It´s five o´clock in the morning and you find yourself jumping from bed, getting ready and dressed, faster than you can remember. This is a very special day: you will finally know Machu Picchu by train, the mysterious and monumental citadel, one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.
Your room´s phone rings and a very nice woman voice reminds you about your date with ancient history: the bus that will transport you to the train station is waiting outside the hotel.
You give a last and fast check to your backpack: sunglasses, sunscreen, insect repellent, raincoat; everything is packed. In the bus, a group of travelers joins you, just as excited and anxious to board the train as you.
The Poroy train station, located some 20 minutes from the center of Cusco, is already boiling with people from all around the world with their tickets in their hands, commenting about what they´ve been told about Machu Picchu and boarding their train wagons with enthusiasm.
Finally, the first breathing of the powerful machine begins to blow at 6:50 am. You´ve selected the Vistadome train route, that will take you from Cusco to Machu Picchu in approximately 4 hours. There were many other transportations options, but you love the magic of trains and knew that the Sacred Valley countryside was a beauty to enjoy completely.
Just leaving the station, the train begins to climb the so called Picchu hill. At this point, the railway takes a zig-zag shape to reach the top of this natural elevation. Meanwhile, your spirit goes up too, watching the whole picture of Cusco city, its red roofs, colonial churches and trees displaying right before your eyes.
Right in the summit, known as “The Arc”, you look up to the windows of the train ceiling. The sun is shining bright in a pure blue sky, dotted with small and cotton-shaped clouds. On the way down, the train is on route to the Sacred Valley, and beyond that, Machu Picchu.
The landscape seems to own the whole green spectrum. Seed fields, eucalyptus little forests and forgotten breeding terraces -known as “andenes”- are everywhere, decorating the towering mountains as far as you can see.
Some minutes later, the rhythmic chirps of the railway and the steam blasts of the train start combining with another distant roar: it´s the Urubamba river, the Sacred Valley´s great snake. Its flow has been considered a blessing by the Incas, giving shape and transporting life to the valley for millions of years. Now the river is your mystic tourist guide on this route to Machu Picchu. It will take you up and down along its riverside, trough canyons and forests, trough rocky tunnels and narrow railway bridges.
The fury of steam and water flowing now sound the same; a perfect synchrony between nature and man -you think-, right in the middle of nowhere. The twinkling sunlight from above the train relaxes you. Then, a train assistant offers you some snacks, beverages and sandwiches. You choose a frozen orange juice; only orange, water and sugar. It won´t be appropriated to mix colorants and certified stabilizers with that amazing natural view.
You´ve already left behind Chincheros, Anta, Izcuchaca and Cachimatyo. They showed you a vast prairie spotted with little houses everywhere, inhabited mostly by farmers and their cattle, disperse and free in the immensity of nature. Now your transportation is approaching Ollantaytambo. Some train routes include a little stop here to know the Ollantaytambo ruins; yours is one of them.
There are some astonishing places to see in Ollantaytambo. The Temple of the Sun, the hills full of andenes, the Amphitheater, and of course the main ruins, are wonders you should not lose.
But walking there, something caught all your attention: a rock-carved spring. Its shape is geometrically perfect, design like a ninety-degrees-angles ladder that goes up and down, perfectly polished and without the slightest irregularity. The water still flows, brought from the mountain to the spring by an aqueduct, also made of solid and perfect pieces of rock. You take a sip, and the pure, cold and crystal water refresh your spirit. Sadly, it´s time to continue your train trip.
Now the andenes are everywhere, almost covering the mountains that rise on both sides of the railway route. They appear even in the most impossible hillsides, so steep and high no one knows how the Inca people managed to reach those places, build the andenes there and cultivate them for years. Some of them could be seen in Patallacta, Qoriwairachina o Chachabamba. But the best of them are located near Torontoy, closer to Machu Picchu.
At this point, your have descended almost one thousand meters of altitude since you left the train station in Cusco. The sacred valley gets deeper and the mountains get so high that in some places the sun fades behind them, almost at noon. The railway seems to be glued to the mountains walls. They are so near that if the crew would aloud you to open the window, your hands could touch their wet surface easily.
Finally, the train crew announces the arrival to Machu Picchu village, known as Aguas Calientes. The doors open and a breeze of fresh air invades your lungs. You look up in that narrow valley and see some huge pieces of granitic rock giving a solemn welcome to the visitors. One of those giants is preparing for you the greatest of all experiences, hiding the Machu Picchu ruins on its summit. Your train trip has come to an end. But you have seen nothing yet; the wonders of Machu Picchu citadel and its magic environment are still up there, waiting for you.
vrijdag 6 mei 2011
Machu Picchu Transport
It´s five o´clock in the morning and you find yourself jumping from bed, getting ready and dressed, faster than you can remember. This is a very special day: you will finally know Machu Picchu by train, the mysterious and monumental citadel, one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.
