Well, we did it. We made the journey to Machu Picchu. And what a journey it was. One would think that since we had flown from LA to Mexico City, had a long layover in Mexico City, endured the airport in Lima, taken the 3.5 hour bus ride to Pisco, taken the taxi to the Panamericana Hwy in Pisco, taken the hour bus ride to Ica, killed four hours, taken the 17+ hour bus ride to Cusco, and the hour and forty minute taxi ride to Ollantaytambo (which is about 10km from the ruins) that it would be easy to “do Machu Picchu”. One would be mistaken.
From Ollantaytambo, the only means of travel to Machu Picchu is by train which takes about 2 hours and is very expensive ($35) relative to Peruvian standards, AND despite what the signs at the train station say, does not actually get you to Machu Picchu. The train takes you to a small village near Machu Picchu called Aguas Calientes where tickets must be purchased before heading to the site for $45. From Aguas Calientes, you can either take a bus (for $7 each way), or do the hour-ish hike almost directly up the mountain to Machu Picchu.
BEWARE… the ruins close at 5pm despite the internet clearly listing a 6pm close time. Because of this little miscommunication, we were in a bit of a hurry and sadly, did not have time to do the uphill hike. Instead, we took the bus, which takes about 25 minutes to get up the hill, leaving us about 1.5 hours to wander the ruins. As it turns out, we were pleasantly surprised that an hour and a half was actually about the right amount of time. For any future Machu Picchu visitors, we recommend 2-4 hours depending on your personal fitness, walking pace, and love for ruins. We also recommend checking out the Inca Bridge. You can’t actually cross it, but the hike to it and the bridge itself are quite cool.
From Ollantaytambo, the only means of travel to Machu Picchu is by train which takes about 2 hours and is very expensive ($35) relative to Peruvian standards, AND despite what the signs at the train station say, does not actually get you to Machu Picchu. The train takes you to a small village near Machu Picchu called Aguas Calientes where tickets must be purchased before heading to the site for $45. From Aguas Calientes, you can either take a bus (for $7 each way), or do the hour-ish hike almost directly up the mountain to Machu Picchu.
BEWARE… the ruins close at 5pm despite the internet clearly listing a 6pm close time. Because of this little miscommunication, we were in a bit of a hurry and sadly, did not have time to do the uphill hike. Instead, we took the bus, which takes about 25 minutes to get up the hill, leaving us about 1.5 hours to wander the ruins. As it turns out, we were pleasantly surprised that an hour and a half was actually about the right amount of time. For any future Machu Picchu visitors, we recommend 2-4 hours depending on your personal fitness, walking pace, and love for ruins. We also recommend checking out the Inca Bridge. You can’t actually cross it, but the hike to it and the bridge itself are quite cool.
Before we made it to Machu Picchu, we had both been quite soured on Peru in general. So, we felt that the ruins would have to be pretty special to dissuade us from a negative review. Special they were:
We really lucked out: the rain stopped when we got off the bus, the crowds were minimal, the guard to the Inca Bridge was asleep, and the hike down to Aguas Calientes was not only scenic, but also a decent workout.
We are still unsure whether we would recommend “doing Machu Picchu”. It was one hell of a journey with a lot of frustration, uncertainty, and cold showers. We think it may be worth the trek with a flight to Cusco and the realization that although you have eliminated days of travel with the flight, more travel, uncertainty, frustration, schedule changes and price changes prior to actually setting foot on the ruins awaits you.
1 comment:
great picture. you two look happy. i'm jealous. happy 2011: )
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