at Machu Picchu. More about the Lodge later in my report.
Llaffin Place - I think the only way you can get to Santa Teresa is by hiring a vehicle. It seems that the Peruvians all drive there. There were very few gringos present. I think this is one of those hidden treasures.
GrammyGrumpy - Thanks for the compliment on the pictures. Speaking of pictures, there's a certain pic that you have that I would love to be emailed to me.
Princess Sharon -
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I have to say your time at the springs sounds heavenly
In the evening the springs were heavenly. I wold have loved to have taken pictures but the place was not very well illuminated. I knew my camera would have needed a bit more light to take decent pictures.
rhinohunter -
Quote:
You made the trip sound so inviting (what with the potty breaks and the insects.)
Is that some kind of backhanded compliment? You make me laugh.
Goofysdtr - Oh I love how you could hear music! Just wait til you reach the teaser at the end of my next installment.
We arrive in Aguas Calientes and I am pleasantly surprised. I thought it would be a shanty town. It is not. While it is a town that’s existence totally revolves around tourists and travelers who venture off to Machu Picchu, it is actually a lot more cute than I expected. The town lies in a deep valley below the ancient Inca ruins of Machu Picchu. Basically everything that exists in Aguas Calientes revolves around the tourist. So all there is are souvenir shops, restaurants, and hotels. I would really recommend staying here overnight so that you can avoid all of the tourists that are day trippers and come in from Cusco via the train. The town has a number of construction projects going on. From what I gather, this is a constant thing since with each passing year Machu Picchu becomes a more popular destination than before.
As we travel to the town we have to go up again. What is it with Peru and the inclines, anyway? Our motley crew is definitely tired and the idea of eating and resting is all we are focused on. Marco, Craig, Gemma, Jade, and I stop at the restaurant where we will be eating dinner later that night to wait for the rest of the group to catch up. Tonight we sleep in a hotel! Most of us will all be in the same hotel. For some reason Mike and Dipti will be at another hotel down the street from the restaurant. While we wait for others to arrive, the restaurant reservation to be confirmed, and Mike and Dipti’s hotel reservation to be re-confirmed Seth and Toya go off to shop for t-shirts. I was asked to watch Marco’s stuff as he went to check on our arrangements, otherwise I would have gone with them. I totally needed a new, clean, t-shirt to wear for my day in Machu Picchu tomorrow. Plus, a little souvenir couldn’t hurt either. Seth and Toya return in time for us to continue to go up inclines to reach our hotel at Aguas Calientes. When we get to our hotel, we all have to fill out some kind of immigration form and hand over our passports. The reception person has a basketful of keys and we just pick keys. Craig and I get a room on the ground floor right off the breakfast room.
Up the inclines of Aguas Calientes. It felt like we were entering the back door.
Craig is followed by James in this last bit up to get to our hotel
We all gather at the restaurant before making the climb to the hotel. Dipti and Marco share a laugh.
We are staying at Plaza Andina Machu Picchu Hotel. What a cute little hotel room! Of course I am happy because I have a normal BATHROOM! After making good use of said room I unpack my camera battery recharger and start charging that battery because I have an ELECTRICAL OUTLET!! I’m glad I thought to bring my South American plug adapter along for the ride. We don’t have a heck of a lot of time until dinner. We both wanted to go shopping. Craig is rather annoyed because our passports are all in a big stack at the reception desk without an attendant there. The receptionist is outside chatting. He is concerned because someone could just swipe all of our passports. We pick up our passports and venture out to shop together. Eventually, Craig gets a bit frustrated with me trying to find the cheapest deal possible. I wouldn’t blame him. I was getting a little frustrated myself. He went back to the hotel room to take a shower while I continued my quest. I eventually resign myself that I was not going to get an embroidered t-shirt for the price of what the iron-on type t-shirts were going for no matter what my skills as a negotiator are. I had to have stopped into at least 15 different stalls throughout the town. Eventually I just give up and find a t-shirt that appealed to me. I had a large denomination bill and the proprietor did not have enough change handy. I saw a bunch of necklaces with the Andean cross on them and I really wanted that back when I saw them on our City Tour of Cusco. It was a cheap little plastic cross but that’s all I really can afford. I figured adding the necklace would help the “getting change back” situation. It did. The proprietor still had to run to another vendor to get the required change but did indicate that the amount was do-able. I ran back to my hotel to get Craig and my camera. We hustle ourselves out to go back down where I just came from (This is why mobile phones are now a necessity. At home I could have just called him to take my camera and meet me at the restaurant).
