Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu

In the morning at 7:00 am, we were waiting at Plaza de Armas. Apparently, the departure was at 7:00 am, so anyone who arrived late was out of luck. There were many groups and one by one, they were picked up by the guides. But we were not picked up. At 20 minutes to 7, someone called us and we started running. After about 5 minutes, we realized that it was not our tour company. The person who called was standing right behind us. Great, we sprinted back before they could notice us. Finally, when we returned to the square, they finally picked us up. We then walked to the bus and started our journey. Luckily, it was a relatively new Mercedes Sprinter with plenty of space. The journey took about 6 hours. During the first hour, they played CDs with information in Spanish and English. The CD kept skipping and skipping. Finally, it stopped and we could finally talk to each other again. After about 2 hours, we made 3 stops to stretch our legs and have snacks.

After about 4 and a half hours, we finished driving on paved roads and switched to a dirt road. We slowly climbed higher and higher, and the abyss got deeper. It was unbelievable that it was a 200-meter drop in some places. It also started raining heavily, making the road very slippery.

We had an excellent driver and never felt unsafe. After 6 hours of driving, we arrived at Hydroelectrica. From there, we took a train to Aguas Calientes, the village where you stay if you want to visit Machu Picchu. The train was quite expensive, 33 francs for a 30-minute ride.

Another option was to walk along the train tracks and experience an incredibly beautiful hike. Of course, we chose the 3-hour hike. We quickly had a plate of pasta for lunch as fuel and started our journey. It was drizzling, so we wore rain gear. After about 5 minutes, it suddenly became very hot and humid. We had to take off our rain gear. After 30 minutes, we were even able to hike under the sun. We crossed several bridges over the roaring river.

It was less fun for Muriel, who is afraid of heights. But it was truly a beautiful hike, not too strenuous, mostly flat.

Every now and then, we heard the horn of the approaching train. It was impressive when it passed by. After almost 2 and a half hours, we reached a curve and saw the first Machu Picchu ruins on top of a hill, under a clear blue sky. We were a bit envious of the people up there at that moment because we were there during the rainy season, and January and February are the two worst months due to the heavy rain...

A few steps further, we already saw the first buildings of Aguas Calientes, and we were relieved because it was extremely humid.

We arrived in the village and first wanted to buy return train tickets, as we had to. But without our passports, we couldn't buy them. The women were at the hotel. Okay, we went back to the hotel, got our passports, and then went back to the train station. Somehow, we managed to find it after 15 minutes. After 10 minutes of waiting, they told us that we couldn't buy tickets without passports. So we went back to the hotel again. Finally, we made it. Then we tried to find out what was open and when. On one hand, we could take a bus from the village to the ruins, or we could hike. Muriel and I decided to hike, while Andrea and Reto preferred the bus. The catch was that to hike, we had to cross a bridge in the village that only opened at a certain time. Even the tourist information desk couldn't tell us exactly when it opened. Sometimes one time, sometimes another time. One guy said it opened at 4:00. But the ruins didn't open until 6:00, so we knew we had 2-3 hours to kill. The first bus left at 5:30. So we quickly had something to eat and went to bed early at 9:00 to get enough sleep. At 3:30, the alarm went off, and it felt like it was already 10:00 in the morning. Muriel got ready, and I quickly ran out to grab 2-3 rolls. At 4:05, we walked out of the hotel towards the bridge.

From all corners, we saw people walking towards the bridge with headlamps on. At 4:20, we arrived at the entrance of the bridge, and there were about 40 people already waiting in line.

At 5:00, the bridge finally opened, and the queue was already very long. I told Muriel to take it slow, one step at a time, and breathe deeply, always keeping her rhythm.

We crossed the bridge and started our ascent. We were overtaken by many people, but after 10 minutes, the first ones were already sitting at the edge, panting. We passed one by one and climbed up the mountain slowly but steadily. After 20 minutes, Muriel asked how much longer we had, and I looked at my app and said we were already halfway there. She could hardly believe it. I pushed a little bit to secure a spot near the front of the queue. I reached the top in 40 minutes, and Muriel made it in an impressive 50 minutes. I was so proud of her! We were one of the thirty people who made it to the top.

Over 2,500 visitors in one day. The first buses arrived at 5:50, and the eager tourists tried to push their way to the front. Those who managed to hike up started cheering and then joined the line. At 6:00, we could finally enter and went straight to take photos of the ruins without any people, and we succeeded.

It was absolutely worth it. We had breakfast and admired the ruins.

There were occasional clouds moving from one side to the other. At 7:00, we met Andrea and Reto at the entrance of the Machu Picchu Montaña. We climbed the mountain for 2 hours to enjoy an unforgettable view. Only 400 people are allowed to go up each day, and we managed to get tickets. We started our hike and after 2 hours of climbing stairs, each step at a different height and distance, we were exhausted. I continued walking, while the other three took their time. After 1 hour, I reached the top, and it was amazing.

The others joined me after 45 minutes, and they did great too. We had a snack at the top and then started our descent.

We had to be at the train station by the latest by 1:00. We calculated that we had to be on the bus down by 12:15 at the latest. But we were not the only ones. There was a huge line just to exit the ruins. And there was an even bigger line waiting for the bus. I said, "We will never make it!" But surprisingly, it went faster than expected, and we boarded the bus at 12:20. At 12:55, we arrived at the train station just in time. We no longer had time for anything. If we had missed the train, we would have also missed the bus back to Cusco, and we would have had to stay another night. As we were leaving Aguas Calientes by train, it started raining heavily again.

Once again, we had a great trip. In the train, someone told us that they had been there a day ahead of us, also in the morning. They couldn't take decent photos because it was so foggy and rainy.

After 30 minutes, we boarded the bus and started our journey back to Cusco. Unfortunately, we didn't have the same driver, and the journey was rough because he drove like a complete idiot. After 4 hours, we also had a flat tire.

When we arrived in Cusco, we couldn't agree if we should go to Rainbow Mountain the next day. We were all exhausted. The bus would leave at 3:00 and go up to 5200 meters above sea level. We decided to check the weather and then make a decision. The weather forecast was not good, so we decided not to go because you need perfect weather for that mountain. Interestingly, a friend from La Paz went there that day, and we were curious to hear his experiences. The next day, we slept in, had a leisurely morning, and felt great. In the evening, we went out for dinner, and Muriel could hardly walk because of her sore muscles. Our friend sent us pictures in the evening. The mountain was covered in snow and foggy. We made the right decision. The next day, we flew to Puerto Maldonado in the Amazon. But more on that in the next blog post.

See you soon,

Ernesto and Muriel

Next Stop: Puerto Maldonado, Amazon.