Peru's Most Popular Whore

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Machu Picchu....Ahhhh, what majestic beauty surrounded by such disgusting greed and exploitation. Being a lover of ancient ruins, I was excited about the prospect of visiting this amazing location. Little did I know, I would have to weed through the jungle of lies and deceit and, seemingly bribe, my way to the peak. Bribe may not be the best word for it- I felt more like robbed or raped of not only my money but my spirit as well.

It began in Cuzco. Elisa and I had been travelling with a Lonely Planet guide book while it hasn't been completely accurate with its recommendations; it has been a valuable tool during our stay here in Peru. Armed with information about the train tickets from Cuzco to Aguas Calientes, I entered the train station confident. I was caught off guard when none of the information I had was true. My book was only one year old and it seems the prices have nearly doubled, not to mention the 50% discount for booking in advance no longer exists. I purchased two one way tickets from Aguas Calientes to Cuzco and walked out $80 USD poorer.

The next day Elisa and I set off to the Sacred Valley for our first stop in Pisac. We spent the morning exploring the ruins above the town and dropped into the village in the afternoon for the famous Sunday market. In the ruins we were treated to a wandering Andean flute played by a local man. Although he was no where near us, the music echoed through the mountain peaks creating an eerie rush down my spine. To avoid the crowds Elisa and I stuck to the least used trail that ran along the tip of the mountain ridge and dropped into the main temple complex.

The Village of Pisac, though crowded with tourists visiting the market, had a relaxing feel to it in the afternoon rain. We escaped from the rain for a bowl of soup before boarding a taxi heading for Ollantaytambo- our next stop.

The Village of Ollantaytambo is over looked by the fortified ruins above it. This town is the only surviving Inca settlement today. Some of the streets are still in the original Inca layout and even some of the houses are original. This gives the town a relaxed and cultured feel, but it’s not without the usual tourist fare. Lining the main plaza and streets are restaurants and hotels selling the same thing, however it is possible to escape that tourist feel by walking a short distance away from this main area. My favorite aspect of the village was the water canals running through it, certainly a site to behold.

The ruins of Ollantaytambo contain the best megalithic stone architecture to be found in Peru. Elisa and I took the better part of a day exploring this amazing complex, even visiting the small section at the top of the ridge for a good bird’s eye view of the valley and town surrounding the ruins.

Up to this point, things were pretty relaxed, with the exception of earlier that morning. From Ollantaytambo there is only one form of transport to get to Aguas Calientes (aka: the ruins of Machu Picchu) - the over priced train. Like most things in South America, there are two prices- a local price and a tourist/ gringo price. The difference is around double or less depending on where you are or how much the person dislikes foreigners, and even then one can usually barter down for a close local price. Taking that into consideration, I was shocked to find out that the price difference for the train is nearly 10 times the local price.

Before we visited the Ollantaytambo ruins, we purchased a ticket for the train. The cheapest deal can only be found at the Ollantaytambo train station because there is a local train with two backpacker class cars that travels back and forth to Aguas Calientes (one and a half hours). The price listed in our book (which is only one-year old) was $12 USD; however, the new listed price is $20 USD and was posted to the wall on the outside of the booth.

When our turn in line came, Elisa and I ordered two one-way tickets to Aguas Calientes on the cheap train at 7:30 pm. The man behind the counter looked at us, and told us that would cost us $32 USD each, and he looked serious. We must have looked shocked at such a quote, at least for a moment, then we immediately pointed out the fact that the real price of $20 was posted right outside his window. Unphased, he began to back up his bold faced lie with some form of proof and reached up to the shelf above, grabbed a binder and pointed to some "official form" and told us that it stated the new price change. Unshaken by his bull shit story, we persisted with the posted price. This went on for a couple of minutes before he eventually gave the tickets to us at the price we wanted. Unbelievable!

Our train ride was slow and there were no views of the surrounding landscape for it was very dark out. However, Elisa and I passed the time chatting with the couple sitting across from us, and I was inspired by their lifestyle of travelling the world by sailboat. I have been considering and fantasizing about such a possibility for myself since.

Arriving at Aguas Calientes (or Machu Picchu Village as the locals like to call it) was like stepping into a nightmare. Immediately after exiting the train we were nearly attacked by people wanting us to stay at their hostel or hotel. Already weighed down by our baggage and trying to weed through the other passengers attempting to leave the train area, these extra annoying hawkers did nothing to appease our stress levels.

