This was the day we had been waiting for. We drove to Ollantaytambo (9,200 feet 2,800 meters vs. Denver at 5,600 feet), where we boarded the train and rode to kilometer 104 where we exited at Chachabamba (elevation 6,300’/1,900m).
The train runs next to the Urubamba which is pretty narrow all of the way, but there were some major white water rapids, off to our side, given the elevation drop. One stretch of rapids seemed to run for 3 or more kilometers.
There is also a major glacier ‘Veronica’ resting far above the train tracks. Chachabamba has a bridge over the river, a train stop, a small village ruin by the same name.
We did the one-day hike up the Inca Trail, rather than the 4-day back packing trip. It was less strenuous…but there was still quite a bit of up, up, up. The elevation
Fredy and Pavel pretty much told everyone in our group to go at their own pace, and don’t fret over what someone else is doing. Along the way we passed many beautiful flowers and the scenery looking off into the distance was outstanding.
We took a short rest at a waterfall. I jumped underneath the spray, it was quite cool, no it was quite cold, but it felt good.
The area we were walking through is known as the "Cloud Forest." This is the zone between the Rain Forest and the high mountain plateaus.
Our goal for lunch was to reach the Wiñyawayna ruin, which means ‘forever young.’ It is named after an orchid that blooms several times a year on the mountain. The Wiñyawayna Ruins can be seen off in the distance.
We plopped ourselves down for lunch on one of the terraces.
We looked down where the engineers and astronomers lived/worked on this site.
We had seen several places before where a set of stones extends out from the terrace walls. Very much like a modern day staircase. I finally had an opportunity to walk up a few sets. It might be somewhat difficult to see, but the width of the terraces is narrow, these terraces were only used for test purposes.
If you look closely you can see the trail we hiked through one of the building windows at Wiñyawayna. Fredy told the group we were going to experience an "Oh my god!" moment on our hike. I'm still not sure if he was referring to a stair case we needed to climb, or the view from the Gate of the Sun/Intipunku, where we first get to see Machu Picchu.
There are 55 steps, that kind of zap your energy, after all of the up, up, up….we had been doing. Jane, Bob and I reached the top first, caught our breathe, and then teased everyone else…as they huffed and puffed their way to the top of the staircase. This is Mary Ellen working her way up, she doesn't look too hassled.
The Gate of the Sun was just a little further, and it gave us our first view of Machu Picchu. There was a little moisture in the air, but we had a fabulous clear day. It had been raining on the previous several days, so we were quite fortunate to have this wonderful view.
We did not visit the ruins that day, instead we hiked down to the mountain top hotel and took a bus to the valley floor to The Pueblo hotel. It was very pretty here are a couple shots of the hotel grounds.
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