I ARRIVED in Lima. Flew to Cusco.
Acclimatized to the high altitudes in Urumamba.
And climbed up to Aguas Calientes for the ruins of Machu Picchu via the expensive 360-view train.
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Well, 360 View is just “fancy” for me.
Not worth the $100 extra cost, or was it $75 each way?
People in my tour group perceived me to be much moneyed though, so that’s something. Haha.
Why was it more expensive, other than because it had great viewing windows?
Well, it ran on limited schedule. Thus, my early morning call.
Limited schedule, higher costs because not many people can afford it.
The locals, Peruvians, take the ordinary trains.
Only moneyed tourists do 360-view trains. Haha!
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Machu Picchu lived up to its reputation as a wonder of the world.
I took many postcard photos.
I was not disappointed.
The walk/climb was pretty good.
It never gets old.
At every different angle, there’s something to see.
It’s still Machu Picchu (the citadel), but it never is the same.
I only wished I could stay longer, or explore it on my own.
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And you actually can, but I was with a tour group so that didn’t happen.
Sometimes, I wished the tour guide would just shut up, and just take my photos.
I mean, obviously, the tour guiding was to educate other tourists.
But I have studied the Machu Picchu for the longest time!
I knew everything the guide was saying.
Except for his jokes which were not even funny.
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There are three Machu Picchus: the mountain, the citadel/fortress in ruins, and the municipality/district.
I did not climb the mountain because I was with old people’s tour group.
It’s about a 4-hour hike up, in addition to the 2-hour citadel walk around.
Machu Picchu means “old mountain”.
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The fortress (ruins) or the citadel is also called the Machu Picchu.
That’s the familiar postcard photo of the Machu Picchu that you always see.
The town of Aguas Calientes is also now known as Machu Picchu.
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It only makes sense to make things easier for tourists.
You want to go to Aguas Calientes to climb up to the Machu Picchu?
Why not go to Machu Picchu so you can climb the Machu Picchu mountain, or visit the Machu Picchu citadel?
Where have you been? —Machu Picchu!
It means you went to Aguas Calientes (nothing much there except food and shopping) for a stop to, at least, visit the citadel; and, at most, to hike the mountain.
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If I took less than 300 photos of the Machu Picchu, shoot me!
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In the Machu Picchu town (Aguas Calientes in olden times), I had a ‘cuy’ for lunch. Yes, a Guinea pig!
I ordered it deep fried instead of roasted.
Think of an animal bigger than a hamster.
Fried with its legs, head, and teeth intact.
Think meat that’s a cross between rabbit and duck.
No, nothing like chicken!
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There was llama meat on the menu, but I was advised against it by the waiter.
I don’t know if the advice was because the Guinea pig is more expensive than the llama steak, or the llama steak was not very good.
I was thinking that since I am in the Cusco area, maybe the llama meat was more easily available, so I agreed on the Guinea pig.
It turned out, the Guinea pig was more easily available in all of Peru, the llama meat was not.
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I looked hard for llama meat in Cusco, but they don’t serve it.
So, I had an alpaca steak instead.
It was very good. Juicy and all.
I can taste a subtle difference in taste.
Not like deer or buffalo or bison, so I know it’s real alpaca. (To be continued as “Peruvian escapade 2022”)/PN
