Anybody been to Machu Piccu? - Page 3 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

MTI · #31 03-24-2015, 10:01 AM

Either there's an echo in your post, or the candy has doubled your typing speed . . .

t walgamuth · #32 03-25-2015, 07:57 PM

hello, we are in agua caliente now. the train ride in was spectacular in the vista car. we spent a lot of time looking through the roof windows the mountains were so high and nearly vertical going up from the valley. lots and lots of terraces everywhere and many of them are in use today as fields for crops. the inca planted corn in them because of its need for sunlight they placed them for maximum sunlight. after lunch we hiked to the museum then came back and ate overlooking the rushing rive....the river is one of the most rugged ever seen. if you fell in you´d most certainly die either by drowning or by bashing into a rock. i am really pooped and will go to bed because we are taking the bus up to macchu picchu tomorrow at 630 am. the proprieter of out hotel says they {ll be open for breakfast at five am.

having a great time<1

tom

MTI · #33 03-25-2015, 08:04 PM

He's in hot water . . .

t walgamuth · #34 03-27-2015, 10:06 AM

the bus up to macchu picchu was a mercedes with standard tranny. the ride is hair raising with few places to pass. sometimes the busses have to stop and back up. the road is dirt except for some pavement on some of the curves. on the way up there was a huge rock slide they were breaking up. it looked to have taken out the road but it was repaired.

when we got to macchu picchu we walked straight through it and climbed the adjacent peak wayna piccu. we had to sign in at the gate. age was listed. the lady looked at me and asked if i could do it. i said i had been to the doctor two weeks ago and he had pronounced my heart blood pressure and sugar all normal, knowing i was planning this trip. i said i`d take my time and stop as necessary to rest.

the climb on wayna piccu was unbelieveably rough. it is a 700 foot vertical climb...which for a comparison lafayette indiana is jutst bout that much higher than the gulf of mexico. it is nearly all steps and most of them steep. a few cables to hold to but 90 percent not. toward the top they got steeper and the steps became broken rocks so every step had to be inspected before placing your foot. at the top there was a ladder and two tunnels which required removal of my pack and crawling. the view from the top was unbelievable. it was just five large rocks which were lying at various random angles requiring sliding on the bottom to reach the way down. on the return portion at the top we had to come down inca stairs which were no more than18 inches wide and so steep you had to basically crawl down them for about 30 meters. it took an hour and a half up and an hour down. i stopped to rest often and probably could not have made it without the coca leaves.

we had lunch in the nice restaurant at the summit which had nice large windows and an excellent view of the bus turn around.

our time being limited after lunch we hired Marco a lovely man of inca descent who guieded us around the macchu picchu site. we arrived at the train station to catch our 700pm train (last one of the day) and after much discussion amongst the staff they informed us that our tickets were for the day before... Doh! my fault. First they said we`d have to buy new tickets for the next day but after some negotiation they charged me thirty dollars to let all four of us to go immediately on the last train.

So many of the peruvians are such lovely generous people.

today we will amble back to cuzco via pisco. its raining now but probalby will quit soon.

tom

MTI · #35 03-27-2015, 01:04 PM

Tom, I'm not sure that photos could ever do justice to your narratives. The mental images are great!

Idle · #36 03-27-2015, 04:42 PM

Is it raining where you are?

SwampYankee · #37 03-27-2015, 06:44 PM

Outstanding, Tom!

t walgamuth · #38 03-28-2015, 08:43 AM

Yesterday we visited the ruins at Pisca. Actually they are above pisca. We drove into pisca and found a sign (a small miracle in itsefl) and turned left. The road up to the ruins had many switchbacks and many chuckholes and a place or two where the road was washed away eating away half the lane. At the top there were the usual gauntlet of vendors trying to sell us all sorts of hand made objects for very reasonable prices. Being late in the trip I have about all the objects i can lug.

We walked up. Even though we have been at 9000 feet or so for a week we suffered from the altitude there. it was 3450 meters above sea level. i stuffed a new wad of coca in my cheek and headed for the ruins. there were no signs in english and it turned out that the path we took did not go right up to the main ruin. about halfway to a good view of my son and grand daughter peeled off and went back to the gathering point. my daughter and i went on for another half hour. there were plenty of steps up and down but we persevered and got some great shots.

on the way down there were lots of livestock including sheep, bovines, and hogs staked near the road so they could graze on the berm. at one point there was a black piglet which must have been no more than 10 inches long which came into the edge of the road. as we neared it ran back into the pen with its mom and siblings. i stopped so the grand daughter could take a picture. one of the piglets was brown and had horizontal stripes along its side. we have never seen such markings on pigs in the us and speculated it had wild javelina blood.

I also saw a road kill cat with makings like an ocelot near the Moray sunken crop circles.

the inca who inhabited this part of the Andes were much much more densly populated than what the population is now. the best evidence is that there are many many terraces that are not now being farmed. it appears that small pox killed about 90 percent of them...all of the americas actually, leaving two vast continents in very sparsly populated status so that the europeans could more easily come in and dominate them.

After that we wound our way up and into Cuzco. We got here just before dark. We had a map but finding a place in the maze of Cuzco is not so easy. When we got to the square and circled it without finding our street we hired a cab and two of us got in it and followed him to the hotel. cost of cab was $2.

