Urubamba, Peru. Excursion: Jewels of South America: Galapagos & Machu Picchu - Day 6

Today was the climax and culmination of a lot whole fun filled days of our overland tour which is now slowly drawing to a close.

We had an early start, heading to Ollantayatambo Inca Fortress which is considered to be the next best Inca site after Machu Picchu.  It also gave us a bit of an idea of what we were letting ourselves in for, walking-wise at Machu Picchu, as we climbed up the steps of Ollantayatambo Fortress.  The place was stepped up on the mountainside with breathtaking views below.  One can walk the Inca Trail from there.

Feeling a bit out of puff but pleased with ourselves, we headed to Ollantayatambo Train Station, a short drive away, in order to continue with our journey by train to Aguas Calientes/Machu Picchu.

Ollantayatambo Inca Fortress

We had a pleasant journey following a river through a valley. A snack was served during the journey and also there information given to train passengers via the loudspeaker system, as we passed areas along the river, ensuring that passengers got an idea of their surrounds, what they were directed to look at, and some history.  It was very interesting.  Time flew by.

At Aguas Calientes we had a short 5 minute walk through a colourful local market to the bus station where we caught a local bus up to Machu Picchu Citadel.  It like chaos when we arrived, the entrance was heaving with visitors.

On the train to Aguas Calientes & Machu Picchu

Fortunately Juan and Manning kept their cool and knew what what to do.  While everyone was having a last minute toilet break a distressed woman approached our group (seeing “Holland America Line” on one of our guides clip boards - she must have been on the Prinsendam or another Holland America Line ship), wanting to join us.  She couldn't speak much English so she was even more distressed.  She couldn't find her tour group.

Aguas Calientes

In the end Manning phoned around to find out what the lost guest's tour operator was (not our operator, it transpired, but another operator) and, after some more calls, one of the guides from her group was found.  An arranged meeting point was made to unite guide and guest.  It turned out that, inside the citadel, the woman had taken a wrong turn and lost her group.  She ended up outside the site but in actual fact her group was still inside.

In the meantime Juan started us on our tour of Machu Picchu, getting us through the chaotic the entrance without too much trouble.  Unfortunately it started to rain so we ended up having to put on raincoats or whatever we had to protect us from the elements.  Manning eventually joined us, walking fast to catch up with us but we were in fact walking slowly so that we didn't get too out of breath before the top, and bearing in mind the high altitude. 

Machu Picchu

We all made it to the top!  The group worked as a team, encouraging each other - which made their efforts worth it.  Views were magnificent when the clouds lifted.  It was well worth the climb.

We spent a bit of time wandering around the site with our guides, the rain abated to a drizzle.  I had a flimsy plastic raincoat on which didn't 'breathe' so I ended up becoming wet from my body's moisture evaporation.  I should have brought my umbrella along or, when leaving the Netherlands, packed my rain suit.  Oh well.  The time we had on the site was amazing and by the time we finished, it was time to have a late lunch at the Sanctuary Lodge which is just outside the Machu Picchu entrance.

After lunch we took a public bus back down to Aguas Calientes and had a bit of time to wander around the market or town before catching the train.

On the train back to Ollantayatambo Station a masked, colourfully costumed woman danced through the carriage.  She got one of the passengers up to join her.  He obliged, much to everyone else's delight.  Afterwards a steward and stewardess did a fashion show of knitted alpaca wool cardigans, scarves, etc.  It was all good fun and everyone clapped at their efforts!

From Ollantayatambo Station we went back to the hotel, in time for a lateish dinner.  I was too tired to have dinner and headed to bed.  Manning kindly offered to get room service if we wanted to eat in our rooms rather than in the restaurant.  Me?  I just wanted a nice hot bath and some rest.

All in all it has been another great day despite the rain. Everyone seemed to have so much fun.  Their teasing and jokes made it a very lively tour group.  Their happy faces said it all and it made my day.

PHOTOGRAPHS

 

 

 

Machu Picchu

Aguas Calientes

Back in Rijsbergen.

When it was time to board our flight in Toronto there was chaos.  Two flights were being boarded at gates side by side and it was difficult to hear announcements and people were getting confused.  There was an electrical thunderstorm in Toronto and lightning strikes stopped cargo loaders from loading cargo into the aeroplane's hold because it was unsafe.  Passengers had boarded the flight but all other operations stopped until the thunderstorm had passed.

