29.06 - Day 10 - Cusco to Machu Picchu (III), PER

Cusco to Machu Picchu, Peru

Tuesday 29th June 2010

A relative lie in until 8am. Freddy has promised a special treat for breakfast but before that there are more important matters at hand. A football will win friends the world over and in the foothills of the Peruvian Andes is no exception. 

For England: Matt & Krish. 

For Peru: Freddy & Hueblo. 

We gasp for breath after any four yard dash and despite there being four beers at stake succumb 3-2 in a best of five goals. Double or quits we restore equality and pride with a thrilling 3-2 win. 

I'm finally feeling fully better now (if unfit) so am enjoying the food. Our last breakfast consists of eggy bread, toast, cinnamon porridge finished off with a freshly baked cake. On a single gas stove? There follows a Q&A with the crew from which we learn, amongst other things, that Bicente has a nine hour walk home after we leave (two days at our pace), and Krish and I are the oldest by three years.

We pack up, say our farewells and head off with just Freddy, walking 30 minutes before jumping into a rickety minibus taxi to a small town, collecting another taxi to Ollantaytambo. Here we come across our first Inca ruins, built into the hillside over-looking the town. 

After dropping our stuff in a restaurant we’ll later be having dinner in, slurping a thick banana milkshake, meeting Freddy’s girlfriend Layla Patricia and watching Spain vs Portugal (Last 16, Spain win 1-0) we cruise into the Inca terraces. Fortunately it being a festival day means no entrance ticket needed and we waltz in. Our waltzing ceases abruptly one third of the way up the steep uneven steps.

We persevere, both against fitness, Krish also against vertigo and are rewarded at the top by impressive sweeping views along the valley and also by the intricate stonework. How did they get such huge stones up here? With no guide we may not appreciate the significance of the site but it’s still majestic nonetheless. Could we skip the early start tomorrow, enjoy a bed and a lie in and miss Machu Picchu – a ruin is a ruin right?

Early dinner back in the main square after meandering around the thin streets and alleys (all of which have purpose built trenches at the side for running water) so that we can catch a 17:50 train. Except that with the floods they had back in February, we have to bus it for 30 minutes, then wait 40 minutes for an 80 minute train ride – covering a measly 27kms. That said it is a very elegant train. 

Freddy has left us for now at this point – we get the tourist train and he a locals one a little later. We feel lost without someone telling us where to go. We’re assured there’ll be someone at Aguas Calientes from our hostel waiting for us at the station. 

Well, there almost is. One placard reads “Matthew Hones.” We assume this is me and roll with it. Krish finds this funny enough that he insists on filling out my registration form at the hostel just so he can write Matthew Hones thereby confirming it as my Peruvian name.

A twin room, en-suite and we both promise not to go camping again this holiday, or maybe ever. The first shower in three days is blissful and to settle into a proper bed with a duvet is a joy. Just a shame the alarm is set for the following day for 4:30am.

On… Marriage

If one villager wishes to marry someone from another village, both villages come together to meet and discuss the proposal – as if a giant council meeting. Once they agree the couple choose which village they plan to live in and the people of that village come together and build a simple stone house with pen for animals for the newlyweds. If there are disagreements over the wedding there may be fights between the villagers using the traditional weapon of sling shots. Perhaps less so in this day and age but some villages still do have ceremonial fights in memory of past conflicts.