Back to Cusco

6 April

Yesterday we toured Machu Picchu and Eddie, our guide, gave us a 2 hour walking tour of the site. There are still many things unknown about MAPI, yet to be discovered and archaeologists continue to excavate here and at many other sites in the region.

After the tour, the bus brought us down the mountain and we went for lunch at Pueblo Viejo in Aguas Calientes, which has delicious authentic Peruvian food! There is a working grill in the middle of the restaurant and when you walk in it feels and smells like you're entering someones' home. That incredible smoky smell of a grill! nothing like it! Their buffet is outstanding and they offer wine and beer, as well. You can enjoy the sights on the street while you wait and talk about the trek. We were then treated to an excellent Andean music performance by a local band called Amaru Pumaq Kuntur!

Afterwards, we walk through the town to the railway station for a 2 hour ride back to Ollanta and then a 2 hour van ride back to Cusco. Once the train gets going we are flanked by the raging Urubamba River and people can't help but stare and take pictures, commenting on it's force. It is the end of the rainy season, April... but this season the rain is pretty heavy .... 

The Peru Rail Vistadome train is very comfortable and they do serve drinks and snacks on the way. The scenery is pretty fine as you leave Aguas Calientes and head back to Ollanta,  the mountain walls slowly open to a widening valley. Lush, bromeliad covered walls give way to higher, drier mountains and beautiful scenery. There are agricultural terraced ruins along the way visible on the hillsides and you find yourself daydreaming of the things you've just seen and learned about and wondering how many years it took to build all of these incredible formations. 

We arrive in Cusco and say goodbye to Eddie, our guide who had taken such good care of us for the last incredible 5 days. Sure we had the best porters who set up and took down our camp, cooked for us and made sure we were most comfortable but Eddie was our cheerleader, our inspiration and knew this trail like the back of his hand. And at times, you may need a cheerleader on this trail...he had run this trail as a marathon quite a few times in years gone by and even led races for groups! None of us, even those of us who run, could imagine running these steps as a marathon, EVER! There were walkways so narrow and high it just boggles the mind that anyone could run these mountains, on these steps of stone! 

Eddie kept us on track and paced us for arrival to our designated campsites. He gave us site lectures as we came to each spectacular ruin, told stories and kept us laughing.
This was quite a memorable goodbye on a trek.......