We finally arrived at Schiphol International Airport about an hour later than expected.  It seemed as if all flights had landed all at once.  There were long queues at Passport Control and then there was chaos at the baggage carousel.  There were at least 3 flights that had all their luggage on one carousel.  Luggage got stuck on one belt that was trying to take baggage up to our assigned carousel so it caused a delay until a luggage operator cleared stuck item.  Then then another flight landed and its baggage was unloaded to our carousel to add to the chaos.  So it took a while before our luggage appeared.

We finally escaped from the airport terminal and made our way to the underground train station and caught an express train to Breda.  At Breda station we caught a taxi to Rijsbergen.  The taxi driver had just picked up someone from the station but was agreeable to take us as well, dropping his first passenger off first. 

Our route from the airport to Rijsbergen.

It was good to get back to Rijsbergen and, first things first, we had a shower.  Oh bliss!

We are tired and at this rate we are going to have an early night to try and get over the jet-lag.

In England and car hiccups.

Our route from the Netherlands to Wales.

Yesterday we caught the Chunnel train from Calais to Dover without any hiccups but there were delays on the motorway up to Wales because of some accidents.  Fortunately it didn't delay us too much and I was able to make it to a nurse's appointment well in time.

We are staying with friends for a couple of days and it was good to see them again when we arrived at their house.  Their dog, Kai, made us feel right at home; as did the 3 cats - elderly Strawberry and Lightning, and younger Tigger.

Kai (foreground) and Tigger (zzzing near the fireplace)

Paul booked the car in at a garage to first get a new left headlight washer fitted and then an MOT
(roadworthy).  Instead of hanging around at the garage while the car to get sorted we hired a van (cheaper than a car but it drove well!) so that we could get around and about for the day.  Sometime just after lunch I had an appointment for a routine eye test.  My reading glasses will have to be updated but my distance vision is still fine and the glasses didn't need to be updated.

Back at the garage we discovered that nobody there had listened to the instructions/read the instructions we had specifically noted regarding the car.  The car failed its MOT on the basis that the headlight washer wasn't working - BUT it should have been fixed prior to going through MOT.  Needless to say, the part was not in stock and has been ordered in for tomorrow, and another MOT organised for after the re-fit.

We ended up extending the van rental - fortunately it hadn't been booked by someone else.

Tomorrow is another day.

Time to Fly!

We woke up early and was ready for the taxi collection at 7:15am.  Paul's mum, Betty, was awake too so that she could say goodbye.  Our taxi's arrival time came and went and Paul started to get a bit worried.  I stood and waited outside while he telephoned to find out where the taxi was.  He was told that the taxi was on its way.  It eventually arrived about 15 to 20 minutes late.  It was very foggy outside so people were driving carefully.

We got to the train station in  Breda and were well in time to catch the high speed train to Schiphol Airport.  The train was full and there were no seats available so we stood, with our luggage, in the bicycle storage area of our carriage.  We weren't the only ones making use of the space.  Fortunately nobody brought their bicycles onto the train at that time.  The train made a stop in Rotterdam before continuing on to Schiphol Airport.

We had arrived in plenty of time and were treated to self-service baggage check-in which we had never seen before.  Usually one goes to a counter to drop the bags off and the ground steward/ess will weigh in the suitcases and sticker them.  This time we had to put our suitcases into an open cage one at at time, a sticker was issued which we tied to the suitcase, the open cage door  lowered, the suitcase emptied onto a conveyor belt and the cage door opens for the next piece of luggage.  The process is then repeated. The airport is certainly becoming more and more automated.

Next, Paul went to an enquiries desk to find out if there was an opportunity to upgrade our seats to business class - if the price was right.  Fortunately the price was within reasonable limits but we would not be able to sit together.  It doesn't matter too much - from the aeroplane seating plan it looks like we will be sitting behind each other.

We went through security without any hiccups and had a bit of a wander around before going to the business class lounge for a bit of a late breakfast.  We have been able to relax for an hour or so but must head to the boarding gate now!

Time to board the flight!

Oh... about the saga with the car breaking down whilst in Corsica.  Paul submitted VW's invoice and, to chance his arm, our ferry invoice (that we couldn't cancel therefore get our money back for) and extra accommodation cost invoice to KwikFit.  They have paid it back!  Wow!  Good result from KwikFit Netherlands!

