John Edward Cooper’s Notes

DAY 10: The Sacred Valley to Cusco B/L
Machu Picchu is one of the New Seven Wonders of the World and this morning you will be taken to the station to board the Inca rail train to start your adventure to this incredible site. The train will take you to the city of Aguas Calientes where you disembark and board a bus to the archaeological site. Constructed on a saddle between two Andean peaks, Machu Picchu was one of the greatest achievements of South American civilisation. After a guided tour of this 550 year old citadel, there is some free time for you to explore and absorb the awe-inspiring atmosphere. You will then descend back to Aguas Calientes for lunch, then catch the train back to Ollantaytambo and return to Cusco by coach.

Janet wrote… that she was “up [at] 3.45am” — which was planned, given the early start today. “Washed. Dressed. Breakfast.… At 5.30am we set off on the coach for the highlight of the whole tour: Machu Picchu.” On the day I wrote: “We passed lots of prickly pear cacti, some with fruit on them. We also passed at one point a man ploughing with a yoke of oxen” — but I didn’t say where and when we passed them. The coach took us to Ollantaytambo railway station. There was a blue liveried PeruRail two-coach DMU waiting there, but ours was the pale green, somewhat smaller Inca Rail two-coach DMU beyond it. I wondered what the gauge of the rail track was — one-metre? three-foot? — and at some point voiced this question, for the “garrulous fellow”, who evidently had an engineering background, asked me if I was interested in such things. I played this down, not wanting to prolong the conversation.




Friday 20 February 2015, 06:12:46
Approaching Ollantaytambo Railway Station


Friday 20 February 2015, 06:14:40
Ollantaytambo Railway Station


Friday 20 February 2015, 06:20:38
Ollantaytambo Railway Station: 3ft (914mm) gauge trains, PeruRail (nearer) and Inca Rail (farther — ours)


Friday 20 February 2015, 06:21:22
Ollantaytambo Railway Station: 3ft (914mm) gauge trains, PeruRail (nearer) and Inca Rail (farther — ours)


Friday 20 February 2015, 06:22:00
Ollantaytambo Railway Station: boarding our Inca Rail train

Our seats on the train had been pre-booked, and Janet and I found ourselves separated. “I ended up seated opposite Mrs. Gobby Bastard,” Janet wrote, in less complimentary terms than what I have just used, “and next to Gobby Bastard! Hell’s bells! So I tried to sleep. No such luck!”


Friday 20 February 2015, 06:29:02
Aboard the Inca Rail train: Janet is seated next to the “garrulous fellow”.

We were near the rear of the train; and the door to the driver’s cab, for use when the train travels in the opposite direction, kept swinging open.


Friday 20 February 2015, 06:46:42
View from the rear of the Inca Rail train


Friday 20 February 2015, 06:48:00
Aboard the Inca Rail train

The windows misted up from time to time, but cleared enough for me at least to get one photo — of the seemingly ubiquitous Willkanuta River, a torrent in this part of its course.


Friday 20 February 2015, 07:06:44
View from the the Inca Rail train: the Willkanuta River

We were served with snacks and drinks from a trolley en route. The top of the narrow table between the two seats and the two facing seats opposite was equipped with two hinged flaps, one of which could be folded out towards oneself, and the other towards the people seated opposite, making a wider table. The train terminated at Aguas Calientes; and we crossed a bridge over a swift-flowing tributary of the Willkanuta River to waiting buses which would take us up the thirteen-elbowed zigzag to the Machu Picchu site. Spectacular scenery — but I only managed one photo relatively unblurred and unobscured by foliage.


Friday 20 February 2015, 08:03:28
Aguas Calientes Railway Station: alighting from the Inca Rail train with “¡Gracias!” and “¡Adiós!” from the crew


Friday 20 February 2015, 08:09:54
Aguas Calientes


Friday 20 February 2015, 08:10:40
Aguas Calientes


Friday 20 February 2015, 08:13:38
Aguas Calientes


Friday 20 February 2015, 08:13:46
Aguas Calientes


Friday 20 February 2015, 08:20:56
Bus to Machu Picchu


Friday 20 February 2015, 08:34:18
View from the bus to Machu Picchu


Friday 20 February 2015, 08:34:18 (detail)
View from the bus to Machu Picchu

From where the bus stopped there was a walk upwards of some 200–250 yards — via, some way along, the ticketing office, where we picked up our guide Leo. “Our group split into two,” Janet wrote, “and we headed off with Leo. It was… hot!”