My little piece of heaven
Our room at Plaza Andina Machu Picchu
The breakfast room
There is only one other couple waiting for us at dinner. Here I was rushing to get to the hotel and then Craig and I rush to get to the restaurant and for what!?! Eh. We just sit, relax, and chit chat. Gradually our group arrives in dribs and drabs. Most people have showered and look quite a bit better. Some still have wet hair. I believe that Marco has a friendship with the owner of this restaurant. Appropriately enough it is called “Apu Salkantay”. It specializes in pizza. Yes, pizza. There is a brick oven right by our table and you could watch the cook make the pizzas while we waited. I was too busy engaged in conversation to pay attention. They have all types of specialty, gourmet like pizzas here. I was not traveling thousands of miles for pizza. If we were in Napoli, sure I’d definitely be having pizza. This is Aguas Calientes. I started with a cream of mushroom soup with local ingredients. Next was a steak dish with onions and Peruvian potato fries. I finished the dinner off with a chocolate pancake desert. While the food was not gourmet, it definitely was tasty. Even though the dinner was included as part of the trek, I believe most entrees would run you about $5. We had to pay for our beverages. Most of my fellow travelers chose beer. Since Craig is both thrifty and not an alcoholic beverage drinker he chose the bottled water. I’m just thrifty so it was water for me as well. Our table stretched from the brick oven out to the window/entry area. A local Peruvian band serenaded us tableside during dinner. Several of our trek-mates ended up purchasing a CD of their music. At this point I realize that there are three standards that these groups perform for the gringos. Among them is El Condor Pasa. If I had an uzi I would have used it when I hear the intro to El Condor Pasa. Enough already!!! While I can be quite talkative, this evening I did a lot of listening and learned a lot about James. He is a pilot from the UK and has taken a year off to travel. He is just going wherever the spirit moves him. It was interesting hearing about his adventures to date. I could not travel like that. I need to plan. I need security. I need safety. God bless him!
Our restaurant for dinner. See the guy at the right at the lower level? That's the table where we all sat.
Mmmm Mushroom soup!
My tasty dinner I don't think I have enough starch. We could have had a trifecta and had some kind of noodle with this to make it complete Trust me, Peruvians haven't heard from Atkins.
The traditional way this Adventure Trek continues is that we would get a breakfast provided by our hotel early in the morning. Then we would take the first bus in the center of town to arrive at Machu Picchu. However, we are hikers. Marco has presented us an option. We all agree to wake up at 3 am. Yes, that’s right, 3 ff@#$%ing am to start hiking our way to Machu Picchu so that we arrive in time to see the sun rise. Hey, it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. It’s a romantic’s perspective on travel I suppose. We all leave the restaurant, head to the hotel, and set our alarms.
NEXT: When best laid plans go awry, mother nature intervenes, and the wrath of the alpha tourist
Glad you were able to get into a room with a proper toilet and shower. Hope the carbs at dinner helped with the next day's hike. That really looked like a lot to walk off. Now that you have a fully charged camera, I hope you were able to get a lot of pix at Machu Pichu.
A hotel room! It seems like brilliant planning to stay in a hotel in the middle of your hike. That way you can recharge your batteries - figuratively and literally. I'm sure everyone was raring to go after a nice shower and a good night's sleep in a comfy bed (well maybe not so much that part, if you're starting at 3 a.m. ).
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One of the great things about the Passporterboards is that you get to make connections with people that you would ordinarily never meet. Great people! Over time you get to know people fairly well from their posting, especially if they write trip reports well because you get a much better sense of who they are as a person. It turns out that there is an incredible Passporter who lives down the road from Craig in a neighboring town. When I visited him January 23-26, 2010 I got to meet an awesome couple that are so much fun to talk to. See if you recognize these members of the Passporter family. We enjoyed a yummy lunch together. Oh! And the sweater I'm wearing is the one that I bought in Puno on this trip. You can see it more clearly in this picture than you probably will in any of the pictures from this trip report.
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I was glad to hear that you did not allow anything to get in your way. As you say since we are reading this TR, you obviously did not die on the trip even though it would seem that you felt like you were close to that end. Looking forward to reading more.
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Pixie Dust
Sorry they came back! 
Glad to hear you could still keep up . . . I mean lead the group! 
Trust me, Peruvians haven't heard from Atkins.
).
PassPorter Guide Author
And dinner looked lovely. 
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