Train ride to MP, through some incredible scenery - Sacred Valley, all lush green and looming mountains. Train dropped us at Aguas Caliente. We checked into Sanctuary Hotel, right on the roaring river, and got the bus up to MP. We hired a guide who gave a very interesting explanation of how MP is considered to have been a centre of government, intellectual thinking, mystical gurus. Books have also suggested it was a trade gateway to the jungle on the other side of the Andes, with their greater choice of food, medicinal plants etc. The guide obviously loved it, and said he never got bored as he got great spiritual strength from the place. I on the other hand, was simply scared of the heights. I thought I would be ok after years of skiing, but this represented the type of open spaces that make my knees literally crawl... We had to go down some steps that at first looked as if they were on the edge of an abyss, and I'm ashamed to say I nearly sat down and wept. Vertigo is no fun. However, it was a wonderful experience to see the sheer scale and imagine how the stone was cut by hand, and fitted together so exactly. Skill you cannot imagine nowadays, even with the all the power tools B&Q can supply. Wonderful to be higher than the swallows darting around, but I have to admit that although the guide recommended we climb Wayna Picchu, I did bottle it.
Quiet evening in town and early night before an early morming tomorrow.
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