Friday 20 February 2015, 08:57:00
Machu Picchu: approaching the site


Friday 20 February 2015, 09:01:22
Machu Picchu site


Friday 20 February 2015, 09:01:34
Machu Picchu site


Friday 20 February 2015, 09:01:34 (detail 1)
Machu Picchu site


Friday 20 February 2015, 09:01:34 (detail 2)
Machu Picchu site


Friday 20 February 2015, 09:01:34 (detail 3)
Machu Picchu site


Friday 20 February 2015, 09:09:56
Machu Picchu site: Huayna Picchu (“young peak”) from Machu Picchu (“old peak”)


Friday 20 February 2015, 09:10:50
View north-east from the Machu Picchu site: Phutuq K'usi


Friday 20 February 2015, 09:13:16
Machu Picchu site: Huayna Picchu (“young peak”) from Machu Picchu (“old peak”)


Friday 20 February 2015, 09:13:16 (detail)
Machu Picchu site


Friday 20 February 2015, 09:23:10
Machu Picchu site


Friday 20 February 2015, 09:23:18
Machu Picchu site


Friday 20 February 2015, 09:23:18 (detail)
Machu Picchu site


Friday 20 February 2015, 09:23:40
Machu Picchu site


Friday 20 February 2015, 09:23:50
Machu Picchu site


Friday 20 February 2015, 09:23:50 (detail)
Machu Picchu site

“Our first stop,” Janet wrote, “was for a photo-shoot of the site below us and all the surrounding mountains. Again, the weather was perfect and, my goodness, the scenery and views were amazing.… Worth struggling up there, just for them. [John] had struggled, as yesterday, but managed it.[i] Then Leo took us for a tour of the site.” There was a group photo, taken by Leo, then our half-group followed him for the rest of the visit.

[i] The amount of climbing and walking at Machu Picchu was only moderate, and at some 8000ft the altitude was less than yesterday’s 9200ft and considerably less than Lake Titicaca’s 12,500ft; but I nevertheless had to take things very easy. As well as having a persistent hacking cough following a cold at the beginning of the month, I found myself at this time more than ordinarily breathless on exertion, even after medium-distance walking. The problem was exacerbated greatly by the high altitudes in Peru. The resting heart-rate was increased, too, at this time: my normal rate of some 58–60 beats per minute had increased to ca.75–80 — not tachycardic by medical standards, but rapid for me.
 I didn’t realise till I had blood-tests in mid-March, that following the introduction of taking Dapsone tablets in mid-January the haemoglobin level had dropped. When I stopped taking the tablets the haemoglobin level improved, and I rapidly began to feel well again; exercise tolerance and resting heart-rate returned to what’s normal for me.

Friday 20 February 2015, 09:29:18
Machu Picchu site: our tour group


Friday 20 February 2015, 09:29:18 (detail 1)
Machu Picchu site: our tour group


Friday 20 February 2015, 09:29:18 (detail 2)
Machu Picchu site: our tour group


Friday 20 February 2015, 09:29:18 (detail 3)
Machu Picchu site: our tour group


Friday 20 February 2015, 10:02:20
Machu Picchu site


Friday 20 February 2015, 10:02:20 (detail)
Machu Picchu site: “What are they looking at?”


Friday 20 February 2015, 10:05:58
View west from the Machu Picchu site


Friday 20 February 2015, 10:05:58 (detail)
View west from the Machu Picchu site: hydro-electric plant


Friday 20 February 2015, 10:06:20
Machu Picchu site: Our hatted guide Leo leads the way.


Friday 20 February 2015, 10:09:12
Machu Picchu site


Friday 20 February 2015, 10:11:30
Machu Picchu site: our guide Leo


Friday 20 February 2015, 10:18:18
Machu Picchu site: the Sun Gate


Friday 20 February 2015, 10:18:18 (detail)
Machu Picchu site: the Sun Gate


Friday 20 February 2015, 10:18:54
Machu Picchu site


Friday 20 February 2015, 10:21:22
Machu Picchu site


Friday 20 February 2015, 10:23:08
Machu Picchu site


Friday 20 February 2015, 10:23:54
Machu Picchu site

We stopped at a point overlooking a building that Leo designated an observatory. He pointed out the “Sun Gate” away to the right of it; that’s where the sun would rise over the mountain at solstice.


