From Cape to cape. Expeditions by land and sea.

[love_the_life]

That road up from AC is pretty hairy at the best of times :shock:

 

[drron]

The guardian of MP-

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The last pic shows Incan water pipes.Although coming in the wet season has disadvantages such as for me ruling out climbing HP I felt the clouds added to the beauty and mystery of this place.

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[drron]

I asked our guide about this. In Peru you don't pay land tax until the building is complete so they leave them like that to avoid the tax.

That would definitely explain it.

 

[drron]

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Taking the next picture got me wondering.~3000 people per day visit MP but how many pictures are taken each day?

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The youngsters in that group were having fun racing up and down the walkway between mum and dad.
Now one of the Epidendrum orchids that I saw lots of from the train.have them growing in our garden.

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[drron]

The Sun temple-

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[drron]

The Sacred square,surrounds and views-

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So those pipes are from the diversion near Aqua Calienties.The river now is 300 metres lower so easy hydro power without having to dam the river.60% of Peru's power is hydro.

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So the people who climb HP finally get a view.As it is now after midday presumably the second group.
A wild geranium-

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[Milboo]

Enjoying the photos and remembering my own visit last year. I was lucky enough to spot an Andean Bear from the train on the train back to Olltay.

 

[drron]

I would have loved seeing a bear.But with my luck there was probably one on MP the day after I visited.But back to the pics-

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Now this fellow was not on HP but the smaller peak beside it.but he probably got a better view-

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That's another wild orchid.
And pools which are either hit by the sun on certain days or used as mirrors.

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[drron]

Getting closer to the condor-

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Now looking down at the road up-

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[drron]

Almost there-

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Finally the wings,body and head of the condor-

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[drron]

We now left the park to go and have lunch.It was at the Belmond but only their buffet restaurant.Definitely tourist class though I did like their trout cerviche.It started to rain as we left the park and became very heavy as we were eating so myself and Carlos delayed our start for the afternoon exploration for a while but eventually set out when the rain became lighter.M<rsdrron stayed at the hotel as we were doing the upper levels.It turned out to be a good idea as the rain continued for a while and the climb was quite slippery.
We did walk a little way up the Inca trail towards the sun gate but it disappeared into the clouds so turned back.Then disaster struck.We were holding up a German group who were making their displeasure known.Coming around a corner I noticed a clearing to the side of the path.Instead of keeping my eyes on the stairs I kept them on the clearing so misjudged a step and stumbled.As I was recovering the leading German decide to pass and gave me a shove in the back so down I went.Fortunately I was already close to the ground so could use my hands so I didn't hit the ground.Just a few minor abrasions which healed the next day.Certainly no apology was forthcoming.So to the pics-

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After the stumble I took it easier.My sight became even more acute spotting the smallest of orchids so having an excuse to stop-

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As you neared the top the views improved-

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[love_the_life]

Our guide took us up to the top to begin with and then we came down into the main area. It was quite a steep climb but luckily we stopped often enough for me to manage it ok.

 

[drron]

The last of this beautiful place-

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On the way down and it has started to rain again-

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It starts raining heavily as we exit.The exit is very muddy now so I wait at the bus station whilst Carlos goes and gets mrsdrron from the hotel.She did the right thing as she cannot afford to damage her right ankle again.Apart from the rain some of the steps on the way down had large drops.
So back on the bus for an even quicker ride in worse conditions.We have time on reaching the station to look through the stalls there.Very touristy prices.Finally board and set off.The snack is served soon after and is more acceptable-

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This time our seats are on the river side.Once again our half of the carriage is filled by a tour group but from Taiwan.Not as disruptive as their mainline cousins.

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[drron]

Scenes from the train-

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They put on a local dance-

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Then a fashion show but I kept watching the scenery.

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[drron]

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[drron]

At Ollyantambo virtually everyone got off leaving 6 of us on the slow trip back to Inka del Tambo.The line is obviously not in good condition and we were held up by a car parked on the line.But the last pics from the train-

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It was a fantastic day but by the time we got back to the room we were exhausted so it was room service.A club sandwhich for mrsdrron and a burger for me.Unfortunately the alpaca burger was unavailable.After that we slept soundly.

 

[amaroo]

It's a big day as a day trip. We found the two night stay was perfect, allowing three days of access to MP at a very relaxed pace.

 

[love_the_life]

It's a big day as a day trip. We found the two night stay was perfect, allowing three days of access to MP at a very relaxed pace.

We only had one night at the Lodge but we that gave us time to wander a bit and then next day meet our guide again who had travelled with us from Cusco but who stayed down in CA. The Hiram Bingham left quite late for the return journey so felt we were not rushed. Not sure I could have managed it as a day trip, more stamina than me drron.

 

[Oscarq]

Fascinating part of the world drron, shame about the weather, have experienced the 6 day Sulkantay trek with a climb to 4630 metres 2 years ago. We were lucky as MP had clear blue skies although extremely hot. Looking forward to more of your travel thread.

 

[drron]

It was a long day visiting MP on a day trip from Uramba.Would have been 3 hours shorter if starting at Ollyantambo which would be better.But I was happy that I saw everything I wanted to see.
As to the weather I actually enjoyed it.A much more mystical feeling when the place is in and out of the clouds.So once again comes down to individual preference.

But on to Sunday and once again a reasonable start at 0930.We had just hired a car and driver for 7 hours and it was up to us where we went.The morning was an easy decision.Sunday is the biggest day for the Pisac market and it was something mrsdrron should enjoy.Also it was not a significant difference in altitude to Uramba.What we were unaware of was this was one of the busiest days for Fiesta/Carnival in the towns and villages of the valley.This made it a wonderful day.So first pictures on the journey to Pisac starting off with balloons being put on to a tree via a front end loader-

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Every village seemed to have it's own theme.In this one everyone was cooking guinea pig so to us it was guinea pig village.Others had nicer themes-

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