Advertisement
Published: June 15th 2009
Edit Blog Post
I went to Machu Picchu with a girl called Sandra from my university in La Paz. We originally intended to get to Cusco on Thursday but the border was blocked due to strikes by local farmers and nobody could pass, so we had to leave on Friday instead. After the disappointment of Thursday, the 12 hour bus trip from La Paz to Cusco went smoothly enough the next day. We had booked train tickets in advance for the trip to Aguas Calientes for Friday, so when we arrived in Cusco at 9pm Thursday night we didn't really have much time to prepare for the next day!
In Cusco we stayed in Pirwa Backpackers Hostel on Plaza San Francisco. It was a really nice hostel, plus we'd booked a 4 bed mixed dorm and ended up having the room to ourselves for the whole time which was great. Cusco is a really expensive place because it's so touristy. It couldn't be anymore touristy. That said, Cusco is still a really nice place. It's obviously had a lot of money put into it from money that Machu Picchu gets. The streets are so clean, they have really new traffic lights and the
children ride around on bicycles. I realise this might sound like a strange thing to say but I'd just spent 4 months in La Paz and the change was very noticable.
On the day that we visited Machu Picchu we had to get up about 5am. We took a taxi to Poroy which is 15 minutes from Cusco and where the train departs to Aguas Calientes. We'd booked the cheapest Backpacker train, which still cost 98 US dollars return trip. For saying it was the cheapest option we were pretty impressed with the standard of the train. It was spotlessly clean and some guys came round with a drinks n snacks trolley. The train station as well was really clean and modern. There was a great atmosphere on the train, a buzz of excitement. There were people of all nationalities and ages, making conversation amongst one another. The train journey took around 2 1/2 hours so we arrived in Aguas Calientes around 11am. Aguas Calientes is a tourist town full of gringo cafes, although this isn't always a bad thing and it's still a charming little place nestled up high in the mountains. From there you have two options
to get to Machu Picchu: walk a 2km route that takes about an hour, or take a 20 minute bus journey that costs 7 dollars each way. We took the bus, mainly because we were feeling lazy, but also because we wanted to have as much time as possible up there before getting the train back. It was so nice to see some greenery having spent so long in the altiplano in Bolivia where there are virtually no trees or greenery.
On the way up the snaking mountain path there was an increasing feeling of anticipation. People of all ages and all nationalities had made this journey and we were nearly there. I felt very happy and everyone else on the bus had smiles on their faces as they peered out the windows to look at the scenery. When you first glimpse Machu Picchu you can't help but be amazed and I would honestly say that the site has some kind of energy. I think that being so remote and hidden high up in the mountains is perhaps more spectacular than the ruins themselves. It was simply wonderful to be there and see it. Many people were just sat
down looking at the view, comtemplating, looking.
Sandra and I spent the day walking up and down and around the ruins. It's possible to do a hike up Wayna Picchu, which is the mountain behind the site in all the postcards, but they only accept 400 people a day and seeing as we didn't get there till 11.30 or so we were too late. I couldn't have cared less about a gruelling hike up a mountain but Sandra was really disappointed. Instead we went up the smaller mountain and it was nice to get a different perspective and viewpoint of Machu Picchu. Having seen old pictures of Machu Picchu it's obvious that a lot of reconstruction has been done. I was really shocked at just how much of the site has been reconstructed/improved on and surprised that efforts haven't been made to prevent this. There were even a group of Peruvians in the process of reconstructing an old temple or something out of different coloured stones. It's a real shame I think. We left Machu Picchu at around 3.30pm in time to get our train back to Cusco. It felt sad to leave and it would have been nice
to have longer.
Cusco is a lovely place, although after 2 days I did get sick of people hassling me to join their tour, eat in their restaurant, drink in their bar, etc. We ate good food and had an all round good time. I was surprised and annoyed that Cusco charges steep admission prices for practically all its' museums and you even have to pay an expensive amount to visit the Cathedral and other churches of the town. The prices you pay for food and drink in Cusco are also, unsurprisingly, very high. That said, most of the food is good quality and there are a good choice of peruvian restaurants where you can try regional dishes sush as trout (trucha) and guinea pig (cuy).
I had a very tiring few days but enjoyed every minute of it. I like Cusco a lot but would recommend other tourists visiting Machu Picchu to stay overnight in Aguas Calientes because you get hassled less and will be able to head up to the ruins earlier and avoid the hourds arriving by train later in the morning. Seeing Machu Picchu was simply incredible and was possible the highlight of my trip so far. It was a really expensive but totally worth it.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.043s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 10; qc: 25; dbt: 0.0229s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1mb