Machu Picchu
Next morning we had our second train ride from Cusco to Machu Picchu with the Bingham Explorer ...
... another luxerious train (food and drinks included) ...
This time it took us only 3.5 hours to get there ...
... interesting landscape inclusive ...
This was quite an interesting part. To get the train several metres down the hill a "zig-zag" course was built into the mountain (photo shows the bottom): The train stops, reverses back down the hill (see the track from the right), stops again and continues in the original direction ... pretty clever!
We arrived at our hotel in Machu Picchu, this time little bungalows ... ours was No. 23 ...
Here a view of the hotel layout ...
We saw this dog without a fur in Machu Picchu ... quite handy for people with allergies ...
Somehow a lot of tourists come here (surprise surprise) ... this menu caters for basically all who might come ...
Thomas was quite surprised, but this IS a Mercedes bus, that brings the tourists up to Machu Picchu ...
that's the way up, serpentines, ...
... of course no barriers ..
... and our first view of the famous Machu Picchu city ... breathtaking really ...
We came across some locals, the little one only some days old ...
... and finally on the top we had this view ...
... together with our wonderful guide Luz, who never stopped explaining and patiently answered our questions ...
... together with our wonderful guide Luz, who never stopped explaining and patiently answered our questions ..
Here a sun temple with a natural altar ...
Welcoming fields ...
... more and more terraces ... they even experimented with different soil and seeds ...
See the detail of how they carved the stones to fit into each other ...
Houses and more terraces in the background ...
Here you see some of the serpentines, where we drove up by bus ...
After more than 4 hours this was the last photo up there ... and we went back down by bus ...
... where we deserved a cold drink in the hotel bar ..
Next day, we relaxed a bit and at the train station we met Sally and Ian from Melbourne ... we really had a good night which was extended later in the bar of the hotel ;-)
There was a good band again in the bar of the train ...
... including the drummer with his box ...
Next morning we flew back to Lima, had another visit in the archeological museum Larco (after the first one was so short) ... here at the museum restaurant with Victor ... then stopped at the supermarket to pick up a couple of bottles of Peruvian wine (we can really recommend Intipalka) and a bottle of Pisco ... and then onto Lima Airport, where we had a safe flight back to Germany!It was a trip with heaps of amazing experiences, very friendly people, fantastic food and wine. The country is still poor (unfortunately corruption in the government seems normal and accepted), but on a good way. They really do so much to make visitors feel welcomed, the tourist attractions are well kept and if the country continues like that, we see a better future than with other countries in South America.