May 24 - Day Trip to Macchu Picchu
We had dedicated the day to visit Macchu Picchu.
Sunday may 24 morning at 6.00 am. Waiting for the bus from the macchu Picchu pueblo (village) to the macchu Picchu site entrance. It is a very steep climb. Also a very steep price at 24 dollars round trip.
Once we got to the top by bus, we decided to climb Huayna Picchu.
Our climb up to the huayna Picchu mountain. It is 1 hour climb, slightly more difficult than sinhgad. It is pronounced as wayna Picchu, and means young mountain. Macchu Picchu means old mountain.
The views were simply spectacular.
The small river in the valley below is the urubamba river, which is considered a key source of the mighty amazon river.
The climb down was a little awkward with single file on many occasions. The climb down from huayna Picchu peak back to the macchu Picchu entrance gate. In many places it was a single file which meant that the progress was slow. But everyone completed the trek without any major problems. We started at 7.30 am, 1 hour climb, 2 hours time pass and the climb down. We were back by 12 noon.
The climb to Huayna Picchu is not very difficult. It is about the same as Sinhgad in Pune. About 60-75 minutes up. But some portions are a little awkward.
Victory photograph for Anjali Kothari.
We went around the Macchu Picchu site after we came back from Huayana Picchu at around 12 noon.
Pictures of the main macchu Picchu site. Macchu Picchu is famous because it is a symbol of a preserved Inca city. In fact, Cuzco was the capital of the Inca empire. But after the Spanish conqueror Francisco pizzaro defeated the last Inca king, he destroyed the city of Cuzco and shifted the capital to Lima. All remnants of the Inca empire were destroyed.
Macchu Picchu survived because the Spanish never knew about it. It was discovered in 1911 by Hiram Bingham, a professor at Yale. Despite being abandoned since 1533, it was in remarkably good shape and was excavated was Hiram Bingham. Macchu Picchu was a city of importance to the Inca astronomers and was built by the Inca to be close to elements of nature.
The entrance fees are rather steep about $50 per person, but the scenery is simply spectacular.
Back on the train from macchu Picchu to Cuzco. Train left at 5.23 pm and reached Cuzco at 9.30 pm.
Great train. Cost was $117 per person. They served dinner. The stewardess and the two stewards performed a fashion show to promote Peruvian woollens made from alpaca wool.
We reached Cuzco at 9:30 pm. We stayed with Ayude, our host in Cuzco (AirBnb). We had an early morning flight to catch the next day. Though we could not spend a lot of time in Cuzco, Ayude was very welcoming and warm. Their house was very typical of Peru.
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