Day 138 of international places giving smiles – Remembering Inca ruins at Machu Pichu and its serene base hill station of Aguas Calentis.
For the first time in our lives, we are sitting in a train that has a glass topped roof and very big windows. The natural scenery of the mountains of Peru is unfolding from different angles around us. We are excited to be on this train trip on our way to see Machu Pichu which is one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.
We arrive at the base hill station of Aguas Calientes station where we were assisted to board the bus to go up the winding road to Machu Picchu. We kept looking at the spectacular view of the Urubamba River and its canyon. As we waited for our group entry we saw a six coloured flag atop a steep maountain in the background and wondered how difficult it must have been to perch that flag on top of that mysterious peak.
We had heard so much about the Lost City of the Incas, Machu Picchu, yet we were speechless at the first sight of the ruins! The uneven rocks on the sloping hills were cut into acres and acres of man made ancient structures, who built them, who used them, why were they abandoned, how long was this covered under the dense forest vegetation, nothing concrete is know about them, till they were discovered by mistake just a hundred years ago…everything about it seems different.
As our local guide regaled us with stories about its terraces, ceremonial shrines, steps and even the urban areas. We marveled at the effort that had gone to create these mysterious structures. This is supposed to be a place of high spiritual energy. There is also talk among locals of alien influences in this place.It cannot be explained in words, yet we could sense a mysterious magic in the air all around us.
We then had a sumptuous lunch at one of the restaurants with our Spanish friend. We stood in line to get a stamp on our passport… a once in a lifetime proof that we had actually visited this ancient ruins.
In the afternoon our four family members decided to go for a solo experience of the ruins…each one of us set up to rediscover ourselves among the ruins…sketching, meditating, sleeping, clicking pictures doing alone whatever appealed to us in our solitude…just me and the magical energy of Machu Pichu.
The loud, shrill whistle of the security guards beckoned us back to reality. It was time to leave this historic Macho Pichu and drive back to the base camp…this time in silence, each one of us engrossed in our own memories of Machu Pichu…it was the main reason why we chose to visit Peru which is so far from our native place in India!
After the exhausting walking of the Machu Pichu trek, we decided to have a relaxed day at Aguas Calentis which literally means hot springs. So we just had to make our way to the public baths. It was quite an experience soaking ourselves in the waters of different temperatures with pebbles below, giving natural underwater acupressure under our feet.
We then visited the colourful local church and did some souvenir shopping too. It was the first time we saw an actual train on the main market road of Aguan Calientis.
We rested back at the corner suite of our Sumaq luxury hotel The local drink is called pisco and we attended a live demonstration of Pisco, it was egg that gave the thisck frothy consistency to this alchoholic drink.
We also witnessed the making of a local food specialty called sevicha, instead of using fish he showed how to make it in the vegetarian alternative mushrooms! The result of this live peruvian cookery class demonstration can be described in only one word…yum!
In the second half of the day we went on a walk along the railway track to search for the mandor botanical gardens. After a long walk through what seemed like the dense Amazon rain forest we saw the first of the Mandor water fall. After 100 minutes of walking we finally reached the second water falls of Mandor…and then it was another 100minutes of walking back. Yet another tiring day…we were on our feet alone with the mountain forests from 3 pm.to 6.20 pm!
Our well-deserved reward was a fancy dinner at the luxury Sumaq hotel in Aguan Calintis.
On our third morning in the dense Peruvian natural hills, I decided that I had enough of my share of trekking! A morning walk is my option instead of the morning extremely hard trek that the kids went to! Was surprised to meet the only Indian tourist in Peru who had come from India and not based in US…a young girl who at 26yrs has backpacked across 40 countries on a budget…love the new Indian generation
Our children could not get the limited tickets for the guided Huyana Pichu tour, so they went on their own to an extremely treacherous almost vertical peak called Putukusi…It was sheer will power and spiritual energy help that saw them safely up the flimsy loooking storied high rope ladder and they really deserved a pat on their back to have made it to the top. Even the hotel manager was shocked at their achievement which is not even undertaken by hard core trekkers!
And guess what the children saw when they reached the top of the tough Putukasi peak?….the same this rainbow flag that they had seen two days ago from afar at Machu Pichu and wondered how people could manage to get up that almost vertical looking mountain…now they made it. The view of macho Pichu ruins again from this peak of Putukasi was mind- blowing, just like the tough experience of conquering this climb to the top!
Soon we were back on the train ride back to Cusco, this time along with our formal meals, we were also entertained with a fashion show and some clown humour on the train itself…a memorable end to a memorable visit!
So which place made you smile today?
Be grateful for the places that make you smile!
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