Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley

We have arrived back in Cusco from Machu Picchu, and I must say it was all I´d hoped for. We lucked out with the weather, got up early and had a beautiful sunny morning at the top. I felt like I was in a post card, it was hard to believe I was actually there. Walking around the city on the mountain, you really get the sense of just how big this place actually was. There were streets and neighborhoods, these people had quite the society up there! Machu Picchu was so secluded that when the Spanish came through to invade the area, they missed Machu Picchu because they didn´t know it was there. The Incan´s eventually abandoned the city on their own, and the ruins remained unknown to the Western world until an explorer came upon them in 1911. Its hard to say that this man "discovered" Machu Picchu, since when he came to the area he asked a local the way to the nearest ruins and they showed him the way : ) An incredible site to see, a must for any visit to Peru. Here are some pictures:
Machu Picchu is actually 1,000 meters lower than Cusco! You travel down into the valley before heading back up to the site. The way to get to Machu Picchu is to go through Aguas Calientes (or Machu Picchu town), which is only reachable by train, there are no roads. We took the backpacker train, which is the cheapest way to get there, costing $44 and requiring a two nights stay in AC. The train leaves Ollantaytambo at 8:00 at night, and heads back two mornings later at 5:45am! It is nice to have the whole day to spend at Machu Picchu, many of the other tours and day trips arrive between the hours of 10 and 2:00, so to have the morning or afternoon with less crowds is a treat. Aguas Calientes means "Hot Waters" in Spanish, and for good reason - there are hot springs in the area, which I took advantage of after our long day of hiking to rest my tired legs. We hiked to Waynapicchu, the mountain in the background of the pictures above, where the ruins continue. Between that and the hike back to town, my legs had just about had it!

As I mentioned, in the days before we visited towns in the Sacred Valley - Pisaq (amazing), Urubamba (nothing special), and Ollantaytambo (pretty cool). Here are some pics:

PISAQ:
URUBAMBA:

OLLANTAYTAMBO:
Today is our recovery and blog-updating day, then tomorrow we take an all-day train to Puno on Lake Titicaca! (Go ahead and laugh, its OK.) Within the next few days we´ll be crossing the border into our next country, Bolivia!

Best wishes from below the equator,

Joan