Day 5: OLLANTAYTAMBO TO AGUAS CALIENTES, in which I get very excited about trains and later get spooked by some butterflies
We set off early for the train, which was a beauty, matched only by the scenery as it travelled towards the Peruvian cloud forests.
We disembarked at Aguas Calientes, a town which has acquired great affluence over the years thanks to its proximity to Machu Picchu. Interestingly (to a train nerd like me), there are no roads leading to this town so everything is delivered by train, even the buses that take tourists up to Machu Picchu. The train tracks go straight through the heart of the town and the locals take an alarmingly casual approach to them.
We stopped off at a rather western coffee shop, where I finally ingested chocolate for the first time in days, and then I put that energy to use walking alongside the river to a museum and orchid gardens. The altitude here was a little lower than it was in Cusco, which was a welcome relief, but I was still breathing heavily by the time I reached my destination.
On the way back, we called in at some butterfly gardens, which proved to be both more interesting and more frightening than I was expecting, particularly when the butterfly expert showed us his shed full of enormous caterpillars and butterflies in jars.
After that, it was time for more strained breathing as we walked back uphill to the hotel, and then after dinner, we all headed off to get an early night ahead of the big day: our trip up to Machu Picchu.
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