Our room is #721. Nice view of the Welcome to Peru sign and the airport. Comfortable beds and a tub for a soak if you choose. Toiletries and hair dryer. A desk, coffee maker, mini bar. Despite being so close to the airport we heard no airport noise and slept great. It's a convenient place to spend the night if you have a flight the next day.
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Comfortable double beds
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| Desk, coffee maker, mini bar |
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| Bathroom with tub/shower combo |
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Toiletries provided
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| View from our hotel room |
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| Hotel lobby/reception |
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| Hotel has a small indoor pool |
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| Juice choices |
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| Sliced meat and cheese |
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| Cereal |
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| Scrambled eggs were too mushy for me |
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| Coffee, tea |
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Out of 4 choices only these 2 kinds of fruit left
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| Bread for toast |
We are over to the airport by 6:30 AM for our Avianca #809 flight to Cusco which departs 8:40 AM. Just can't escape the lines! There are tons of people waiting to get boarding passes and to check their bags. Good thing we got here early. We finally get our boarding passes and get through security to our gate. We take a shuttle bus from our gate to our plane. Seat configuration is 2-2. I booked seats on the right side of the plane and had great views of the Andes. Beverage and a snack were served. Flight was more or less on schedule.
Avianca flight #809 from Lima to Cusco
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| Avianca #809 Lima to Cusco |
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| Shuttle bus |
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Boarding our plane
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| View of the Andes from the plane |
We collected our bags once we arrived in Cusco at 10:00 AM and found a guy holding a sign with our name. He helped us with our bags outside where we found John, our driver from Taxidatum. I guess he had to stay with the car so sent his friend? in to collect us?? I had prebooked our transfer from Cusco straight through to Ollantaytambo with Taxidatum which comes highly recommended. On our way out of the airport by 10:30 AM. Cost of this one way transfer was $32.00 with no sightseeing stops. Because we are seniors we got a slight discount on the price.
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Getting ready to land in Cusco
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| Arrival Cusco Airport |
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| Welcome to Cusco |
The scenery was nice on the drive which took about 2 hours. All too soon we are in Ollantaytambo about 12:30 PM but John can't drive the car all the way to where we get on the train. He helps us take our bags over to the El Albergue Hotel where we will stay on our return from Aguas Calientes/Machu Picchu. This hotel is right where you catch the train. We are able to leave our 2 large bags here at the hotel. In hindsight we could have taken a moto taxi or walked into town for some exploring while waiting for our train.
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| Think this is an alpaca?? |
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| On our way to Ollantaytambo |
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Pretty scenery
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| Ollantaytambo town |
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| Ollantaytambo town |
We take the 3:37 PM Peru Rail train heading to AC/MP. We have to be ready to board 30 minutes before departure so at 3:00 PM we are by the train tracks. The weather is warm, humid, slightly overcast with spots of sun. I had booked our PR train tickets before we left home. I booked Vistadome. Cost $134.00 for the 2 of us. We are in carriage A, seats 11 and 12 which are on the left side of the train giving us views of the Urumbamba River. Great scenery. Our seats are very comfortable. We have our 2 seats, then another couple in 2 seats facing us with a table in between them and us. During the train ride you get a beverage-hot or cold-and a pastry filled with elderberries, raisin, and cinnamon. The coffee was too weak for my taste but the pastry was good. It was a pleasant train ride. The Vistadome train has nicely padded comfortable seats and viewing windows that go up on the side and half way across the top of the carriage. On board we brought my purse, a lightweight back pack of camera/video gear, and 2 small rolling carry ons that held our trekking poles and clothes and toiletries for the next 2 nights. Luckily there was space by our seats for the 2 carry ons. We saw people with much larger bags than we had so......... There is supposed to be a 11 lb. limit but none of our gear got weighed.
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We are in carriage A/Peru Rail train
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| Comfortable seats with a table |
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View from front of carriage A
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Our seats are on the left side with a view of the Urumbamba River the entire train ride
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We arrived on time to Aguas Calientes at 5:02 PM. At the train station exit in town we are surprised to see a man with our name on a sign. Richard tells us that he is here to take us to our hotel Tierra Viva. I have booked 2 nights from 5/3-5/5/17 at this 43 room hotel in a twin room for $306.00 total. Breakfast is included. From town to the hotel is around 5-10 minute walk. Check in is super quick and easy. Staff are efficient and friendly. We're told breakfast starts at 4:30 AM!! Our room #408 is clean and furnished with all we need. There are 2 beds, a desk, a table and chairs. The bathroom has toiletries, a hair dryer, and a shower-not the bathtub I was expecting. 😞 The WI-FI works fine. I decide to charge my video camera and my batteries for my 2 cameras. We unpacked a little and decided to head out for dinner. In the lobby there is a table set up with teas and coffee for the guests. There's also a nice seating area. We see the room where meals are served. This is where breakfast will be served tomorrow morning. I asked the receptionist for a map of town if they had one. They did and he showed us how to get to the restaurant I had picked for our dinner. He told me it was a good choice. I'm glad to be wearing my hiking boots as the pavement is not even. There's a bit of fine/misty rain falling now.
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Sign by the train station in Aguas Calientes
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Richard is the guy with the tan slacks holding the hotel sign at the train station
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AC town
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| Machu Picchu Pueblo is another name for the town of AC |
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Consettur office
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Our hotel
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| We are in room #408 |
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Comfortable beds
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Room had a desk, TV, small table with 2 chairs
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Toiletries provided in the bathroom
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View from room
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Hotel has a colorful elevator
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Reception area
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Lobby sitting area with for sale items on display
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In the lobby area 24 hr. coffee and teas are available
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We walk uphill slightly and soon arrive in town at the main square area. Here there are shops, restaurants, the Cosettur office. With the map from our hotel it's easy for us to find our restaurant which happens to be located on a main street.
Incontri del Pueblo Viejo. Very busy. Had read reviews stating this was a good place for brick oven pizza. Since it is going on for 8:00 PM which is later than we normally eat dinner a lighter meal is what will work for us. We have the diavola pizza-tomato/pizza sauce, mozzerella, spicy pepperoni. It is a tradition with us that no matter where we are on a trip we have pizza at least once. This pizza was yummy with just the right amount of blending of ingredients. The crust was perfect for me-not too thin but not too thick. Cost of dinner 38 soles without tip. Don't think credit cards are accepted here.
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Dinner at Incontri del Pueblo Viejo
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| Menu |
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We ordered the Diavola pizza
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Very busy
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Yummy pizza!
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Walking back to our hotel we heard singing and saw a large gathering of people-lots of children. There was guy dressed funny and he had a monkey puppet that was a hit with the kids. He'd say something in Spanish and the kids would yell a response. We stayed to watch for a little while and then walked back to our hotel for a good night's rest before tomorrow and
Machu Picchu!
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| Entertaining the kids |
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| My monkey and I |
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| Main square of AC town |
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