Friday 20 February 2015, 10:25:20
Machu Picchu site: observatory?


Friday 20 February 2015, 10:25:20 (detail)
Machu Picchu site: observatory?

On a couple of occasions we saw a creature that I thought at first was a rabbit, till I noticed its long tail.


Friday 20 February 2015, 10:27:46
Machu Picchu site: northern viscacha (Lagidium peruanum), a species of chinchilla


Friday 20 February 2015, 10:30:10
Machu Picchu site

How did people with only bronze tools cut and shape the stones out of which their cities, and royal estates such as this one, were built? Residential and industrial structures, to be sure, were built with best-fit dry-stone walls, but temples and other such buildings were of accurately cut and fitted-together, polished stones.


Friday 20 February 2015, 10:31:14
Machu Picchu site: quarry


Friday 20 February 2015, 10:31:26
Machu Picchu site: split stone


Friday 20 February 2015, 10:36:38
Machu Picchu site: another split stone


Friday 20 February 2015, 10:41:46
Machu Picchu site: cut and fitted stones


Friday 20 February 2015, 10:42:46
Machu Picchu site


Friday 20 February 2015, 10:44:58
Machu Picchu site: “Room of the Three Windows”


Friday 20 February 2015, 10:45:18
Machu Picchu site: “Room of the Three Windows”


Friday 20 February 2015, 10:51:14
Machu Picchu site


Friday 20 February 2015, 10:55:00
Machu Picchu site


Friday 20 February 2015, 10:55:00 (detail 1)
Machu Picchu site


Friday 20 February 2015, 10:55:00 (detail 2)
Machu Picchu site


Friday 20 February 2015, 11:01:44
Machu Picchu site


Friday 20 February 2015, 11:01:44 (detail)
Machu Picchu site


Friday 20 February 2015, 11:01:50
Machu Picchu site


Friday 20 February 2015, 11:01:50 (detail 1)
Machu Picchu site


Friday 20 February 2015, 11:01:50 (detail 2)
Machu Picchu site


Friday 20 February 2015, 11:01:58
Machu Picchu site


Friday 20 February 2015, 11:05:02
Machu Picchu site


Friday 20 February 2015, 11:09:06
Machu Picchu site


Friday 20 February 2015, 11:10:06
Machu Picchu site


Friday 20 February 2015, 11:10:40
Machu Picchu site: northern viscacha (Lagidium peruanum)


Friday 20 February 2015, 11:11:02
Machu Picchu site


Friday 20 February 2015, 11:13:12
Machu Picchu site: altar


Friday 20 February 2015, 11:13:40 (movie screen-capture)
Machu Picchu site: shape of a condor above the altar


Friday 20 February 2015, 11:20:34
Machu Picchu site


Friday 20 February 2015, 11:21:54
Machu Picchu site


Friday 20 February 2015, 11:22:38
Machu Picchu site


Friday 20 February 2015, 11:24:22
Machu Picchu site: restored interior

“At ca.11.30am,” Janet wrote, “we set off for the exit. It had been very hot up there. Phew! At the entrance we used the loos then bought highly over-priced cold drinks. At ca.12.30pm we all boarded the bus.”


Friday 20 February 2015, 12:48:18
View from the bus returning to Aguas Calientes


Friday 20 February 2015, 13:07:52
Aguas Calientes

“We stopped in Machu Picchu[ii] for lunch,” Janet continued. “I wandered out [from the restaurant] and got fresh bread rolls and bananas, and later Boris took us to an ATM. At last we got some money, albeit US dollars.” While Janet was gone I took some photos out of the window. At one point a man — erecting a sign? — started drilling and hammering just below; indeed, he put his hammer on the window-sill when he wasn’t using it. Some young people were high-spiritedly throwing water at each other as they passed (not photographed). And other people passed, some colourfully attired. Before it was time to leave for the train, Boris at our request took us to the location of an ATM. We wanted him with us in case we needed Spanish-speaking help. When we tried to get nuevos soles we were informed meaninglessly “daily limit reached” or “exceeded”. Meaninglessly: for was the limit zero?! It was perhaps Boris who suggested we try to withdraw dollars. Anyway, we got $100.