Your room´s phone rings and a very nice woman voice reminds you about your date with ancient history: the bus that will transport you to the train station is waiting outside the hotel.
You give a last and fast check to your backpack: sunglasses, sunscreen, insect repellent, raincoat; everything is packed. In the bus, a group of travelers joins you, just as excited and anxious to board the train as you.
The Poroy train station, located some 20 minutes from the center of Cusco, is already boiling with people from all around the world with their tickets in their hands, commenting about what they´ve been told about Machu Picchu and boarding their train wagons with enthusiasm.
Finally, the first breathing of the powerful machine begins to blow at 6:50 am. You´ve selected the Vistadome train route, that will take you from Cusco to Machu Picchu in approximately 4 hours. There were many other transportations options, but you love the magic of trains and knew that the Sacred Valley countryside was a beauty to enjoy completely.
Just leaving the station, the train begins to climb the so called Picchu hill. At this point, the railway takes a zig-zag shape to reach the top of this natural elevation. Meanwhile, your spirit goes up too, watching the whole picture of Cusco city, its red roofs, colonial churches and trees displaying right before your eyes.
Right in the summit, known as “The Arc”, you look up to the windows of the train ceiling. The sun is shining bright in a pure blue sky, dotted with small and cotton-shaped clouds. On the way down, the train is on route to the Sacred Valley, and beyond that, Machu Picchu.
The landscape seems to own the whole green spectrum. Seed fields, eucalyptus little forests and forgotten breeding terraces -known as “andenes”- are everywhere, decorating the towering mountains as far as you can see.
Some minutes later, the rhythmic chirps of the railway and the steam blasts of the train start combining with another distant roar: it´s the Urubamba river, the Sacred Valley´s great snake. Its flow has been considered a blessing by the Incas, giving shape and transporting life to the valley for millions of years. Now the river is your mystic tourist guide on this route to Machu Picchu. It will take you up and down along its riverside, trough canyons and forests, trough rocky tunnels and narrow railway bridges.
The fury of steam and water flowing now sound the same; a perfect synchrony between nature and man -you think-, right in the middle of nowhere. The twinkling sunlight from above the train relaxes you. Then, a train assistant offers you some snacks, beverages and sandwiches. You choose a frozen orange juice; only orange, water and sugar. It won´t be appropriated to mix colorants and certified stabilizers with that amazing natural view.
You´ve already left behind Chincheros, Anta, Izcuchaca and Cachimatyo. They showed you a vast prairie spotted with little houses everywhere, inhabited mostly by farmers and their cattle, disperse and free in the immensity of nature. Now your transportation is approaching Ollantaytambo. Some train routes include a little stop here to know the Ollantaytambo ruins; yours is one of them.
There are some astonishing places to see in Ollantaytambo. The Temple of the Sun, the hills full of andenes, the Amphitheater, and of course the main ruins, are wonders you should not lose.
But walking there, something caught all your attention: a rock-carved spring. Its shape is geometrically perfect, design like a ninety-degrees-angles ladder that goes up and down, perfectly polished and without the slightest irregularity. The water still flows, brought from the mountain to the spring by an aqueduct, also made of solid and perfect pieces of rock. You take a sip, and the pure, cold and crystal water refresh your spirit. Sadly, it´s time to continue your train trip.
Now the andenes are everywhere, almost covering the mountains that rise on both sides of the railway route. They appear even in the most impossible hillsides, so steep and high no one knows how the Inca people managed to reach those places, build the andenes there and cultivate them for years. Some of them could be seen in Patallacta, Qoriwairachina o Chachabamba. But the best of them are located near Torontoy, closer to Machu Picchu.
At this point, your have descended almost one thousand meters of altitude since you left the train station in Cusco. The sacred valley gets deeper and the mountains get so high that in some places the sun fades behind them, almost at noon. The railway seems to be glued to the mountains walls. They are so near that if the crew would aloud you to open the window, your hands could touch their wet surface easily.
Finally, the train crew announces the arrival to Machu Picchu village, known as Aguas Calientes. The doors open and a breeze of fresh air invades your lungs. You look up in that narrow valley and see some huge pieces of granitic rock giving a solemn welcome to the visitors. One of those giants is preparing for you the greatest of all experiences, hiding the Machu Picchu ruins on its summit. Your train trip has come to an end. But you have seen nothing yet; the wonders of Machu Picchu citadel and its magic environment are still up there, waiting for you.
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