RTW 2011: Day 5

Josh and I got up early once again, meeting our tour contact to ride to the train. We had a three hour train ride into Aguas Calientes, the town where you catch the bus to Machu Picchu. It was a very scenic and beautiful ride, and FYI the Vistadome train and the regular train have the same windows, the difference is in the seats. We were on the regular train though, and were comfortable the whole ride.

We arrived right before lunch time and met our guide for the next two days, Celso. After checking into our hotel we had another buffet lunch. Then we hiked for 3.5 or 4 hours up the railway to a nature park with a waterfall. We saw a lot of beautiful flowers and mountains along the way, including Machu Picchu from below.

Apparently begonias are native to Peru, because they were growing everywhere. Celso said there are a huge number to varieties in Peru, as well. There were also orchids and hydrangeas among other things.

It was a long hike, and by the time we got back to our hotel I was so exhausted. I crashed on the bed for a while. After recovering a little bit, Josh and I went to the Hot Springs. What we hadn’t realized is that you have to climb a mountain to get to the springs. It was a long walk with many stairs. Finally, we arrived, and the springs looked a little bit questionable, probably due to the locals and the backpackers soaking in them that haven’t bathed in a while. We got in anyway, and the warm water was nice for relaxing our bodies, regardless of whether it was not as clean as we might hope.

After soaking away at least part of our soreness, we walked back through town looking for a place to eat. There were so many people calling and yelling for us to come into their restaurants that we just rushed past them all and picked a restaurant on the river that was very quiet. Ahh…