Blogs from Machu Picchu, Cusco, Peru, South America - page 7

Our arrival in Cuzco was somewhat marred by stomach bugs that continued to plague Paul then struck Courtney too. Giardia antibiotics from home cleared up Paul pretty quickly so the next day he sought the same medication for his patient. Regardless of stomach fortitude we stepped out to see the city and began preparations for the highly anticipated Inca trail. We meandered through the city of Incan streets and walls, large plazas and narrow streets all making for good exploring territory. A free walking tour lured us to the far corners of Cuzco including some magnificent history and views, a visit to Saqsaywaman (an Incan site above the city), watching a band perform traditional music, learning about alpaca wool and we met a man who makes and plays beautiful wooden instruments – it even finished with ... read more

We woke up extremely early this morning for undoubtedly the highlight of any trip to Peru and the reason why everyone booked this tour, Machu Picchu! Wake up call was around 4:30am as Rivelino wanted to make sure that we got in good position for the buses that would take us up to Machu Picchu. We arrived in town at around 6:00am and there was already a long line for the buses. The surrounding mountains were shrouded in fog and as we were making our way up the switchbacks to Machu Picchu, we literally could not see a thing. Arriving at the top, we were assured by Rivelino that in due time, the fog would lift and the Machu Picchu ruins would magically reveal itself. Despite the early hour, Machu Picchu was already bustling with tourists. ... read more

Today is finally the day that we get to see Machu Picchu… Man has this been a LONG time coming. The day started early (like it always does) with a 4:30am bus ride. Our guide suggested that we take the bus up so that we did not arrive in Machu Picchu too exhausted. Unfortunately Kelly and I woke up very sore still from the hike and sadly this did end up affecting our trip to Machu Picchu. After a quick bus ride and getting through the long ticket line we finally arrived at Machu Picchu. The weather during the day was absolutely perfect… it was cloudy until around 12 and once the sun came out it got pretty warm. Luckily we got up there so early so we got to explore before all the tour buses ... read more

We wanted to go to Machu Picchu cheaply and at late notice so decided to go by public transport. This is a blog on how we did it. TO AGUAS CALIENTES 1. First we tried to buy admission tickets to Machu Picchu from the Ministry of Culture in Cusco town. They are located just off Avenue Cultura, down a small street (the first right after the petrol station). There are 3 different tickets available: The first includes climbing Huaynapicchu and is S/150, the second includes climbing Montana Machu Picchu and is S/140 and thirdly general admission only for S/126. We asked about tickets including climbing Machu Picchu but they were sold out for the next 9 days! We then tried to buy general admission tickets however they wouldn't sell them to us because we didn't have ... read more

Today, Friday, was our day to visit Machu Picchu. This Incan settlement is one of the seven wonders of the world, and it did not disappoint! The exact purpose of the place and even it's age are not known. And it's not exactly an obvious place to build a town. There are the remains of around 200 houses on the site thought to have housed about 1000 people in the 15th century. What is really amazing is that this huge complex was built at the top of a very large and steep mountain, in a way that it can't be seen from the valley below. When the Spanish conquistadors were beating up the Incans in the 16th century they never even found this place! An American explorer and archeologist called Hiram Bingham re-discovered Machu Picchu in ... read more