So left Urubamba early in the morning to catch a combi to Ollanta....I happened to read in my guidebook the night before that train tickets to Aguas Calientes (the village to Machu Picchu, which is for the most part only accessible by train or hiking) were not available there, but I was hoping for my luck to pull through, and it did. As the combi approached Ollanta, I though, ooh, this is a neat little village (all old stone building and streets etc). And then we pulled into the main plaza. It contained only tourist cafes and souvenir shops. Bleh. I went to try to get a haircut instead, but the señora was out. The train ride was nice. I was on a car with three tour groups, and I happen to be sitting beside a tour guide whose clients weren't really interested in her, so I got a nice guided train ride with plenty of explanations. Aguas Calientes was even more disgusting than Ollanta. Every single shop was either a tourist cafe/restaurant or souvenir shop, which staff outside trying to lure you in with calls of ¨would you like a drink? happy hour four for 1.... we have pizza...spaghetti?¨ The cafes charged ¨tax¨ or ¨servicio¨ ( I hadn't seen that in Peru yet). My OK room I bargained down to $25. I was planning to spend two nights but after my introduction decided on only 1. I think I was fortunate to spend as much time as I did in the north. The people are so much more genuine. Anyway, for the afternoon I checked out the other side of town, where the people actually live. Coming out of a shop, I had taken a picture of a street, and a little girl who was with an older girl (turns out her cousin) was pointing at my camera, so I sat down and we chatted, and took pictures of things which she could then see on my digital camera. It was fun. She laughed as I counted spanish numbers incorrectly (on purpose, learned that one to tease kids with from my Dad), and as I incorrectly conjugated verbs (totally not on purpose).
Got up at 4:45am the next morning to have breakfast and catch a 5:30am bus up to Machu Picchu. It was covered in fog. After passing through the gates, I started walking, following the signage that I could see (visibility about 5-10m). I thought it was only about a 5 minute walk from the gate to the ruins, so after walking about 1/2 hour in the jungle, I was suspicious. But I couldn't see anything. And I would hate to turn around if the trail was leading somewhere important. I had no idea. There were very few people on the trail. Each person I pass or who passed me was thinking the same thing - where are we and where is this taking us? Eventually I stopped and hung out with two other lost souls, waiting for the clouds to clear. We were h oping for a great view over the ruins. After about 45min, the guy gave up, then after another 10, the girl left. Just 5 minutes later it all cleared (who knew I had this much patience!) Beautiful. I was hoping for a moment of awe, and I got it. I stay up there in peace for quite a while, the only life around me were the birds cutting through the air around me, and pink and blue butterflies the size of my thumbnail fluttering around. Turns out the trail was leading up a mountain, and I had another 45min to go. I went back down instead, walked around the ruins, listened in on tourgroups' guides explanations. I have to say that for me, the sense of awe I got from the ruins was so much greater when I was able to see the whole area as opposed to individual walls and buildings. It's not like Angkor Wat, where there are intricate carvings on so many of the walls. For me the sense of wonder was from the fact that the Incas built this whole complex on the crest of a mountain. So I climbed to the top of a mini peak near by, and enjoyed the view once more. Found a peaceful spot and just took it in. I took it in so much that I fell asleep for an hour (I said it was peaceful!). After heading back down the treacherous ¨stairs¨ (I wonder how many Incas dies during construction by falling off cliffs) I looked around a bit more, then headed back down to the train station, and eventually back to Urubamba. This place is a much nicer place to hang out for a few days.
Today, it being my last day in the Peruvian country side, I slept in (just a bit!) and tried once again to get to the salt fields. I was given a decent explanation by the chef in the restaurant I have been frequenting, so felt optimistic. Well, I missed the turnoff, and had to catch another combi back, but this time I found it. Hundreds of little pools filled with evaporating salt water. Very cool. Continued walking to another place where there are concentric sinking circles built for agricultural purposes (hard to describe in words); ended up paying for a taxi part way once the roads started. Now, it's been said these pits are a bit spiritual. Now I'm not much of a spiritual person, but as I descended into one of the circles, I started to cry. It was very strange. Perhaps I have come to the realization that my time here is almost over?
I finally got back to Urubamba following some debauchery with how much change I had left (I had cut it close after buying a weaving near the pits). Now I am spending the evening packing my bags so that I can spend the day in Lima as I have 15 hours between flights. (Side note: After an e-mail from a friend, I realized that the dates in my first entry do not share the date I am actually coming back - my original flight was cancelled: back in Salmon Arm Saturday, in Vancouver Monday night). And having a great dinner. Pancakes perhaps? The place I go to makes the best hot chocolate. Mmmmm.....
On another note, I got my mark back from the Marketing course I had been doing before I left for Peru (many people can attest that other than work, that was pretty much all I was doing). Now that it's after the fact (I got an A!) I will share that I actually was unable to finish the course before I left Canada, and fired off 2 portions by memory in an internet cafe one night in Huaraz before my deadline (which my prof graciously extended by a few days). I was one percent below an A+, perhaps because I was so cheeky to finish the course in Peru? Well, relief is all I can say.
I'll probably fire off one more commentary in the Lima airport (what else can I do waiting for a 2am flight?) Looking forward to seeing everyone back in Salmon Arm or Vancouver.
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