Turning down offers and ignoring these pests as much as we could, we proceeded through the throng of people and into the small plaza. Elisa and I had received a recommendation from our hosts in Cuzco, so we continued on up the hill towards its location. Each step, each store, hotel and restaurant we passed, turned our stomachs a bit more. It seemed a beautifully built street but it was so touristy that it left a bad taste in our mouths.

Noticing the competitive nature of the place, we decided on a cheaper option for sleeping and took a deal for $13 USD. Once dropping off our gear it was time to satisfy our hungry appetites. Strolling along the street we found that every restaurant was offering the same shit. They all advertised the same way as hotel pushers, with people constantly approaching us as we walked by, with copies of their menus and offers of special 'happy hour' prices on drinks. Each restaurant offered pizza, pasta, and 'typical' Peruvian food- it hardly seemed typical at all but more like a typical tourist trap. With not much for options we chose one of the many traps and ended up choosing poorly.

This town is such a spirit sucking leach of a place. It tries so hard to be what it thinks us tourists want but has no idea. The restaurants play top 100 hits from the 90's and music over played in our own countries 10 years ago. The menu is a combination of all the plainest food that is easiest to make for cheap; however, it is certainly not cheap. The price of food is equal to that of North America yet lacks the quality, quantity and service. This is also the only place in all of Peru that has a 'tax' as one of our waitresses told us. We later found out that it wasn't a tax at all but a service charge for the poor service we received. I guess they are used to not getting tips in the past for lack of service so they gave it to themselves by adding a service charge. To sum it up, Aguas Calientes is a total rip off.

The next morning Elisa and I woke early, packed up, and caught the bus to the ruins of Machu Picchu at around 6 am- but not before handing over $12 USD for a round trip ticket, and the ruins are only a 20 minute ride up the road. This ride just happens to be about 40 times the regular price of a 20 minute bus ride in any other part of the country, with the regular price usually costing $1 USD and hour.

To save time, we had purchased the $26 USD entry ticket to Machu Picchu the night before in Aguas Calientes. We arrived early enough to be the first of two or three buses and passed through the entrance quickly. We took to the high ground right away and came out on a hill overlooking the ruins for our first view. Like most people will say, no matter how many times someone tells you how amazing this place is, nothing compares to experiencing it. All the spirit I lost on the way to this place slowly began to fill back up inside me. Too bad it didn't work that way for the cash I lost….

Taking our time, Elisa and I explored the ruins and terraces on the hill opposite to the Wayna Picchu cliff complex, and then cut across the top of the ridge visiting the Sun Temple.

After a quick snack of peanut butter and banana sandwiches we headed off towards Wayna Picchu. We figured we would do the amazing cliff complex before the throngs of tourists arrived at around 10:30am, in hopes of getting good birds eye view photos (minus the tourists).

The trail to the top is an original Inca trail- steep and narrow with countless switch backs. Thanks to the jungle surrounding the trail, it didn't seem as exposed as I am sure it is. About an hour into the trail we reached the base of the ruins. Here the trail branched to the right but we decided to take the most direct route to the top and follow the ladder-like, thin staircase through the narrow terraces to the top of the mountain peak. We rested for some time at the top, taking photos and having more sandwiches before continuing on towards the 'Temple of the Moon' on the back side of the peak.

We continued on down hill for some time, unaware of the extent of this route. Accompanying us were countless small insects, not only sharing the trail with us but feasting on our blood as well. Finally, after over an hour of down hill, we reached the small ruins of the 'Temple of the Moon'. The ruins were set in a small cave with beautiful stone work, and we rested inside for a snack before completing the trail and returning to the main ruins of Machu Picchu.

The trail wrapped around the mountain peak going mostly up hill the whole way before joining back up with the main Wayna Picchu trail near its beginning. As we re-entered the ruins of Machu Picchu, we found it oddly deserted. Tired from our extensive trek, we continued along the lower portion of the ruins back towards the entrance. I took advantage of the deserted ruins and snapped as many photos as I could during our rapid return to the entrance. We were in a hurry because we had to catch our return train to Cuzco a 3:55 pm.

