Recovered we spent our first day in Cusco organizing our trip to Machu Picchu. Fast it became clear that it would be one of the most expensive excursions so far. Our plan was to go to Machu Picchu Pueblo, stay there a night and head to the ruins early in the morning, before the day tourists arrive. Officially you can only go to the pueblo by train. Some operators offer bus rides, but we do not know where they actually stop and how much walking would be included. The train itself does not leave in Cusco. Either you take it in a suburb (Poroy) 20 minutes away or midway in Ollantaytambo, a 2-hour drive away. For tourists the train is freaking expensive, even in the low season. For the shorter ride we paid 50USD each, whereas Peruvians pay only 10 Soles (4USD).
We bought a bus ticket to the train station from an operator to be sure to be there on time… big mistake. They outsourced the ride to a local driver, who was determined to fill the bus. The result was that he waited and promoted the ride until the last possible second and to made up the delay by driving like a maniac to the train station.
The train ride is very well organized and pleasant. There are windows on the roof and waiters serving a little snack and a drink. We did not make many photos since we hopped to sit on the better side on our way back.
Very early the next morning we took the bus up to Machu Picchu, although it is expensive too. We heard from a lot of travellers that you be rather up early and have time to hike up one of the mountain surrounding Machu Picchu than wasting energy on the way up. It was the right decision, we were one of the first visitors and for a while we were nearly to only one on the site. Compared with other Inca ruins, Machu Picchu is well preserved and it is still impressing, how they brought up all this material and how they built this city. It is a beautiful location at the really end of a valley. Still it is not clear why they choose this place and all of its meanings.
Around 7.30AM the place gets really crowed, many tours arrive and the mystical atmosphere vanishes. We did not hike up a mountain since I was sick and needed to see a doctor. Otherwise this would have been a great experience.
Back in the pueblo we were looking for the heavily promoted international clinic. Either is was closed or not open yet but after searching for a while we went to the local clinic and asked for a blood test. I just wanted to be sure that I do not have hidden malaria, yellow fever or some sort of parasites. The lady in the labor was very nice and in between listening to music and checking her Blackberry she did some tests without gloves. At least she used sealed needles. Once in a while other doctors popped in to talk or to wash a kitchen knife. Seems that I did not have malaria or yellow fever but they called me into another room to treat my stomach issues. The doctor wrote down a list of things she would give me, as it was all in Spanish I thought I would get pills or so. Well it turned out that I got the biggest injection ever, directly into the vein and without any consultation. When I saw the big injection I asked for side effects. The doctors looked very surprised and told me: “If you are not allergic it is not a problem. You are not allergic, are you?”
With new blisters and antibiotics in the pocket we went to the train station. Unfortunately the heavy rain caused a landslide and all trains were delayed. When our train finally left we got the best seats for pictures but it was already to dark to take some.
The injection and the antibiotics helped and I am a lot better now. Regrettably being sick destroyed some of my daydreams. I could never be a secret agent or underground fighter and suffer physical pain for the cause; I just would give in too soon.
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