Peru and Bolivia 2005, part 18 (Aguas Calientes)
The next morning, which was really cold, I got up before 5 am in order to catch a train to Aguas Calientes. The train first goes uphill, i.e., the rail line goes zigzag, while the train goes forwards and backwards. When it got to the top of the hill, we continued in just one direction. The valley of the river Urubamba gets very narrow as the train approaches the area where Machu Picchu is located. As a matter of fact, the train is the only transportation to Aguas Calientes, which is also called the Machu Picchu village. Simply, the passage through the gorge is just too narrow to have a road in addition to the railway. After the station where practically all tourists get off there is only one other station, but it is of some local significance. Admittedly, from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu there is an asphalt road, but that’s it as far as contemporary infrastructure is concerned. In order to get to Machu Picchu, there is also an old Inca trail used by people who prefer walking and hikers whose goal is usually to get to the famous site on foot.
As the departure of the train was early, so I arrived in Aguas Calientes early and went straight to the hotel to check in. The village is at around 2050 m a.s.l. and it basically only serves for the placement of tourists visiting Machu Picchu. The name suggests that there are thermal springs there, but it practically consists of a spacious square, a flat part next to the railway line and the Urubamba, a creek that running down a steep slope flows into the Urubamba and two parallel walking streets that spread along the creek. The streets hold numerous small hotels, restaurants, cafes, souvenir shops, etc. And that’s also it.
Since I had a lot of free time, I went to “visit” the place. As it lives solely on tourism, everything is very made up and does not resemble the places I visited before. Going up and down a few times, I decided to follow my instinct that was triggered by a board saying “massage” and made an appointment for the evening. The idea was to go to bed right after the massage, since I had to get up the next morning before 5 am!
Then I went to an internet cafe. Afterwards I went for another walk. Then I went to the green market, had a freshly squeezed pineapple and papaya juice, and bought some fruits. Then I went to the square, went by the train station, went up to the hotel, bought water,... In other words, I wanted to die of boredom. Then I realized I was not used to doing nothing. It’s difficult with some of us, humans! When there’s a lot of work, some of us tend to complain, want to have nothing to do and have a rest, and when we do get a chance for something like that, then we are bored and would like to do something. Since I could not come up with anything, I eventually went back to the hotel and even had a nap. Afterwards I had a lunch at a Mexican restaurant and then I continued to kill the time.
I have to admit that I organized this segment of my journey, both in Cusco and in Aguas Calientes, extremely poorly. I did see everything I wanted, but I could have used my time better and not waste it so carelessly. I had a lot of idle periods and that is simply a pity. For instance, it was only after my visit to Machu Picchu that I became aware the tickets were valid for 24 hours, which means that I could have gone up already that afternoon and visit the site first then and after that the following morning, rather than pointlessly keep on killing the time in two uninteresting streets.
Be as it may, no matter how slowly, the time did pass and thus my massage appointment was getting closer. Before going there, I did go for yet another walk, but during this one I managed somehow to twist my left leg and first I felt a pain in my knee, but then the pain moved to the back of the knee and stayed there. It soon started to hurt me seriously and I had difficulties walking. It was in this state that I went to have the massage. Although the constant sensation in my leg prevented me from relaxing completely, I did manage to enjoy it. Even the pain subdued for a while and I could move my leg without too much discomfort. However, as I was returning to the hotel, the pain came back and I had a huge problem with every step I made. The idea that I should go to visit Machu Picchu with such leg filled me with trepidation, as well as the awareness that I still had a week’s worth of visits planned. I practically went to bed immediately, but there was no way I could fall asleep. I tossed and turned and could not find a proper position and even less fall asleep since the pain was constantly present. This time I had no medical drugs with me and I was truly horrified and miserable. I couldn’t believe it might happen that I was there and unable to go to visit Machu Picchu the next day since it was the main reason why I went to this destination in the first place!!! And then I suddenly had an idea!
Well, now the medical prudes should skip this paragraph. Don’t say later I didn’t warn you! So, at some point in my life I attended a course on the reading of aura and working with it. At the time when I practiced this regularly and diligently I could see the aura around other people with my own eyes, sometimes even its colour. I could also clearly sense it with my own hands and practically feel its consistency (elastic, non-elastic, firmer, softer...). Since I thought of this, I sat up in my bed and started to clean the aura around my left knee. I did it for some 5 minutes and then I lay down. The pain weakened significantly and I fell asleep.
I woke up as early as 4 am, which was facilitated by other tourists who had already started to be active and were making too much noise. I tried to sleep some more, but eventually got up before 5, had a quick breakfast and headed for the bus that was to take me uphill. When I got to the terminal, there were already a lot of buses and people there.
But, let me finish the story about my knee. When I got up and had to go down to the dining room, the pain was still there, but considerably less, so I walked very cautiously and slowly. However, I had certain worries about the street from the hotel to the terminal as it was going downhill and contained steps from time to time. Nevertheless, that early morning walking was very much like the final scene from the movie “The Usual Suspects.” At first, I almost limped, but as I went down, the pain was disappearing and by the time I got to the terminal I was walking completely normally. The smile came back to my face.