Machu Picchu

The days in Cusco were for us - like for almost all other tourists there - the starting point for visiting the biggest tourist highlight in Peru, Machu Picchu. For this, we first took the bus to Ollantaytambo, a small town halfway there. From here, there are basically two ways to get to Aguas Calientes, the town near the Inca village and the starting point for the visit. Either you embark on a 4-5 day hike along the Inca or Salkantay Trails, or you take a two-hour train ride. Like at least 90% of travelers, we opted for the comfortable and fast option and took the train. The standard of the entire train ride experience was surprisingly high for South American standards (of course, nothing compared to the German train, but quite remarkable for Peru 😁). From the comfortable waiting area before departure including coffee and snacks to the included menu on the train, there was a lot to offer. Budget traveling certainly looks different, but unfortunately, that applies to the entire Machu Picchu experience. Contrary to the generally low price level in Peru, tourists have to dig deep into their pockets for the popular highlights here. Just the train ride and entrance fee alone cost us over 150 euros per person.

Upon arrival in Aguas Calientes, the first thing to do, as always, was to look for a hotel, have dinner, and then go to bed, as we had an early start the next morning. In order to share the view of Machu Picchu with as few other tourists as possible, we opted for the earliest possible time slot at 6 a.m. to enter the Inca village (when buying tickets, you have to choose a one-hour time window to enter the site). Therefore, we had to get up at 4 a.m., have breakfast at 4:30 a.m. (the hotel actually offered breakfast at this time), and leave for the bus stop at 5 a.m. to join the queue with the other crazy people. From 5:30 a.m., the buses arrived, taking us from Aguas Calientes to the entrance of Machu Picchu in about a 20-minute drive. Once we reached the top, due to our early shift, we were among the first 100 visitors in line, waiting for the gates to open at 6 a.m. If you want to make absolutely sure that you are even further ahead, you have two options: either get up even earlier and hike up the mountain (takes about 1 hour) or book a room in the only hotel located next to the entrance on top of the mountain (prices starting from 1,000 € per night for a 4-star hotel).

At 6 a.m., the gates were opened and we could enter the site with the others. When buying tickets, you could choose whether you just wanted to visit the archaeological site or also climb one of the two surrounding mountains, Waynapicchu or Machu Picchu Mountain. Fortunately, we were lucky and got one of the last tickets for Waynapicchu (the number of tickets is limited to 400 per day). Since our time slot for the climb started at 7 a.m., we first took a quick tour of the archaeological site and then quickly headed to the entrance of the separate trail. The weather was still a bit unsettled at this point, with light rain and a cloudy sky, but the first glimpses of the archaeological site were already very impressive. The Incas built a complete, small city out of ton-heavy stones in the middle of a mountain without any technical aids. It is simply difficult to imagine how they accomplished this or how long it took.

After our short tour of the site, we started the hike up Waynapicchu at exactly 7 a.m. It was a short hike of 45 minutes, but quite steep and strenuous. The view from the top of the Inca city and the surrounding mountains made up for the effort, and we could enjoy a beautiful view from there. The weather slowly improved as well. The clouds continued to disperse, and even the sun started to come out. After the descent, we had the opportunity to start the tour of the site again from the beginning. This time, we joined three other people and hired one of the many guides on site. Since I (Tim) am usually somewhat skeptical of such guides and always see the next "tourist rip-off" in front of me, this one proved me wrong. He made our approximately 3-hour tour really interesting and enriched it with interesting facts and stories. In addition, he naturally knew the best photo spots and took plenty of photos of us in front of the ruins. The weather now also showed itself from its best side, with blue skies and sunshine.

In the afternoon, we returned exhausted but happy and full of fresh impressions by bus to Aguas Calientes. As we were starting to feel tired due to the early wake-up, we went only to the only really nice café in town and went to bed early in the evening. In principle, there would have been the possibility to take the train back in the evening. However, we decided to stay for a second night in order to be able to revisit Machu Picchu if the weather and visibility had been bad. But once again, the weather gods were on our side, and we could use the following day to sleep in, stroll through the town, and have an extensive café visit. In the afternoon, we took the train again and returned to Ollantaytambo, where we will continue our journey. But more on that next time!