At the bus stop, there were two or three others waiting for the next bus to fill up. The buses only return once they are full and it didn't look like it was going to return anytime soon. With only an hour left before our train departed, we complained and tried to explain how important it was to leave as soon as possible. The other three people waiting were in the same boat. After complaining, discussing and trying to figure out why no one else was in as much of a hurry as us, we finally figured out what the bus woman was saying. There is no train today because of a strike!

With no other info, Elisa and I waited impatiently for the bus to depart. Finally there were enough passengers and we took off down the mountain. As soon as we returned to Aguas Calientes we headed directly to the train station. Outside the chained off entrance we found a massive line up of tourists. After talking to several of them we found out that there had been no trains at all today and that we had been on the final one before the strike, last night. Some of the people in line had been waiting since 8:00am. There were several rumours as to when the train was going to come, one was that it was soon, so I quickly ran back to our place of slumber, grabbed our large pack and returned to the line up with a cold beer and a bag of chips.

Elisa and I must have sat there for a couple of hours, listening to music and sorting out the many rumours. There was a tour group ahead of us and we learned from the guide a few things as to why the strike was happening. According to him, this strike was an organized strike, and was scheduled to last 2 days. The group behind the strike is the porters for the Inca trail. This guide used to be a porter and told us that the union of porters was fighting for health care insurance and to scratch the mandatory $20 USD entry fee into Machu Picchu for the porters. Apparently they had to pay the entrance out of their own pockets every time they did a tour. Also, in the recent past, two of the porters slipped and injured themselves due to the rainy season and required surgery. This type of medical attention cost more than they could possibly afford, so the union of porters helped with the cost, hence the need for medical insurance.

A report from the train station came over the loud speaker, and in both Spanish and English, it told us that there was a %99 chance there was going to be no train today, but there was still a %1 chance there would be, and that we should return at around 8:00 pm to check. Understanding that this information was buttered up for tourists, we decided to check into a hotel and spend another day getting robbed of our money in the most expensive, rip off town in Peru.

Throughout that evening and the next day, Elisa and I constantly heard many conflicting rumours about when the train was actually going to arrive. We returned to the station around 1:00pm the following day and read a sign telling us that service was unlikely going to continue until the next day, so we returned to the room for a nap. Waking up at around 3:30pm, we found the streets nearly deserted. Questioning a few people as we walked, we found out a train arrived and left around 3:00pm. Apparently there was a loud speaker report and all the hotels were informed, but obviously not. Our place told us nothing. Maybe the report of informing the hotels was a lie, or our hotel wasn't informed, or maybe our hotel didn't want to tell us cause they were greedy for our money, I will never know.

We returned to the train station for information about the next train arrival and were told it was to be departing Aguas Calientes next morning at 5:45am. We also found out that our two return tickets to Cuzco (at the cost of $80 USD) would only take us as far as Ollantaytambo. From there we would have to purchase a bus or some other transport back to Cuzco. Refund was not possible of course. Once they got our money, there is no way of getting it back. What burns me the most is that the strike was apparently planned and therefore the rail system most likely knew about it before hand, and yet they still were greedy enough to sell us these expensive tickets knowing that they would be useless. If asked why, I am sure their reason would be something like...'well you are from North America and you therefore have lots of money so don't worry about it'. Typical.

The next morning Elisa and I woke up early, rushed to the train station, and got the hell out of that hole. It’s too bad all the spirit and energy gained from visiting Machu Picchu had been so easily sucked out of us in the days following.

Once back in Ollantaytambo, we hopped on the first bus to depart the train station, only to be stopped in the main square and told to get off. Apparently this bus was not for regular transport, but reserved for tour groups and therefore we have to get on one of the other buses. The problem now was that all the other buses had past us by before we were explained the situation and the next buses wouldn’t arrive until the next train arrived later on that afternoon- just perfect!

Once again, we had to purchase a more expensive form of transport to get us either to the next town to catch a crowded bus or all the way to Cuzco. Tired and upset at the lack of organization in this part of the world and no longer wanting to share crowded noisy space with anyone else, we purchased a private taxi all the way to Cuzco.

The rest of that day Elisa and I spent gorging on good food in Cuzco and relaxing to multiple bottles of wine in hopes easing the pain and stress of the last few days.

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Comments

[Professor]

Enjoyed your blog
Well-written and quite interesting. We're considering a trip there, but it seems to be a pretty taxing excursion.