On the morning of day three our group, and several other groups with different companies, go zip lining in the valley leading up to Machu Picchu. Althoug I'm excited, I'm more excited that it is already day three and I'm going to Machu Picchu tommorrow! The whole operation is very professional and it seeems to be the bigest and busiest business in the small town. There is good equiptment and clear information from the instructors, all of whom speak really good English - my Spanish is getting a bit better, but not that much!
We will be going on five zip lines including the longest and the fastest in South America. The only bit I don't like is that we have to put our hand on the wire (behind the running block) to slow down. Even with heavy gloves on this seems stupid. The zip lines go back and forth across the valley and there are even opportunities to hang upside down in our harnesses. Despite the number of people we are all processed fairly quickly, and it takes just an hour and a half to make the five crossings over the river which, when suspended from a wire, seems very far down.
Another two course lunch - avacados and spag nol - then we begin the final trek to Aguas Calientes, the town at the base of Machu Picchu. The walk is beautiful. It goes all along the train tracks, and I don't even envy the people passing in the airc conditioned 'Peru Rail' carriages. Every now and then we get a glimpse of Machu Picchu high above us. However, other than a few buildjng shapes, there is little hint as to the amazing ruins above us.
Three hours later we arrive in Aguas Calientes, a town that exists solely as a base for visiting the ruins. The town in hemmed in by the fast flowing river on one side and mountians on the other - the train tracks running right through the middle. For those who are walking instead of catching the bus tomorrow morning (i.e. me) its a 4:00 start in the morning. 'Luckily' (I tell myself) there is no hot water in our hostel, so I don't have to waste any valuable sleeping time on showering - which would be pointless anyway as tomorrow I will be climbing 1870 or so steps to the ruins.
We will be going on five zip lines including the longest and the fastest in South America. The only bit I don't like is that we have to put our hand on the wire (behind the running block) to slow down. Even with heavy gloves on this seems stupid. The zip lines go back and forth across the valley and there are even opportunities to hang upside down in our harnesses. Despite the number of people we are all processed fairly quickly, and it takes just an hour and a half to make the five crossings over the river which, when suspended from a wire, seems very far down.
Another two course lunch - avacados and spag nol - then we begin the final trek to Aguas Calientes, the town at the base of Machu Picchu. The walk is beautiful. It goes all along the train tracks, and I don't even envy the people passing in the airc conditioned 'Peru Rail' carriages. Every now and then we get a glimpse of Machu Picchu high above us. However, other than a few buildjng shapes, there is little hint as to the amazing ruins above us.
Three hours later we arrive in Aguas Calientes, a town that exists solely as a base for visiting the ruins. The town in hemmed in by the fast flowing river on one side and mountians on the other - the train tracks running right through the middle. For those who are walking instead of catching the bus tomorrow morning (i.e. me) its a 4:00 start in the morning. 'Luckily' (I tell myself) there is no hot water in our hostel, so I don't have to waste any valuable sleeping time on showering - which would be pointless anyway as tomorrow I will be climbing 1870 or so steps to the ruins.
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