Westysclan World Cruise 2023

From the hotel/resort in Urubamba we boarded our little buses in our groups of 10 with guide for the journey to the train station in Ollantaytambo. Like Cusco it looked like a place that it would have been good to have more time to explore – but the main goal was Machu Picchu!

I don’t know what I was expecting of the train but the Inka rail experience far exceeded any expectations. We were escorted with music and dancing to our carriage. As well as large side windows, the carriages had windows in the roof for an almost 360° view. We had been told we would have lunch in the train – I was expecting a little boxed lunch. Instead we got a welcome drink of Pisco Sour and a 3 course meal (of course the entree was a Quinoa Salad!) with wine.

After a journey of 90 minutes we arrived at the town of Machu Picchu. From the train station it was a walk through the market and across the bridge to catch the 24 seater bus that takes you up the switch back roads to Machu Picchu itself.

Here we experienced our first (and only) hiccup of the tour. We were at the head of the queue and then we had to step out of the queue, back against the shop fronts, as what seemed like a never ending line of tourists replaced us in a line that disappeared up the street. Had we come this close only to miss out?

To make a long story short – in the past the procedure for the tour company that we were with was that the guide for each group was given the required number of tickets for the bus by the Inka Rail and then groups would get directly onto the bus. But it seems like the train and bus companies have had a falling out and they wanted us all to have an individual ticket and our passports checked before allowing us onto the bus!

Feeling a little bit stressed we were eventually on the bus. I started being brave and watching our journey but as some vocal negative passengers started having a moan/jest about the lack of guard rails on the road and the occasional stop and reverse to let the descending bus pass on the narrow road, I decided that closing my eyes and concentrating on my breathing was the best idea.

The entrance to Machu Picchu was very crowded but it didn’t take that long to get inside. Once inside we climbed steadily up with frequent stops to catch our breath. It wasn’t a lot of steps but the altitude had the effect of making it a bit harder. Once at the top we were rewarded with spectacular 360° views.

Along the walk, our guide explained the history of Machu Picchu both ancient and modern. She also explained the many features and purposes of the structures.

Fortunately, once inside Machu Picchu, it did not feel crowded. The flow of people was well controlled by well marked walkways.

All too soon it was time to start the homeward journey down the hill in the buses, back through the market and to the train station.

For the journey home we used a Peru rail train. It still had the same style of 360° window carriages. We got a box of snacks for the homeward journey – no quinoa salad but a bar and biscuits made of quinoa. Both were very tasty. It was soon dark, so with no scenery to watch we were entertained by a performer and given a fashion parade of high end alpaca and vicuna garments.

It was very dark as we returned to Ollantaytambo to be taken back to hotel/resort in Urubamba. We had dinner at 8 pm and once again fell into bed exhausted.