We had arranged to meet Victor at 6:30AM but spoke to him at reception and arranged to start at 8AM. Otherwise we would have been a long time in Machu Picchu before our booked lunch. So a relaxed breakfast and a lovely explore of Aguas Calientes while it was waking up.
A final pack before checking out and leaving our portered bag with reception so that they could transport it to the station this afternoon. Met Victor at 8 and then bus up the mountain. He told us it was really unusual to have such a beautiful day in Machu Picchu. He then took us on an intensive 2 hour tour of Machu Picchu. It is an amazing site and the ingenuity of the Incas is to be admired.
Sun Dial
We had a farewell drink with Victor and then he left us to explore on our own. We walked back up the city to the top and walked to the Inca Bridge, crossing a very scary cliff faceand was fortunately permanently closed for safety reasons. Even the path to get there was scary with precipitous drops from a narrow path.
We had a lunch booked at the Tinpuy Restaurant at the entrance to Machu Picchu. It was a disappointment - another high volume, low quality buffet.
The queue for the bus down was about 30 minutes then we bounced down the track and had what we thought was a well-earned beer in a couple of bars in Aguas Calientes before catching our train to start the journey back to Cusco at 3.48pm
We had two young Americans in the seats facing us and had a good chat to them. There was entertainment this trip - one of the stewards dressed up as a mythical puma creature and danced through the carriage interacting with the passengers and a fashion show of Alpaca garments.
Due to the landslip between Ollantaytambo and Cusco the train stopped at Ollantaytambo and we transferred to a minibus for the 2 hour drive back in the dark.
Checkin was easy but then we tried to sleep in the hardest bed imaginable. Not good!