[ii] Machupicchu Pueblo (Spanish pueblo village), also known as Aguas Calientes — Wikipedia

Friday 20 February 2015, 13:19:52
Lunch upstairs in an Aguas Calientes restaurant: a workman starts drilling and hammering just below.


Friday 20 February 2015, 13:23:58
Lunch upstairs in an Aguas Calientes restaurant: a workman starts drilling and hammering just below.


Friday 20 February 2015, 13:25:30
Lunch upstairs in an Aguas Calientes restaurant


Friday 20 February 2015, 13:26:16
Lunch upstairs in an Aguas Calientes restaurant: nearby electricity supply, Peruvian style


Friday 20 February 2015, 13:34:34
Lunch upstairs in an Aguas Calientes restaurant: a colourful passer-by


Friday 20 February 2015, 14:05:56
Aguas Calientes

I’d been travelling backwards on the outward train journey, but on the return one I was going forwards, and I took photos and videos through the window. On this journey, the “garrulous fellow” was holding forth about some engineering topic with the guy across the aisle, and he mentioned queryingly an engineering works in Preston. “English Electric in Strand Road,” I ventured, though I wasn’t taking part in the conversation. He just nodded and continued his discourse as if I hadn’t interposed. He didn’t stop to wonder how I knew this; his flow was uninterrupted.


Friday 20 February 2015, 14:19:10
Aboard the Inca Rail train


Friday 20 February 2015, 14:36:20
Aboard the Inca Rail train: short tunnel (left); Willkanuta/Vilcanota River (right)


Friday 20 February 2015, 14:40:36
Aboard the Inca Rail train: hydroelectric plant


Friday 20 February 2015, 14:42:18
Aboard the Inca Rail train


Friday 20 February 2015, 15:46:48
Aboard the Inca Rail train: a PeruRail train passes.

Janet wrote: “It was raining when we reached our station.[iii]…. We boarded our coach and headed off for Cusco.”…

[iii] There’s no evidence of wet ground on the two photos below, but we did take shelter for a few minutes under a tree with bright magenta flowers.

Friday 20 February 2015, 16:00:02
Ollantaytambo Railway Station


Friday 20 February 2015, 16:11:38
Ollantaytambo: sheltering from a light shower


Friday 20 February 2015, 16:16:30
Ollantaytambo: boarding the coach


Friday 20 February 2015, 17:12:06
En route to Cusco


Friday 20 February 2015, 17:12:50
En route to Cusco

We passed through the slums, found on the outskirts of every city in this region. “People live in such squalor,” Janet wrote: “such horrendous conditions. Everywhere. A nightmare — [the] worst I’ve seen to date!” (This perhaps overstates the situation slightly.)


Friday 20 February 2015, 17:57:34
Outskirts of Cusco: squalid, as always


Friday 20 February 2015, 17:57:42
Outskirts of Cusco: squalid, as always


Friday 20 February 2015, 17:59:18
Outskirts of Cusco: squalid, as always


Friday 20 February 2015, 18:00:46
Outskirts of Cusco: squalid, as always

…We reached as far as the coach was permitted to go, and… started the long walk to the hotel… Because we were stopping in the same hotel we’d left yesterday morning, many had taken overnight bags and left the major part of their luggage there. We, though, hadn’t been able to do this, so were wheeling the heavy suitcases all that seemingly interminable distance over cobbles and uneven pavements. When, not all that far from the hotel, a young man offered to help us we initially refused, but after he persisted and we conceded, on arrival he immediately left; he wasn’t after money, he was simply acting out of kindness.… “We were in our room by 7pm…,” Janet wrote. “[John] lay on the bed and did some of his diary. I organised stuff, had a shower, and ate two bread rolls and four mini-bananas [which I] enjoyed. [John] slept. It’s now 10pm and I’m so tired. Hope I can get some sleep. I’ve set the alarm for 5.30am as tomorrow is — ‘p[ig]-o[ut] d[ay]’!… 8am pick-up tomorrow. [John] is fast asleep.” My account is as follows: “[I] lay on the bed and transferred the 100 items (photos and not a few videos) from the camera to the WD Elements HDD (19:14–19:20). Janet managed to open the stuffed cases without my help, and started unpacking for our two nights’ stay. Rotated the photos that needed it (19:23–19:28).…”

[Saturday 21 February 2015]
[2015]