AGUAS CALIENTES
FACTOID: The town of Aguas Calientes is also called Machupicchu Pueblo.
FACTOID: The town gets its name from the many hot springs that are in the town. Translation: Hot Waters.
This is the town that is closest to Machu Picchu. No cars are allowed into the town and the only way in and out is by train. The only bus in town is the one that takes tourists to Machu Picchu - a 1.5 hour hike if not by bus. The train tracks bisect the main street of the town. This photo is the train station.
Two rivers are in the small town - the Rio Aguas Calientes and the Urubamba River.
We stayed in a hotel in the town. The La Cabana had a nice welcome with rose petals all over. Each room had a Jacuzzi.
We got a chance to wander around the small town on the first day after getting back from the hike on the Inca Trail and the second day after finishing the visit to Machu Picchu. It rained off and on both days.
For dinner some of the group ordered guinea pig…
And some ordered Alpaca.
This plaza had a large statue of an Incan Emperor Pachacutec. The photo from the other side is the one most people take but this seemed like the better view.
There were one or two unfinished buildings but people seemed to be living in them.
The guide told us he wanted us to be on the first bus at Machu Picchu. This meant that we had to get up at 5 AM. When we got up it was raining pretty hard and we all put on our ponchos. The Queen and I had got them from CVS for $2 and we had one for everyone. We were not the only ones up and we were not on the first bus.
The vendors were also up and they were selling ponchos and the usual tourist stuff.
The bus ride was the same we took the day before after we finished the hike on the Inca train and visited the Sun Gate. The difference was we were now on the `bad' side of the twisty turny road that took us up the mountain. The road was barely wide enough for one bus but there were buses already coming down after dropping of people at the entrance. The scary part was I did not know how the driver could see out the window - it was all fogged up and the wipers and blowers were not helping much.
|