When we got there they did not seem to have a reservation for us even though it had been confirmed by email. no worries they had two lovely rooms. The hotel like most of downtown cuzco is built entirely on inka ruins with lots of stone on the lower portions of the walls some the most intricatly formed stones the inka are famous for. the front door is small with a lockable grilled gate and a man at it at all times. once inside it opens up to a large central space which looks like a lobby but has no roof. there are also two large rooms that function as lobby space that have heavy woodwork a massive fireplace and classy leather couches etc. to move from any room to another requires from one to more steps because presumably that was what the inca built. the room has lovely beds lots of space (for peru) and a large bath. there are no windows to the street but there is a large operable window into the courtyard with thick drapes.

after settling in i asked where i could park my rental car and they sent a young man with me to show where it was. we drove about a half mile through heavy traffic. we then drove into an ancient building with its roof removed. after scoping things out a bit i told the young man to take me back to the hotel. on the way there he formulated the plan to have me park on the street right in front of the door. he pointed out to me the security camera and made me park in exactly the place it will be observed.

after a brief rest we walked through cuzco to a restaurant recommended by the hotel staff which was on the main square. when we got there there was a large demonstration going on in front one of the big cathedrals there. at first we were amused and interested but then noticed a fairly heavy police presence and decided to get inside the stone walled restaurant in case any shots were fired.

the demonstration was by a group that wore hard hats we believe in support of the idea of moving the country ahead more. the opponent is inka who wants to preserve the inka way of life as much as possible (we surmise).

The food was lovely. I had a lovely trout steak on a bed of local veggies. It was most delicious but looked an awful lot like salmon to me. i asked the waiter but he inisted it was a trout. my daughter had lamb which was lovely with yellow rice, and my son had spagetti with local bacon. the granddaughter had french onion soup but ate little of it, saving room for dessert.

today i want to see the cathedral and saxxywauman, (sp) a massive fortification structure with vw and bigger sized shaped inca rocks, then we´ll catch planes to lima then miami and indianaoplis.

I.ll try to post pictures later but my camera has been out since the early part of the day at macchu picchu.

asta luego me amigos!

elchivito · #39 03-28-2015, 10:44 AM

Tom, great narrative!
Ship yourself some tea, you'll miss it when you get home.

barry12345 · #40 03-28-2015, 03:32 PM

Great travelogue as always Tom. I just have to ask.I had to hold myself back earlier. The devil just makes me do these things..

What brought on the 60.00+ fine? If it was chasing native women while in the buff chewing on coca leaves or something simular. Just forget I asked.

Also can you expand on the difficulty of finding your family? If trying to find people that you cannot even remember what they look like. While chewing coca leaves and eating candy types of things also do not respond. I already understand.

You do remember those two episodes you posted? Or are they gone? I do not know if I would have tackled the stairs either if really sober. If you do not remember that experience either go back on your thread and read about it.

.I always have liked and enjoyed your interpretations and after effects posted of your various travels.

For example I noticed the video of the American that was arrested for defacing the historical site in Athens awhile back... Screaming they just will not listen that my name is not Tom whatever it is as the police dragged him away.

Actually I hope that in reality that you and yours are all having a great time there. It is really nice to hear about it. I wish the wife and myself where there as well.

I was going to say a trip you will always remember as well but on second thought left it out.

t walgamuth · #41 03-29-2015, 07:02 PM

The $66 dollar fine for driving without headlights in daytime was a shakedown. the local police in some places do it all the time to the locals, my client told me.

I went to Ollantaytambo where we all were supposed to be the night before before I missed my plane, and after an hour or so they showed up there having taken a cab out from Cuzco as I had hoped they'd do.

We're all back now safe and sound. I'll write more later probably after I pick up the puppy and bunny from lovely daughter #4's house.

The coca in the amounts I used has no noticeable affect...no buzz or anything except you don't get tired as quickly especially at the altitude.

elchivito · #42 03-29-2015, 08:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by t walgamuth

The coca in the amounts I used has no noticeable affect...no buzz or anything except you don't get tired as quickly especially at the altitude.

Still makes you a druggie, you druggie.

t walgamuth · #43 03-29-2015, 10:38 PM

Hey el chivito they had some lovely livestock over there!

SwampYankee · #44 03-30-2015, 07:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by t walgamuth

The coca in the amounts I used has no noticeable affect...no buzz or anything except you don't get tired as quickly especially at the altitude.

Still, hope you don't have to take a pee test!

Sounds like a fantastic trip and well documented as usual. Welcome home! Now get up to speed on the little bruhaha that developed in Indian while you were away.

t walgamuth · #45 03-30-2015, 10:58 AM

The title is a bit hyperbolic but very close to absolute truth.

I just googled a lady we met in Ollantaytambo who was staying at our hotel.

We talked with her a while, while up in the un promoted ruins above the town where she had hiked after we had driven it in the car taking 45 minutes. We later asked her to have dinner with us. We had a grand time.

She had worked with Apes and I asked her if she knew Jane Goodall and she said she had been her protégé but they both have sort of backed away from Africa because of the danger from warring tribes there.

She said her husband had died in 1988 after writing ten books.

So I googled her and found her husband had shared the Nobel Prize in 1973.

You never know who you might meet on a mountain side in Peru!

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