Rijsbergen, Netherlands to Raglan, Wales

We slept in late this morning – we needed it - and woke up to another bright sunny day along with a heatwave. It wouldn't have been too bad if we were able to stay in front of a fan the whole day but unfortunately we were travelling in our personal sauna. And it was a good drive from Rijsbergen to the chunnel. Paul had booked a train and then later amended the booking so that we could catch a later train. We discovered that we were late for the chunnel check-in and had to wait an hour for the next available train. We spoke to someone at the information desk to see if we could get onto an earlier train as we felt that we had checked in on time. It turns out that Paul's amendment to the booking didn't work and we had still been booked on the earlier train – which we had to miss, and miss the next one that Paul had tried to book us on because it was full, and take the next available train.

We wondered how we would cope sitting in our personal sauna until it was time to drive onto the train but in the end we spent time in a duty-free shop (looking at books which we didn't get) at the chunnel terminal and didn't spend too much time in the hot car. Thank goodness for the airconditioning in the building otherwise we would have been well stewed by the time we left.

When we finally got on the train there was a delay by a good 20 minutes to half an hour due to a technical fault. Later when our tickets were checked, the train conductor went from vehicle to vehicle advising its occupants to complain if they wished – the fact that the air conditioning system was not working on the train and no water was handed out whilst we waited in the stuffy heat until the technical fault was fixed. We also think it was for the personnel's benefit because they have complained many times about the lack of airconditioning on the train and having to work in hot conditions but their head office don't listen to them but it may well be that conditions would improve if customers complained. The woman was pleasant enough and kept apologising but we were fine with the circumstances.

We finally arrived on English soil and headed up the motorway with the windows open, trying our best to keep cool. A couple of times I put my feet briefly out of the window to cool them down because the footwell became too hot.

We headed up to Bristol and ended up looking for a hotel or BnB to stay in overnight – it was getting late. We ended up staying in the The Beaufort Hotel in Raglan, rocking up at reception just as it was closing. Fortunately the bar was still open so Paul had 2 ice cold beers whilst I had something less alcoholic. It was good to cool down.

Unfortunately for us, the room we are staying overnight in is very warm despite having a window wide open. There is simply no breeze to cool the room down and no fans. 😓

I hope we can get some zzzzz!

Arrival in the Netherlands

Our flight was uneventful although I was a bit uncomfortable now and then. Having short legs I find it a bind not being able to reach the floor to rest my feet on flights so I ended up putting my legs on Paul's lap now and then so that at least I could even out the blood supply a bit! We also didn't sleep very well – more dozing than anything else.

We arrived at Schiphol airport a bit earlier than expected but it didn't matter – we didn't have anyone waiting for us. We got through passport very quickly – having chip EU passports. The scanners for chip passports was waaay shorter than the queues to see a human. We had a bit of a wait at the luggage carousel. Unfortunately a lot of luggage from a previous flight was still on the carousel and the computerised system could only load a suitcase as and when it found a space on the carousel. So our flight's luggage took a while to get onto the designated carousel. We finally got our luggage. Paul discovered that a padlock on his suitcase had been cut and a tie-wrap was in its place. No doubt customs had seen something suspicious in his luggage on x-ray and opened it. We think it was 3 bottles of vitamin water lying next to each other in the suitcase that heightened suspicions. At least someone was doing their job!

We ended up taking a train from Schiphol Airport to Den Haag and then caught a connecting train to Breda. We almost had the carriages to ourselves – silence was golden! When we arrived in Breda we found the respective bus number that would take us home to Rijisbergen. We were the only ones on the bus apart from the driver. We got off near the local doctor's surgery and walked the rest of the way to Paul's mum's place. I was knackered when we arrived. The weight of pulling 2 small suitcases plus the early morning heat of the day tired us out further.

After something to drink and a few moments to catch our breath, we went to fetch Paul's car from storage just down the road from his mum's house, and then went to Aldi to do a bit of grocery shopping. Unfortunately the car's air-conditioner has packed up so it felt as if we were travelling in a sauna, even with the windows wide open.

When we got back home (Betty's place) we had a refreshing shower and a well deserved afternoon nap. We managed, sort of. The heat in the attic room was almost unbearable despite windows being open so Paul found a fan and aimed it at the bed. The resultant breeze really helped to keep us cool.

After dinnertime we were able to relax. Melvin, the cat, came in to greet us but didn't stay for too long – I guess he was seeking a cool concrete floor to zzzz on to keep cool.