Wednesday morning we got up, ate breakfast at our B & B (Casa de Wow!!), sorted our luggage (to get down to two backpacks and leave our bigger bags at the Casa), and dropped off our dirty clothes (the Casa has a laundry service and would have our laundry ready when we came back through). Next we headed off for the train station in Ollanta to catch our ride to Aguas Calientes. Since we hadn't been to the train station in Ollanta before and we wanted to make sure we arrived in time, we took a tuk-tuk, or as they are known here triciclo (or a motorized rickshaw) for S3 (three soles, or roughly $1.00 USD). I thoroughly enjoyed it! It was one of my favorite parts of the day!
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| One of the little markets on the way to the train station |
The train station in Ollanta is nice, complete with a waiting room/dining area for guests. You are supposed to check in 30 minutes before boarding, so we had a short wait until our train arrived. For our train ride to Aguas Calientes, Eric had booked the "Vistadome" train ride. It was one of our splurges for the trip at $56.00 per person (still not as luxurious as the opulent Hiram Brigham train). Our ride lasted about 90 minutes and allowed us to see all sorts of sites along the way: the Urubamba River, mountains, lots and lots of farmland, small villages along the way, hikers and porters on the Inca Trail, some of the jungle, etc. The "Vistadome" has larger windows (most open) that are supposed to allow riders to see more of the sites and allow for better photos. We took a couple hundred photos on the ride alone (a handful will have to suffice here). There was also a snack/meal and drink service. We were served Andina cheese with potatoes (flavored), and a mixture of quinoa and vegetables. We weren't expecting anything, so it was a nice little surprise.
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| Waiting/dining area at the train station |
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Ready for our ride! |
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| Eric tried Inka Cola for the first time! (Tastes like Big Red Soda) |
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| Quinoa w/ veggies |
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| Aguas Calientes |
When we arrived in Aguas Calientes (also known as Machupicchu Pueblo), our hostel had someone (Daniel) waiting to escort us to our place. We walked through a market and up a few hills, across a bridge, and along the river. It took less than 10 minutes to make our way to Terrazas del Inca. If you'll remember we mentioned a while back that we weren't really looking forward to Aguas Calientes. It is probably one of the biggest tourist traps in Peru, and everything feels like a rip-off. There aren't many good hotel options in Aguas. It seems that there are moderately priced, less-than-average quality places to stay, or overly-priced average places to stay - not much middle ground. Our hostel was a basic, no-frills place to sleep. We had a private room with an ensuite bathroom. Aguas Calientes is incredibly humid and damp - at least it was the whole time we were there. The town is located right on the edge of the jungle, making the weather and vegetation somewhat tropical. It rained several times during the day and a half we were there. Our room had a funky, mildew-ish smell and felt damp constantly. We left our windows open (we were on the second floor) to help with the odor. It was much more bearable this way. Another plus of having the windows open, aside from the fresh air, was the roar of the river right next to us. It was so nice to fall asleep at night listening to the Rio Urubamba right outside our window. The room was acceptable and it grew on us the longer we were there. We had great service and a great free breakfast; the location was great; and the rest of the facilities were pretty nice (they just don't focus a lot of attention on the rooms, apparently). I even had a long, very hot shower during the stay (after Machu Picchu), which was fabulous. We ended up not being in the room very much anyway (which we knew when booking), as we were out exploring most of our time there.
Perhaps it was the lack of expectations for Aguas Calientes, but I was actually kind of fond of the place. It is touristy, but charming and quaint. For those of you from the Midwest, it reminded me a lot of Eureka Springs actually. There are little shops, hotels/hostels, and more restaurants than you can count. There is also a great deal of beauty in Aguas Calientes. There are two rivers in Aguas Calientes that meet: Rio Urubamba and the Aguas Calientes. You can almost always hear the soothing roar of a river. There were so many unique types of vegetation and flowers around - it was gorgeous! We also saw more locals than we expected, despite it being such a touristy location. And yes, there are travelers everywhere, which is also kind of neat. In restaurants, pizzerias and pubs all over town, people are meeting and swapping stories over food and drinks. It had way more character than I ever expected.
Our first, half-day there we ate at two restaurants: Indio Feliz and Chez Maggy. In between we walked around and explored the city, wandering up hills and jetting through little side avenues. There are really only two major roads and the rest of the little town is just tucked away side-streets with lots of shops, restaurants and hotels. I read about Indio Feliz online and thought it sounded like a great place to eat - something unique and special compared to all of the pizzerias lining the streets. I didn't check the prices, however. When we were seated and looked at a menu we had a moment of shock and disappointment. We expected Aguas Calientes to be a rip-off, but we were immediately caught off guard. They had a set menu for S54 (54 soles, or roughly $20.00 USD). This may not sound like much, but most of our meals have been less than $20 USD altogether. So we asked our server if we could split, and without hesitation he said that'd be just fine. They even split the courses they brought out to us on to separate dishes. And when the food came... let's just say it was easily worth the price tag. We were so impressed! We had a Peruvian vegetable soup (carrots, cabbage, potato) to start, which came with bread and some veggies on the side; followed by our main course of a beef skewer with roasted vegetables and an orange, cracked pepper sauce, more roasted veggies on the side, and garlic, parmesan potato chips; next up was dessert, which was an apple tart with custard and fresh apples on the side. All of this added up to be a surprisingly tasty meal! We were thoroughly stuffed afterwards (and glad we split!) and delighted at how great the food had been. It was something unique and special compared to the other restaurants in the area, and it turns out, well worth the price.
Afterward we enjoyed strolling up and down the streets, viewing the small town square, visiting the church on the square, people watching, etc. While we were out we also had our Machu Picchu tickets printed for the next day and bought our bus tickets for the ride up to MP.
Later that night for dinner we went back out to Chez Maggy. This time we split the chicken fajitas, which were also very tasty. Anytime Eric has multiple sauces or "extras" to add to his meals, he is one happy guy. He had a red sauce (supposed to be spicy, but not), a white sauce that tasted like cheese, an avocado/guacamole mixture and refried beans to add to his fajita mixture. Again, we were super full by the end of the meal. During dinner we watched a group of tourists play a game that the restaurant offered. It reminds me of the game washers a bit, but is on a pedestal instead. You toss tokens into the top of this podium-like wooden box and you try to land in different holes for varying amounts of points. In the middle is a frog, and if you land your token in his mouth, you receive 20 points, making it very difficult for your opponent to win. After we finished our meal, I convinced Eric to play with me. It was so much fun! Perhaps this is yet another reason why I enjoyed Aguas Calientes so much. Each restaurant offered games - whether it was chess, Jenga, darts, board games, etc. It reminded me of a big camping trip where everyone just hangs out and enjoys a simple game together. What a fun vacation memory!
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