A Walk By The Tracks Before leaving Aguas Calientes

The next day we awoke exhausted and sore after our Machu Picchu experience.  The stair climbing and general hiking around the site the day before had lingering effects including sore knees and muscles.  (My foot is acting up badly so it too was barking at me this morning).  We decided therefore to take it easy for the day.
 

We had learned about a waterfall not too far from town and so we slathered up with sun screen and grabbed our walking sticks and off we went following the train tracks (as instructed) and making our way towards the waterfalls and gardens which were a mere 3 km away.
 

It was a lovely day and we were following tracks through the valley with the mountains soaring above us.  We were thrilled to see some of the ruins of Machu Picchu from the ground...making us appreciate the effort it must have taken to build the city in the first place.

 

 

Our walk took us through two Railroad tunnels (scary indeed) and alongside the river which is fascinating by itself as it is literally a torrent which passes over rapids and through narrow spots where it tumbles past very violently).

 

 

 

We noticed a number of young trekkers speeding past us as we made our way beside the tracks.  We were sure that we were all headed to the same site...but when we finally reached the entrance to the falls, we discovered that these hikers were headed another 4 kms beyond where we stopped so they could catch a bus and thus avoiding the train and the high cost of transportation. 
 

Having seen no one else, we were sure that we were the only ones to make the effort to visit the falls today, so we were convinced that we were on the "path less travelled".  We paid a small admission fee and were granted entrance to the Gardens of the Mandor Ravine.
 

Another trek awaited us as we made our way through the thick vegetation toward the goal...the falls...

When we finally arrived (I was getting very tired by this point as we had been hiking for over 3 hours) they were very pretty.  Paul found the energy to go down to them and to get his feet wet and to splash some water on his head.  I was taking pictures and we were considering a quick skinny dip being as we were in a remote area which we were convinced was off the beaten track - when I turned and was greeted by a tour group who had just arrived!!!  Our remote and isolated experience was neither as isolated nor as unknown as we had thought!!!  Good thing we weren't caught in the all-together!!!

  

  

 

 

We started our hike back and by the time we returned tired and sore but with a feeling of accomplishment some 6 hours after we had started.  Our "down day" plans had not materialized after all.
 

After a short nap we were off to supper in the first rain storm since we had arrived here. As we finished our meal the skies cleared and we were treated to a beautiful starry night framed by the peaks of the Andes....magical!

The following day - the 27th of January - was a sad day as we faced the fact that we had to leave Aguas Calientes and to acknowledge that the Machu Picchu leg of our adventure was over. 

We wandered around the city for a time and went for lunch at a restaurant overlooking the river.  A live group came along and played Andean music while we ate our lunch.

 

 

 



 

 

At the appointed hour we got on the train which took us back to Cusco where we would spend one night before catching the plane to Puerto Maldonado. 

On the train we had the opportunity to see the wonderful mountain views again and we also had a little bit of entertainment as the crew demonstrated a local dance just before a fashion show where they were trying to drum up some additional business.

We arrived without mishap in Cusco and are both feeling a bit sad that we had to leave the next day.  We thoroughly enjoyed our sacred valley experience...having made some nice memories and despite some of the setbacks (like altitude sickness) we know we will remember this leg of the journey as one filled with learning and with adventure.